The first time you met your SO...describe it!

[OvertheSea]

I met my boy in Ireland.

I'd just arrived in the country, after travelling for nearly two days on my own. this stressed me out to no end, and after pretty much hitchhiking across a county to the town that the everyone was staying in (field school, boarding house.) I was pretty much on the end of my emotional rope. I walked into the room and asked it I was in the right place, and upon finding out that I was, slumped against the doorway in relief! Then he came over with another member of the staff and they introduced themselves. I barely took notice of him then, other than noting that he had very long hair.
At dinner, I couldn't help but watch him talk with everyone around him, as animated as any actor, with his fantastic features taking in every detail. I think he may have caught me watching him at one point, and I quietly went back to eating.

I don't think we actually spoke properly until a day or two had passed...and the rest was history! After about a week of knowing each other, it had pretty much been decided that we were going to be going out. (officially it didn't happen until 2 weeks later...but unofficially!)

:3

[Jayburr]

I've been reading this topic with the biggest smile on my face going through all of your first encounters!

It's difficult to reply to each one but, I'll just say that I've read all of them so far and have really enjoyed it (so keep posting! ). It really is great to read how different everyone's experience was - from the distance we've all traveled, the locations, the people we traveled with to meet our SO's (I could never imagine bringing my mom along! haha, in fact, no one in my family knows yet what the true purpose of my 'vacation' to Chicago was )... It just truly amazes me even with all these variables we can end up in the same place, even with all the doubt, the nervousness, the uncertainty...love finds a way

[Caitlin2009]

heh, we had been dating for a year and a half before she finally came for a visit, which up until that point had been really hard to do as many things happened and our plans fell through, but her now ex-friend payed for her plane ticket here to come and visit me. That day i was soooo nervous about finally seeing her, i cried alot as i saw her plane leave Canada and into the US(was using a flight tracker) as soon as the plane landed in Hartford i shot straight out to the porch to wait for her sniffling more as I knew she was finally here, it was an hour and a half before she finally arrived. The taxi pulled up and i saw her get out and i thought she was even more stunning and beautiful in person, she was wearing a purple shirt, black leggings and knee high boots *happy sigh* when the taxi pulled away she said "well come over here and see me woman!" i told her my legs were not gonna work lol so she sighed marched up the stairs, sat down next to me and said "come here you silly bugger" and pulled me into a hug, which felt so amazing and warm, and she just smelled great. Although it was a bit awkward as i couldnt look her in the eye because i was so shy until the day after lol but yeah, that memory is not something i'll forget

[Belle]

Aw, I read through all of these and I couldn't help but smile.
My SO and I met in college. It was nothing special as I had a bf at the time. I thought he looked like a teddy bear though =3. We didn't start dating until we were LD though so Ill talk about the first time we saw each other after "dating." I bought a ticket to Sac and waited what felt like forever, for the semester to be over and that day to arrive. I remember how crazy nervous I was omw to the airport and how my friends (they were dropping me off) kept trying to calm me down lol. As soon as I was on the plane, I got scared of all these silly things like the fear of the chemistry not being there CD, that id gotten so fat since we last saw each other, that he would find it awkward to kiss me when he'd seen me kiss someone else in the past... and that I wouldn't be able to recognize him lol! That last one was specially silly since we'd been friends for years CD prior to starting a relationship. On the plane I happen to sit behind a military boy who was a biology major and two histo techs who were obviously a bit drunk. I was in my premed program at the time so we totally hit it off and I told them about my SO. Needless to say the two histo techs bought me way to many shots on the plane, "to calm down of course." Hehe, I forgot all my troubles till I felt the plane land, it was the moment of truth. We talked and he was parking his car... I could feel my heart about to pump out of my chest. And I chickened out lol. I called my sister and dad so that I would be doing something when he came and Id have time to get over the shock =3. I felt someone walking right next to me and when I turned around, there he was, the most gorgeous man in the world. He was much thinner than the last time we had been CD (which made me more self conscious hehe), he also had a huge smile on his face. Not a second passed before he wrapped his arms around me and I got the most wonderful feeling I've ever had. I was definitely and completely in love with him. Scared out of my mind, but in love <3 i decided he'd be my bf before I left. I finished talking to my parents and hung up, still with our arms around each other. We exchanged a few words of joy and I tippy toed a bit and he came down and kissed me =D. His lips were so warm and he held me just right. We kissed and hugged and completely forgot about my luggage and the world. Finally he reminded me and we grabbed it. He carried my things and opened the car door for me. That day we went on our first date to starbucks and a movie. We ended the day at our hotel room. The date and the night cap were extremely sexy ... best first date ever.

