Introduction Part: 1

    Hi everyone! 

Let me introduce myself. I am Andreas, a Norwegian Viking hailing from the snow-covered, mountainous island region of Vesterålen in northern Norway. During the lockdown years, I met my now-wife, Norjaima, who comes from a small place in Mindanao, not far from Davao.

We found ourselves in quite a similar situation. Both of us were alone, mostly stuck indoors in locations far from any luxurious urban life. In these mask-wearing times, we both craved something more: adventure, and most of all, a loving embrace—a hand to hold, a shoulder to cry on, and someone to share our loneliness with.

The year was 2021. Summer is usually my favorite time of year, although now it was different. I mostly stayed at home. Even when I went outside, I still felt the loneliness, having to keep a distance from everyone I saw, even my own family. Not that I saw many people outside anyway, living on such a sparsely populated island as Andøya.

Little did I know that across the world, my future spouse was in the same situation. Even more alone and deserted than me, Norjaima was in a small village in Thailand, working as an English teacher far away from her family back home in Mindanao. Not knowing the local Thai language, Norjaima was isolated more than most people I knew at that time.

In our loneliness, we both came to the conclusion that we could no longer be alone. We realized that in times like these, we needed someone to love, someone who would always be there for us. Kind of like what you see sometimes on the street: an old couple holding hands after all those years together. That is what we longed for.