If you have heard the China story of "how I met Parker", you know that Parker interrupts me all the time saying “that’s not how it happened” but, let's be honest, my side of the story is the real one (plus I put a little bit of spicy in it). When I saw Parker with that white long Lululemon shirt I thought he was -THE most handsome- man in that room and suprisingly a really good dancer, but this story wouldn’t be a good one without some old fashion latin drama. Parker was at the party because another girl invited him over. (He was not as good as my grandma thinks he is) and after a long Spanish conversation with this girl from Ecuador we decided that none of us wanted Parker, so we went to dance together and left him there. Unfortunately for her, she left early and I put my eagle eyes back on the “gringo” of the room and after an awesome night dancing with Park, he asked me for my number. The next morning at 11 am he called me and he took me on the most romantic first date any person would dream of in the Summer Palace in Beijing, and we have been inseparable ever since. He is not only an amazing dancer and a really good looking person (especially in white lululemon), he is also the kindest person you will ever meet. Everyday Parker shows me love, patience, kindness and respect. I'm extremely lucky to be the future Mrs. Maris.

Finally, a chance to set the story straight on how I met Nati. After arriving in Beijing, a girl told me about a "Latin night" that was taking place at a nearby bar on the weekend and told me I should come. I ended up deciding to go the Latin Party, and that is where I saw the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I worked up some courage, walked across the bar and asked her to dance. Nati said yes. We were having a wonderful night, with me using every country two-step spin my father had ever taught me to try and keep up with Nati's far superior dancing ability. Everything was going great until the girl who invited me to the party showed up and starting talking to Nati with an angry voice in Spanish. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, the girl had invited me as her date. I found myself the subject of condemnation, standing between two spanish-speaking women who appeared to be casting some sort of collective-curse on me that I couldn't understand. I think I heard the words "wingardium leviosa" somewhere in the middle. Luckily, Nati and I went on to dance the rest of the night away and I asked her for her phone number. I was so excited when she said yes but as I was leaving she told she left out the last digit. The next day, I tried to guess the last digit of her phone number. I only had to talk to 4 very annoyed Chinese men before I guessed right and Nati picked up and asked her on a proper date. I borrowed a friends scooter and picked up Nati. We got lost on the roads of Beijing in the rain but still had the most amazing date of my life. The rest is history.