Simon and I met on November 3rd 2006 in a small restaurant I worked in called The Soup Shoppe, in Riverside California. He had been in the country less then 24 hours before his cousin Andrea and her husband Jeremy had brought him in for breakfast. Andrea and Jeremy were some of my favorite regular customers I had known since 5 years already. I remember the first time I saw him in booth number 3 sitting by the wall scanning the menu. Andrea said to me, “We brought you a reeaaal live German”.
On this particular Saturday, they really did bring a special treat for me. Simon later recognized Jeremy and I speaking about a certain social platform (Myspace) where we were friends. Later that same evening I received a friend request from a certain silly German guy I had met that morning. We chatted and got to know each other, he came in the next day without his cousin, but with a big smile on his face, and that’s when I noticed he was absolutely adorable. A week later I invited him to come with me and another friend to Disneyland, he tried the whole time to send me signs, or hold my hand, but the combination of the bright lights, attractions, and lack of my attention span, Disneyland didn’t do him any favors.
Later that week I suggested we go to the beach together alone, this way we had time to just relax and bask in some great conversation. Because it was November we brought blankets and some food and had quite a nice little picnic. And there at Huntington Beach between life guard towers 2 and 3 we shared our first kiss. <3
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We came together as a couple on November 22nd 2006 only three weeks after we met.
I was just starting school at the University of Redlands Business School, and he was just starting his internship for The City of Riverside Planning Department. His contract was for 4 months, and being a new couple that time flew by very quickly. When March came, he had to leave and we didn’t know what would happen after that, we had only hoped that he might be invited back to the Planning Department for a longer period of time.
He had planned to come back to the States for one week in June to see if he could have an interview with the city, but we still couldn’t count on anything.
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I didn’t want to wait from March until June to see him, so on April 10th 2007 I packed up my things and boarded a plane all alone. I flew via Paris France, bad idea, my flight to Paris was late so I missed my connecting flight to Munich. The French can sometimes be unkind or rather unhelpful to people of certain nationalities… one in particular: Americans. Nevertheless I was put on the next plane to Munich which was scheduled to arrive one hour later. All the while, Simon was sitting at the Munich airport wondering why I had not come off the plane. Had I even got on the plane in California? Where could she be? Simon wondered. Panic set in and after some harsh words with a woman at the information counter Simon was able to finally squeeze out of her that he should just “keep waiting”. Big help she was. I finally arrived one hour later to a stressed out boyfriend and a beginning to wilt rose. Nonetheless, he was a beautiful sight to finally behold. After my 2 week visit, I returned to California and kept working and moving quickly through school waiting for June to come around. In the mean time Simon and I used a handy little tool called Skype to stay connected. Note: Life away from loved ones is much easier when you can see their face every now and then.
It felt like June took years to come around. Simon came around June 7th 2007, and stayed for two weeks. He had his interview with the city of Riverside and everything seemed to look positive. I believe it took some time before we knew if he would be able to come back. It had greatly depended on the budget allocated to the department for that particular year. Happily they wanted him back, and this internship was paid (unlike the first one) with a duration of one full year. Great news for the Katie/Simon team. Simon went home to Munich around June 22nd leaving me in Riverside to continue on working and completing my studies. He would then come back in August to get moved in and prepare to start working for the year. He came just in time for the wedding of Bryan an
d Natalie Jones, which I believe was August 4th 2007. Simon and I finally had a year to just learn to be a couple, whether the topic was quarreling, laughing, loving, freedom, education, cultural differences, entertainment, history, family, or future, every bit we learned from each other and faced together. During that year we made two trips back to Germany to visit his family. One in November 2007 for his father Hans’ 60th birthday party, and once in February 2008 to discuss with his professors the topic on which Simon would write his Masters Thesis.
Amongst many other things we:
- Drove to Grand Canyon Feb 2007
- Weekend in Las Vegas Feb 2007
- Joshua Tree National Park 2007
- Germany/Austria Trip Nov 2007
- Spent New Years in Glamis 2007-2008
- Germany Trip Feb 2008
During t
his year I had made particularly huge progress in my schooling and was ready to graduate that next August in 2008.I walked/graduated in May 2008 but wasn’t finished with the last class until August. Simons contract expired in June and was allowed 30 days to leave the country. He left around July 31st 2008. Knowing that Simon would have to return and this time stay long enough at least to finish his Master Thesis work, I applied with the company where his older brother Christian works, Allianz Shared Infrastructure Services SE. Central IT Purchasing was happy to hire a native English speaker with a Bachelor of Science in Business: with an emphasis in Industry Analysis.
I moved to Munich Germany on September 22nd 2008 with an internship contract for six months. I was able to then get an extension for another six months. I work with a bunch of very lovely people with whom I have grown very fond. I have now been here for 10 months, and currently do not know what our next steps will be.
During the time I was here and working, Simon had been cranking away at his Master Thesis. He had until March to complete the 100-150 page monster. Simon also had an interview with a company called Phoenix Solar AG to be an Intern in their Marketing department. This must have been the most difficult times our lives. Simon was under such pressure and stress as it was with the thesis and internship, and then add me, who was adjusting to a new country, language, culture, food repertoire etc. It was a nasty combination. I needed support and comfort as I learned to deal with a completely foreign surroundings and Simon had no capacity to give it.
I believe both Simon a
nd I will agree to say without a doubt that a lot of blood sweat and tears went into that Master Thesis Work, sometimes willingly given and other times just taken. I leaned a lot on God during this time for the support to adapt, and the patience to allow the language to come with time. I was without my family/friends and endured a strong lack of emotional support, which of course is the fault of no one, this Thesis was something that had to be done, something Simon worked his whole life for and this was the finish line. The statistic of couples which manage to stay together while writing a “Diplom Arbeit” is roughly 50%, I definitely see why. I found my strength in prayer, and in the knowledge that when we are the loneliest, there is always someone who hears your cry and will come to your rescue
. There is always a glimmer of hope to be had. And just when you think the glimmer will extinguish, the weight will be lifted. He will never give you more than you can handle, but He will darn well try to make you as strong as he knows you are capable of being. In the end, when Simon finally finished the Thesis, when all was said and done, when we both sat there and looked at each other for the first time without this gloomy shadow over our heads--- we were free. I found out later that the final copy, printed, bound, and pressed, was dedicated to me and our journey together that we had struggled and endured so long for. This was one of the pivotal points when I knew that he, my best friend, would always find a way to get through everything with me, but still recognize the sacrifices made and the sacrifices that will need to be made along the way.
From that point on it was smooooth sailing. Well…everything
compared to that period is smooth sailing, but I digress. Now Simon has a fantastic fulltime job still with Phoenix Solar AG working directly for the COO as his personal assistant. We are still waiting to see what Allianz does with me, but the odds look favorable. Opportunities are falling into place, just like they have been from the start. Its just a matter of prayer, hard work, patience, and of course what started this whole adventure in motion…LOVE. asd.jpg)