[AnonT]

One co

[carbonell2910]

I love this!

I moved to Florida on April 2011. Three days after arriving, my cousin invited me to a Graduation BBQ party, I said ok.. lets go! When I got there, this handsome, sexy guy was doing the BBQ. I felt in love hahaha. I was so blushed, shy.. and he was so funny! Then I knew he was here just for the weekend and that he was going back to Atlanta, where he lives. He didnt ask for my number, email or anything..

I started dating a friend of him who lives here but always thinking about my BBQ guy .... After two months dating his friend he texted me to say hi and I was so excited that i had to stop dating his friend. In September he came for a weekend and we went out everyday! After that he comes to see me every month. His friend got so mad at him... and things are still a little bit awkward.. but this was a great decision

[Jayburr]

Although it was a bit awkward as i couldnt look her in the eye because i was so shy until the day after lol but yeah, that memory is not something i'll forget

Haha, this is exactly how my SO was when we first met! I was expecting a dramatic embrace right then and there when we first saw each other at the airport but that didn't happen. She was smiling and in shock (hands over her mouth and nose) as we walked toward each other, but her eyes were always darting away from mine. In fact, I don't even remember her really saying Hi to me at first! She basically just quickly lead me over to an elevator and finally, she did say Hi and we hugged. All the way to her car, and the car ride to the hotel, she was telling me how nervous she was and that any time I looked at her it made her blush and even more nervous hehe. I couldn't help it though! She was too beautiful to ignore... It didn't take long for her to calm down though... By that night, aside from still being in disbelief that all this was happening, we were both comfortable with each other.

[faith_patience_believe]

We decided to finally meet in person a year after we met online. He flew across the country to see me. I can not even begin to explain my nervousness. I arrived at the airport with my family, went to the bathroom multiple times to check to make sure I looked good, and couldnt sit still. I kept standing up and pacing waiting for his plane to arrive. My family looked at me like I was crazy haha. Finally, he texted me that his plane landed (and I saw it pull up to the airport. I couldnt belive he was RIGHT THERE..finally!!). I stood by the spot that he would come out and waited. It seemed like ages because he was the last one off the plane. My hands were cold and my toes were numb (it was weird haha). I watched soooo many people walk by, and for every person there was jolt of nervousness.
Finally, my phone buzzed and I looked down to see a text from him, but before I even read it, I looked back up and there he was, walking towards me We instantly saw each other and grinned, disbelieving. He looked like himself but also so different in the fact that he was a 3D tangible person in front of me. The next 15 seconds seemed to move in slow motion. He made it to me, we stared at each other in disbelief, said a shy "hi" and then hugged. It was the best feeling in the entire world to finally have him right here. I introduced him to my family and then we walked through the airport to the exit, holding hands and exchanging occasional statements like "this is crazy" and "wow this is actually happening." The car ride home was about an hour and a half and I think we were just so stunned by the fact that it was happening. We had originally thought we'd never meet at all. We'd both never been in relationships before (or even been kissed) so it took us about a day to warm up to each other, but then those ten days he stayed were some of the most amazing of my life. Everything went perfectly. 4 months until I get to see him again <3

[Verojoon]

I won't go into the drama that happened before the flight, but because of it I got the airport ridiculously early and tried to check in for my flight. I was super nervous because this was my first time flying alone. When I tried to check in there was a problem. I had to call the airline and I found out my flight had been cancelled! It had been such a nightmare getting to the point where I was even at the airport, that I just wanted to cry. But they re-booked me on a later flight. When I checked in to that flight, one of the airline customer service came up to me and asked me why I was checking in so ridiculously early. So I explained a bit of the situation and he said he would see if he could get me on an earlier flight. But it was booked. So I checked in anyways and went through security and and customs pre-clearance and all that fun stuff. And settled myself down for what should be a really long wait. (I chatted with my sister while I waited and told her all about the drama that had transpired...) Then I heard my name called. They had one free seat on the 6am flight, did I want it? Why not? I said. So they rushed me over to the plane. LOL the plane engine was already on and I actually had to walk up the stairs because the jetbridge had already been removed. The plane left the minute I sat down.

