{"id":2457,"date":"2014-09-21T05:00:36","date_gmt":"2014-09-21T12:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/?p=2457"},"modified":"2014-09-20T20:16:26","modified_gmt":"2014-09-21T03:16:26","slug":"how-i-met-my-husband-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/how-i-met-my-husband-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"How I Met My Husband, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Eugene<\/a>My late husband Eugene and I were born on opposite sides of the world. The journey from Gulangyu, China, to Sedro-Woolley, WA, where we met was a long one: 6168 miles, not half-way around the world, but still a very long distance.<\/p>\n

In part 1, I tell of his chopstick-holding technique and his mother\u2019s prediction, two wars, and a crash course to learn English when he moved to Yokohama, Japan. But he still had 4766 miles to go. The unlikely events that eventually brought us together included: \u201cjungle rot,\u201d uncertainty at Boeing, Maidenform bras, and a persuasive priest.<\/p>\n

The University of the Philippines and a bad case of \u201cjungle rot\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

After 12th<\/sup> grade graduation from St. Joseph College<\/a> in Yokohama, Japan, Eugene followed his family to Manila and enrolled in the Mechanical Engineering program at the University of the Philippines. In those days the UP dormitories didn\u2019t have air conditioning or even fans.<\/p>\n

By the end of Eugene\u2019s sophomore year, the extreme heat and humidity plus lingering results of the malnutrition he experienced as a child caught up with him, and he came down with a bad case of what he called \u201cjungle rot.\u201d Although tropical ulcers usually occur below the knee, Eugene\u2019s lesions were on his back. After some attempts to treat the condition, his doctor suggested that he should either find an air-conditioned room or transfer to a school in a country with a more temperate climate. A friendly Jesuit priest suggested Seattle University.<\/p>\n

\"Eugene<\/a>Seattle University<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was a freshman at Seattle U when Eugene transferred from the University of the Philippines. I didn\u2019t meet him there, though. He was too busy studying, cooking for his four roommates, and holding down a number of part-time jobs. One of the most colorful was his job as a bouncer at the Wah Mee gambling club <\/a>in Seattle\u2019s Chinatown. Years later, the club achieved notoriety when Willie Mak and two accomplices gunned down fourteen people during a robbery.<\/p>\n

By Eugene\u2019s senior year, he had found a more peaceful job answering the phone for the priests and seminarians at Saint Edwards Seminary<\/a> on the north end of Lake Washington.<\/p>\n

Boeing changes its mind, and Maidenform busts in.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Months before graduation, Eugene already had a job offer from Boeing. And then, suddenly, due to uncertainty with the Super Sonic Transport project, he didn\u2019t. With his student visa about to expire and no other prospect in sight, he accepted a job with Maidenform. It seems that designing a bra requires the expertise of stress engineers.<\/p>\n

When he told his boss at the seminary, the old priest frowned. \u201cThat\u2019s no job for a young man,\u201d he said. He clasped his hands together over his ample belly and pondered for a moment. \u201cI\u2019ll find you something more suitable.\u201d And he did. He called priest friends around the Northwest, and found one who could help: Father Brendan Gallagher at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Sedro-Woolley, WA.<\/p>\n

\"Father<\/a>A persuasive priest<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father Brendan Gallagher was very persuasive. So when he \u201csuggested\u201d to Sid McIntyre, a parishioner and also the owner of Skagit Corporation<\/a>, a manufacturer of equipment for logging, construction and shipping, that he ought to hire the \u201cnice young engineer from Seattle University,\u201d Mr. McIntyre agreed that, yes, he could use another engineer.<\/p>\n

But that wasn\u2019t the end of Father Gallagher\u2019s help. Before long he decided Eugene needed assistance finding a girlfriend. Never lacking in ingenuity, he concocted various pretexts for Eugene to meet suitable young women. I was one of them.<\/p>\n

\"Kissing<\/a>\"my<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 My late husband Eugene and I were born on opposite sides of the world. The journey from Gulangyu, China, to Sedro-Woolley, WA, where we met was a long one: 6168 miles, not half-way around the world, but still a very long distance. In part 1, I tell of his chopstick-holding technique and his mother\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[13,155,156],"tags":[539,195,540,536,538,517,523,537,535],"class_list":["post-2457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-china","category-family","category-home","tag-boeing-sst-project","tag-gulangyu-china","tag-immaculate-heart-of-mary-church","tag-jungle-rot","tag-saint-edwards-seminary","tag-seattle-university","tag-sedro-woolley-wa","tag-tropical-ulcers","tag-university-of-the-philippines"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-DD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2429,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/china\/how-i-met-my-chinese-husband-part-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":2457,"position":0},"title":"How I Met My Chinese Husband, Part 1","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"September 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 When people ask how I met my late husband, sometimes I simply give the short answer: \u201cWe were introduced by my parish priest.\u201d But then, invariably, the questioner will look at me, waiting for something more, disappointment written all over his face. And\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "China"","block_context":{"text":"China","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/china\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Eugene9 001","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Eugene9-001-e1408758337467-216x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11784,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/sedro-woolley\/september-drive\/","url_meta":{"origin":2457,"position":1},"title":"September Drive","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"September 28, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It was a beautiful day in early September, the day after Labor Day. We were keeping up with the traffic in my sister\u2019s favorite lane\u2014the far right. (I prefer to stick in the center lane, but \u2026 Sue was driving.) 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Eugene is buried in a beautiful park-like cemetery with trees and grassy slopes and a view of a small lake. His grave is under the second fir tree on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "family"","block_context":{"text":"family","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/category\/family\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Memorial Day weekend","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Memorial-Day-weekend-e1464399240544.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1171,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/culture\/it-takes-a-community-to-celebrate\/","url_meta":{"origin":2457,"position":3},"title":"It Takes a Community to Celebrate","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"January 31, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Chinese New Year in the United States. I don\u2019t celebrate Chinese New Year. Well, okay, I do remember it, and I talk about it. I note that 2014 is the Year of the Horse. 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