An American Wedding in Vietnam

Wedding Announcement

JULIE AMANDA LOUIS and JONATHAN MICHAEL CORTEZ LOPEZ, both from America, will marry at 3:30 p.m. Sunday April 9, 2006 at the hall A1 of Hue College of Sciences, 77 Nguyen Hue St., Hue city, Viet Nam.

The bride is the 2nd youngest daughter of Karen Ann Louis and Dale Henry Louis of Boulder, Colorado.  The groom is the oldest son of Rosalinda Cortez Lopez and Miguel Gallardo Lopez of Dunkirk, Maryland.

The bride, a graduate of the University of Puget Sound, who is currently working on her Master's Degree in TESL at Azusa Pacific, works at Hue College of Foreign Languages, in Hue, Viet Nam. The groom graduated from the University of Maryland, earned his Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering at Michigan State University, and is now a Supervisor at a DuPont Chemical Manufacturing Plant in West Virginia.

Sandra Harrison of Ha Noi will be the maid of honor and Le Bao Tuan of Hue will be the best man.

The reception will be immediately following the marriage.

The couple will honeymoon in Mui Ne, Viet Nam.

Describing the Girl of My Dreams

I would be a little dishonest if I said that I was not somewhat taken aback when Julie proposed to me at the Waffle House that memorable January day.  Frankly, I thought at most I would be leaving Colorado with was a full stomach and some fond memories.  But, I guess I should not be completely surprised about her proposal as I reconcile that warm, yet decidely forward gesture with all of the things that I've come to know and love about this girl.

The very manner in which we first met in Erie, Pennsylvania was indication to me that Julie was by no means typical.  Having agreed to meet one Saturday in July, I decided to come a day prior to scope out Erie for possible places to go on our first date.  You could only imagine the surprise I had when I was greeted at the entrance of my hotel by none other than Julie herself, who made the moment even more memorable by donning a cowboy hat (she claims not to be a cowgirl, but her proclivity to wear cowboy hats every now and then as well as her fondness to music of the "country" variety makes me suspect otherwise). 

Besides her natural tendency to always keep me on my toes, there are other qualities and traits Julie possesses which, for all intents and purposes, have made me fall head-over-heels, madly in love with her.  Julie is one of those rare individuals you meet in life who not only exhibits an unyielding desire to live life to the fullest, but who also desires to live an honest, humble and purposeful life of service.  Her focused determination, her seemingly endless supply of creativity, and her boundless energy to remain active are gifts that make her great at whatever she does and are also major sources of attraction to me. 

And to top it all off, besides being an accomplished soccer player, this girl not only plays the guitar really well, but can also compose songs and the music to go along with it.  All this and a pretty face and you have the utter love of my life, the girl of my dreams -- my beautiful, wonderful, multi-talented fiancée, Julie.

That cute boy, my fiancé

Cute boy?!  I know you American men are all gagging at that statement, but I chose those words because the description, Handsome Man, sound like he's lost his boyish charm and is old and boring.  Perhaps it's the Vietnamese cultural connotation of boy and man that's influenced my current perception...

Anyways, the purpose of this article is to introduce my fiance to you so you feel like you know him a little better.  His name's Jonathan, but he goes by Jon.  He looks Asian because his parents immigrated from the Philippines, but believe me, he's 100% American-- born and raised in Maryland. Now he lives and works in West Virginia as a chemical engineer.

What made me fall for this guy?  His personal and articulate writing style first attracted me when we started exchanging emails.  As we got to know each other better, I became further interested in him because I found he shared similar values, a similar sense of humor, an adventurous spirit, a good work ethic, brains behind behind his humble demeanor, complete honesty, and a desire to be my best friend. 

I'm excited that his first trip outside of the U.S. is to come and visit for 3 weeks and marry me here in Vietnam this March-April.  I think my students planning our wedding will enjoy his easy-going personality and find teasing him just as much fun as I do.  Don't worry Jon, I won't get carried away.  Can anyone guess how old he is?

You rock, Mr.Safety!

The Waffle House

In America, the man usually proposes to the woman, but he doesn't have to!  Some American women like to assert their independence and ask the man for his hand in marriage.  I wanted to get the show on the road with Jon, so in our last few hours together in Colorado, I asked him if he'd marry me at a breakfast place called, "The Waffle House" in Denver (this was just a MOCK proposal for our MOCK wedding).  Of course he said yes after looking a little dazed because he thought I was being serious until I explained the MOCK wedding project.  I didn't have a ring for him, though, just a zipper pull in the shape of a flip-flop that says, "I love Jonathan".   Needless to say, this was one of the best breakfasts I've ever had.  Boy do I love pecan waffles at The Waffle House...ohh, and Jon too!