I arrived in Philadelphia several hours before my connection to Dallas, so I decided to see if I could get an earlier flight. They said they would put me on standby. So I tried to contact SO and tell him I might be in 2 hours early instead of 1 hour late. But I was having problems with my text messages not working and I ended up leaving him an email... When I finally did get on that flight, I had to send him another email and I had no idea if he received them or not. The spot I got on standby was business class! (My first and only time travelling business class!!) It was a very comfortable flight.

Now the fun part...

I arrived in Dallas. I tried to send him a message by my phone was dead! I had no idea if he'd gotten my emails. I collected my luggage and he still wasn't there... I wandered around the airport trying to decide what to do... I went for a walk and returned... still he wasn't there, so I went to the bathroom to freshen up for the 2nd time... when I got out of the bathroom, I saw him right away. He was talking to an airport employee... I was so nervous!! But I slowly walked up to him (his back was to me) then I said "Are you looking for someone??"

He turned around and immediately took me into his arms! He gave me flowers. We kissed. We laughed... there may have been some tears too... lots of kissing.. lots of hugging... We couldn't find where he parked his car... We just wandered around the airport parking lot like we were drunk...

And that was the beginning...

We have now done the airport reunion thing 3 times. None were quite as dizzying as the first time, but every single time was AMAZING!!! I love that moment when I see him again for the first time!! <3

[summerstillhere]

first time meeting my bf was during his travel trip to my place. we know each other few months earlier from photography site. he loves photography so much and we both work in IT department. so we hv few things in common.
so, we already set the date, time and place to meet. since he's a tourist so i told him i will come to his hostel.
when i arrived his hostel area, i saw him from far but i pretend i didnt see him haha
and then we gv each other a hug and walk around for few hours maybe. and then we hang out till midnight. at first we were still shy.
the second day, i decided to bring him to the beach so i drive about 1 hour to the beach.
while driving, he took my hand and he hold it along the way hahah so i hv to drive one handed. i hv cold hands and his were warm. so i love it when he hold my hands.
and then it became my habit to hold his hands while driving
we had our first kiss on the 4th or 5th day on our date.
and he officially tell me he fell in love when we hv to end our trip. which is 2 weeks after we met. i cried so much because i fall in love with him too. and knowing that we're going to be far from each other is making me more sad.
now, when im driving im still looking for him and wanna hold his hands as if he's there with me

[londongirl]

Least romantic story ever but
the first time I met my SO was during a class in a crappy temporary uni building and I thought 'gosssh won't he ever be quiet' - he knew too much but that has become endearing now.

[D.4C]

i won't be able to do that for at least 3 days...since that's when we will be meeting face to face for the first time...but i probably won't be describing it at that time either...will be too busy being close with her...i'll save it till after she has to go back to washington...

[rina]

We've been best friends for over 4 years until we realized we want more. We planned for him to visit 3 years before but always something came up. This was the year it happened. He stayed for 3 weeks at a friend of ours really close to my apartment. Before he flew here we were unofficially together; we decided to make it official when we'd see each other face to face and see if we have the same connection we've had for years.

June 30th; 19:40, Henri Coanda Airport, Bucharest.
I went to pick him up with the friend he would stay at, and we were both stressing out we'd get there late due to traffic. We got a little earlier and had time to walk around the airport finding the exact terminal. Surprisingly i wasn't really nervous, it just felt normal. The gates started opening and people started coming out. I remember at one point i thought he's gonna pass right by me and i wouldn't recognize him. The doors opened again and there he was, with his backpack on his back and carrying his luggage. He walked just passed me and i was trying to get his attention. I guess he was confused, his first time flying to a country in which he didn't speak the language. He was super nervous. He was a little surprised when i jumped to hug him. We agreed we'd just hug when we met, but he was so overwhelmed he even forgot to hug me! We ended up sitting in the airport a little until some other friends arrived to pick us up. We drove to where he'd stay to drop his luggage and then i had a surprise installed for him. I planned a "field trip" near the Danube, where a friend had a house, so we just stayed 15 mins for him to drop off the most of his luggage, grab his swimming trunks and off we went!

