I'm Lisa, a passionate traveller who just wanted to live in an English-speaking country, chose Canada to start my career as a teacher. Little did I know that I would end up in Prince George (a big city, so they say), and I'm glad to say that I stayed longer than expected because I found the love of my life! Moi, c'est Lisa, une passionnée de voyage qui voulait vivre dans un pays anglophone. Après plusieurs pays, je me suis installée au Canada pour commencer ma carrière d'enseignante. Quelle surprise de me retrouver dans une « grande » ville, Prince George (à 8 h de route au nord de Vancouver) et d'y vivre encore après 6 ans. Mais surtout tellement heureuse d'avoir rencontré l'homme de ma vie!

I'm Rubens, a Nigerian guy who moved to Canada for school. Spent some time on the East Coast and moved to the West Coast to pursue my studies at the university in Prince George. After years of living here, I have wanted to move out, but I'm thankful that I stayed and found ma chérie, Lisa. Moi c'est Rubens, nigérian venu au Canada pour étudier. J'ai passé quelques années à l'est du Canada puis j'ai déménagé à l'ouest, à Prince George pour continuer mes études. Après avoir vécu quelques années ici, j'étais prêt à partir. Me voilà encore ici et heureux d'avoir ma chérie, Lisa à mes côtés.

CHAPTER 1 : Rubens: '' I wanted to learn French, so I reached out to the French club in town. I started to take lessons and participate in events they organise. While I was cleaning up the place, I noticed someone helping carry the chairs as well and went to talk to her. She seemed a little bit cold, but as soon as we talked, she appeared to be very smiley and friendly. She even gave me a ride home.'' Lisa : ''I went to one of the events the French club organises in the summer time. I stayed to help tidy the venue and was packing chairs and tables. As I was carrying some chairs, Rubens came to talk to me. I never saw him before at the club and was curious about how he ended up here (to be honest, only French speakers are there, so I was a bit surprised). We started chatting (while helping, of course), and when we were done, he was waiting for a ride. I spontaneously offered to drop him home and spent some more time chatting. Before he left, we exchanged numbers, and that was pretty much it. CHAPTER 2 : We both got busy and did not reach out to each other after that event. We found each other at two other friend group events over the next months. We could see that talking was easy but it was not the right time to start any friendship. CHAPTER 3 : Lisa: ''Early in January 2023, I received a message, maybe some New Year's resolution, who knows. Rubens texted me wanting to practice French with a French speaker, and I was happy to get a new pen pal. Rubens: ''My French lessons ended, and I did not register for the next session. I was trying to find a way to keep learning it. I remember that I have Lisa's contact and thought it would be nice to speak to someone who speaks French (the real one).'' CHAPTER 4 : Lisa: ''From that day, I have found my best friend, my confidant, whom I can rely on, be vulnerable with. Someone who actively listens and supports me. I got so lucky to have found an amazing friend, especially at a time that was not easy for me''. CHAPTER 5 : Just wanted to remind you that this is not a love story yet. None of us had any romantic intentions at that time. I know what you are thinking, hmm, we are not naive here. Honestly, we were two genuine people wanting to be friends and ended up spending all of our days together. And of course, as you all know, our story evolved from a genuine, strong connection, to a great friendship, to a romantic relationship, to a helpless, endless and forever love story.