From Alaska With Love

"In 2001, I was working for a large Japanese-owned seafood company in Redmond, Washington," says Angela NELSON, a native of Washington, U.S.A. "On September 27, I was sent to their processing plant in Alaska for a week on business. That night while eating dinner, I couldn't keep my eyes off a cute Japanese guy sitting at the table across from me. He stuck out being the only young guy at a table of top Japanese managers and I was attracted to him immediately!"

The next day Angela asked a co-worker, Mr. OMURA, out to lunch. Mr. Omura invited another co-worker to join them. "Imagine my surprise and delight when it turned out to be the cute guy from the night before!" Angela says. "Shinya spoke in broken English with an accent I thought was adorable. He smiled a lot, which led me to believe he really liked me." She soon found he was also living in Redmond.

After the pair spent six romantic days in Alaska, Angela had to return to Washington to work. "It was the longest three weeks of my life and my passion for Shinya kept building," she says. Shinya moved into her apartment soon after returning to Redmond.

Shinya flew to Arizona with Angela from Redmond to celebrate Christmas at her parent's house just three months after they met. "My whole family loves him and thinks he's the nicest guy ever!" she says.

"In the beginning we communicated a lot by e-mail." she says. This was good for us because like most Japanese, Shinya could read & write in English better than he could speak it. So whenever we had something important to talk about, we did it by e-mail. This led to far less miscommunications!"

However, Shinya's manager eventually learnt of their relationship and in August 2002, ordered him back to Japan. "I guess he was worried that Shinya's father, owner of sushi restaurants in Osaka with connections to our company, would be upset about our relationship," Angela recalls. But Angela was not about to give up quite that easily.

"Shinya's mom flew from Japan to meet me in August 2002. I spoke no Japanese at the time so it was difficult to communicate. She didn't approve of our relationship. I think partly because Shinya's parents worry whether our future kids, being half-Japanese, would be accepted and trusted by Japanese co-workers and/or customers in running a traditional business such as their sushi restaurants. It took four long years for his family accept me. I finally met Shinya's father in August 2005 in Osaka. He seemed like a very friendly guy! And now I find his mother to be very kind."

Different expectations and working schedules are some of the issues the couple is facing in Japan. "I think Shinya works too hard and comes home far too late, usually around midnight," Angela laments. "I respect him and admire his endurance but still wish he could spend more time with me at home."

"Taking frequent trips back to America to visit my family helps," Angela says. "Shinya driving me to Japanese school in the morning so I don't have to take the crowded subway. People here think Shinya spoils me (which he does!) but you have to remember that I would have all these things and more if I lived in America!"

Shinya often feels caught in the middle of his fianc·and his parents. "He has enormous pressure to handle the demands of his company, family and me," Angela says. "He gives so much of himself and often goes under-appreciated." However, "Shinya is solid and steady like a rock," Angela says of her fianc· "I am emotional and moody like a true Scorpio. He calms me down when I start freaking out about something. He is my anchor."