It's pretty amazing that after 40 years of being on this Earth, I'll finally be married. Dating didn't come natural for me from the very beginning. In high school I never had a girlfriend. In university, I just started dating and didn't really know how to do it. From the ages of 21-27, I was immature and fell in love with women that I thought were too strong-willed like my mom. When I felt that they were too strong-willed, I would run away from the issue instead of fixing it. I wasn't good at handling conflicts and fixing problems. I just wanted to escape if things got difficult.
When I was 27, I came to Korea to live on my own and to teach English to elementary and middle school students. I went through stressful times and felt like I needed a woman for stability. At the same time, I just hated being single. My first relationship had a hot temper, so that didn't last. I dated a girl that I thought was my dream girl but she was young and found another guy. I dated a sweet, Christian girl, and thought she could be the one but I couldn't speak any Korean at the time and she couldn't speak any English. In a nutshell, my first year had some great moments but it was very frustrating overall.
As I got more adapted to dating in Korea, I got too selective. I wanted to find the perfect match: Cute, Christian, and someone who would support me. When I would find a Christian, and if I was physically attracted to her, she would be looking for the perfect guy and I wasn't that guy. When I found a woman that was physically attractive and liked me, she usually wasn't Christian. I dated a couple of those kinds of ladies, but realized that the relationship was too superficial. She had to have God in her life or I would just continue the search. However, I also needed spark to coincide with that.
In spring of 2014, the search was about to be over. I found a woman on a Christian dating website called ChristianDatingForFree.com. It was amazing since few women on that site lived in Korea. On top of that most of the women that lived in Korea on that site were inactive. Then Eunhee sent me a message that was completely unexpected. She told me that she liked my profile because I said "I am looking for a long term relationship."
On May 10, 2014, we met for the first time. She seemed nervous and a bit cautious but something intrigued me about her. Not only was she cute, but she said she was giving up her job in trade to become a missionary. Wow! A woman of God! Then I asked her where she was going. She said she wanted to be a missionary in the country where she was from: China. For about 6 months, I struggled to deal with that since I told myself that I never wanted to live in China. I had a really bad travel experience in Shanghai in 2011 and after that trip, I pretty much canceled China off my list as places to live in the future. Lo and bohold, the Lord had other plans five years later. We started dating on May 28, 2014 and everyday had gotten better and better especially after the six-month mark.
I proposed at the Grand Hyatt near Samseong Station on the year after our one-year anniversary. It was a very special night of champagne, steak, cake, and her accepting my proposal. I knew that I made the right decision! She was so happy and she had no idea that the proposal was coming. She did say that I was acting a bit weird but it was because I was nervous and wanted the timing to be exactly right.
Two years later, I am very satisfied that I have a very sweet, special, fiancé (technically married after we got our wedding certificate in China last month). She is very patient, easygoing, loves children, loves me, and most importantly loves Jesus. What more could I ask for? I am very blessed!
Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)
Instagram: l.a.seoulguy
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