Falling in love and choosing to sta

Falling in love and choosing to stay together is
something that happens all over the world, but the
ways that people meet and start relationships can
be very different from one country to the next. Even
within the same culture, there are many different
ways of finding a partner. For a lot of people, the first
time they meet someone new is through their friends.
Lots of couples get together after they first meet at
work or college.
Other people meet because they have the same
interests or hobbies. In some cultures, family
members introduce couples to each other. The
internet has helped to make meeting new people
easier, and in some countries, online dating websites
are very popular. In a lot of places, it is typical for
boys to ask girls out on a date, but in other countries
it is also common for the girl to ask the boy.
We asked two couples in the U.K. how they met and
what happened on their first dates.
Sally: We met online, didn’t we?
Tom: Yup.
Sally: I split up with my boyfriend and I
wanted to meet someone new, but
I didn’t know how. I was with my
boyfriend for ten years; we were in
school when we met, and so when I
became single I didn’t know anything
about dating or how to meet new
people. Then, one of the girls at work
said I should try using an internet
dating website, so that’s what I did. I
wrote my details and put up a picture,
and the next day I got a message from
Tom.
Tom: She was the first person I contacted.
There were so many people on there,
but I saw a picture of Sally and I said to
myself, “That’s the one!” … I thought
she looked lovely.
Sally: When he contacted me, he seemed
really nice.
Tom: We wrote quite a few emails, didn’t we?
Talking about ourselves and what we
liked doing, just getting to know each
other, really. After a couple of weeks, I
asked her out on a date.
Sally: I got really nervous before our first
date.
Tom: We went ice skating.
Sally: I don’t know why I suggested ice
skating; I don’t even like ice skating. It
wasn’t a very good idea, really.
Tom: We both kept falling over. It was funny.
We soon got tired though, so I asked
her if she would prefer to go for a
coffee, instead.
Sally: We got on really well.
Tom: Two weeks later, we got engaged.
Sally: We got married the week after that,
didn’t we?
Tom: That’s right, three years ago. They put a
little statue of us ice skating on the top
of the wedding cake.
Sally: That fell over, too!
Zach: We knew each other for a long time
before we started going out. I think it
was about six years …
Justine: Seven years. We were friends, sort of.
Well, Zach was friends with one of my
friend’s boyfriends.
Zach: We were in a band …
Justine: Yeah, we used to go and watch them
play.
Zach: We weren’t very good.
Justine: You were OK. I think I did like Zach
then, but he didn’t seem to notice
me. He was the guitarist and, well, he
seemed to know everyone. He was
very popular, and I was just a friend of a
friend, and that was it.
Zach: No, I liked you. But the band split up
and I didn’t see you for a long time.
Justine: We met again a few years later. I got
a job at a record shop, and Zach was
assistant manager.
Zach: I’m the manager now …
Justine: I still liked him, so I decided to ask him
out.
Zach: She asked me out! I couldn’t believe it!
We went to a concert. The band was
terrible, but the date went well.
Justine: We started going out with each other
after that, but working together was a
bit difficult sometimes.
Zach: One time, I had to give her a warning
about coming in to work late. She got
really angry. We nearly split up!
Justine: So I got a job somewhere else and
things got better between us. That was
two years ago, and we’re still together
now.
Zach: We both like listening to music and
going out to concerts.
Justine: I like seeing bands sometimes, but
these days I’d prefer to go to a nice
restaurant.
Zach: Yeah, going out for dinner is good, but
I’d rather see a great band any day.