Get to know us!
How did we meet?
Truly a tale of modern romance, our story is another one of many Hinge success stories. An online match early in 2025 that led to a very long first date of chatting and hunting down cookies, we discovered very quickly that our visions aligned, and now here we are.
Serendipitous moments
Some fun discoveries early on are that we share a birthday! Well, almost. Mary's is on August 31st, followed by Jin's a day later on September 1st. But if you factor in the time zones of the countries where we were born, Jin was turning 5 in Seoul as Mary was just starting out in Massachusetts. We also have a shared love for cats, Mary with Dior and Jin with his cat in Canada, who - years before we met - he named Mari (close enough).
Jin's life in Canada
Jin spent about five years living in Ottawa, Canada, after graduating from University and completing his mandatory military service in Korea. While there, his English improved, he started graduate studies in architecture, and he worked at a firm as a technician after completing a two-year certificate program. As sad as he was to leave Canada and Mari, life brought him back to Korea along with a bit of a break from his studies, but he plans to continue pursing his passion in the future.
Mary's journey to Korea
Mary decided years before it happened that she wanted to live life outside of the US, and it was mostly chance that landed her in Korea. After achieving her sommelier certification, she made the arrangements and flew with Dior, four suitcases, not much of a plan, and her dad - for temporary moral support - to Seoul in Spring of 2024. After some exciting experiences, including working at a Michelin restaurant, she has found her footing in Korea and settled in, now with Dior AND Jin.
Our life together so far
While we started out living at opposite ends of Seoul, we have settled in Incheon for now, enjoying the better housing prices despite the long commute for both of us. We felt confident pretty early in our relationship about getting married, and that feeling has only grown stronger over the past couple of years. Our daily life now consists of traveling when we can, cooking for each other, a shared niche interest in a particular e-sport, and spoiling our fur child/stepchild.
