The story of Alyona and Yeong-Il
In 2013 she came to Korea with her boyfriend (ex-boyfriend now). They worked in a Russian ship repairing company as a translator and an engineer. In order to meet new friends in the new country, they started attending English Parties where foreigners from all over the world and Koreans drank beer, chatted and had fun together. In one of these parties, Alyona met Yeong-Il. He liked her, but since she had a boyfriend they were only friends at that time. One year later as her boyfriend cheated on her, she decided to come back to Russia. Yeong-Il followed her and here where the love story started. He came to see her every 3-4 months and in December 2015 they got married in Russia, and then in Korea. In August 2018 they started the new chapter in their lives – they had a son!
Questions to Her
On Our first date…
…he said “When we got married…” and that was weird for me.
During the first months of dating my deal-breaker would be…
hearing sexism from his mouth or dirty flirting.
I learned He is right for me when…
I had a depression and while he was sleeping I wrote a list of words, practicing my Korean. “I am fat”, “I am useless”, “I can’t do anything” and a dozen other things like this. He went out early morning and when I woke up I saw all my words changed. “I am fat” turned into “You are beautiful”. “I am useless” – “You have so many talents”, “I can’t do anything” – ‘I love you”.
I had a cultural shock when He…
treated his father as a King and could not say anything against him. Like when I was in the car and we gonna pick up his dad, and we had to go out of the car and greeted him. We could not just stay in the car and greeted him in the car. He could not refuse his dad directly even if he is totally wrong. He is expected to smile and agree.
3 things I love about Him are…
The biggest misconception about His country and culture was…
the admiration of bosses and managers. Your boss wanna drink beer after finishing the working time, but you wanna go home and rest? No one cares, go and drink damn beer, because your boss will.
The most beautiful thing He ever did for me was…
writing me long letters where he explained all his feelings. I still receive them even after 3 years of marriage.
During this relationship, the most important thing I learned about myself was…
that I can live in another country and still don’t change who I am or compromise my character.
If there is a piece of advice I could give to my fellow Western girlfriends who are into the AMWF relationships that would be…
don’t try to change him. Just love him for what he is even if you cannot understand why he does this or that. Remember, he was born in a totally different culture with different priorities from yours.
Questions to Him
Asking Her out for the first time was…
awesome and I carried a lot because I thought we are just friends back then. I dreamed about meeting her one more time.
I learned She is right for me…
only after one month from our beginning. I had an ideal woman in my head and she was perfect. Warm-hearted, kind and sincerely cared about the people around her.
I had a cultural shock when She…
denied to get closer with my family. In our country, the family is the most important. But for her, my parents are not a close family.
3 things I love about Her are…
her loving heart, her strong health, and her big butt – unlike Korean women!
The biggest misconception about Her country and culture was…
that all Russians are drinking vodka. Really, they don’t.
The things that She likes to do for fun with me are…
photo shooting, drinking coffee and talking for hours.
She hates when I …
drink too much alcohol.
During this relationship, the most important thing I learned about myself was…
that family is the most precious thing for me. Before meeting her I enjoyed spending time alone. Now I want to do everything with her.
If there is a piece of advice I could give to my fellow Asian friends who are into the AMWF relationships that would be…
that you should open your mind and respect her and people in general. You will overcome the difficulties easily if you will respect her and her culture.
If you love the interview with Alyona and Yeong-Il check out their Instagram HERE
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