how we met
We were in the same PhD program but four years apart. So we knew of each other but didn’t actually start talking until we took a class together during my seventh year and his third year. The class was on a different campus than the one we worked on, so we spent a lot of time getting to know one another while traveling between campuses.
how they asked
We were in Otaru, Japan, which is a little fishing village outside of Sapporo. We were there to look at the sakura (cherry blossoms) and in that quest found ourselves alone in a small park full of beautiful sakura trees. And then suddenly he is pulling out a ring and proposing! I was completely surprised! He had had the ring for a few weeks and brought it on our trip, wanting to find a good moment to do it. So he hadn’t planned on doing it there necessarily, but the moment apparently felt right!