I'm sure i'll be exactly in his shoes when i'll go visit him. It will be his turn to hug me!

[AliDance]

Wow, I absolutely loved reading all these stories. SO cute!!

Mine isn't quite as dramatic as some of the stories on here since we met in person before we started dating...but basically I worked for a child care business (as did he), but I was new and hadn't met very many people since I worked alone at my location (not enough kids to require more than one staff at that location). I was asked to work in the office one morning to help out with some paper work, and was sitting at my desk when he walked in to pick something up. I barely glanced him from my computer, murmured a shy "hey" when he walked by and that was that....something caught his eye though I guess because he added me on Facebook and we began chatting ..

A couple days later, we worked together at an event, and I actually got a good look at him...*swoon* ! Plus seeing how amazing he was with the kids was the hugest turn on ! (Weird, I know, but I am such a sucker for men who are great with children) When the day was over, he stopped me going to my car and asked if he could give me his number...and it didn't take long until we were inseparable. <3

[varyingdistance]

I met my chap at work as I explained in my first post. At the time I was in a relationship with another person, we'd been together for about six months and as a result I wasn't at all looking for anybody else. It wasn't until I started to get to know my SO that I realised the relationship I was in wasn't right for me at all. It's not until I look back on the day we met that I realise what a connection we had straight away. I just wasn't looking in that direction at the time even though looking back, there were lots of very obvious signs something was happening. I've always been a bit slow when it comes to making sense of these things.

Anyway, it was a usual work day for me, we'd just finished prepping the venue ready for the arrival of the days touring crew. The bus had been outside for a few hours and it was raining, really wild Welsh rain. After sweeping the stage I snuck out of the stage door for a crafty cigarette. This was the moment my SO came striding down the loading bay. I remember thinking he looked cool in a fitted jacket and jeans unlike the usual cargo shorts and old tour t-shirt uniform. He introduced himself as Mike the tour manager and we discussed all of the regular necessities as the rest of the crew and musicians started waking up and emerging from the bus. Loading in turned out to be a bit of a mammoth task due to boring logistics and everyone was wet through by the time we'd gotten all of the hard work behind us. A tea run gives everyone the opportunity to warm up and Mike offered me a cigarette before things started getting technical setting up the stage. We started chatting and it turned out he also works as a sound engineer and that we'd worked one or two of the same gigs over the years just never working directly with each other or actually meeting each other. I have to admit I was impressed when he told me about some of his other work and thought about how he was in exactly the position I'd like to find myself professionally in a few years. It became clear we share lots of similar tastes and are motivated to work in the field we do for many of the same reasons.
Soundchecking is fun and Mike gave me a few hints on what to look out for and how to attack mixing the support bands. He told me I was doing a good job compared to the difficulties they'd had in previous venues. I start thinking about how I could be in for a bit of work with this guy, he's got a few years on me in work as well as life and he seems like a good person to learn from, apart from that he was so easy to get along with. After soundcheck I got myself some dinner and when it was done decided to go looking for some company and guess who I go looking for. Dinner finds us discovering more common ground. We both love the same modern poets and we're both total nerds for TV comedy. By the time it comes to the show we're giggling like old friends. He sat next to me while I mixed the support bands and I sat next to him while he did the headliners. I caught myself watching him more than watching what he was doing. I remember thinking it was funny the way he looked at the desk like it was trying to start an argument with him, it was clear he was working hard to be the best he could be and winning. By the time we came to loading out there was a real team atmosphere building battling the rain together. At one point I found Mike stood outside the stage door, in the rain, he offered me another cigarette. As we're talking people start joining the conversation and the jokes and banter are flowing. He's telling everyone about a crazy restaurant in London where the diners eat in total darkness having to guess what's on their plate. Then he starts hopping about excitedly and demonstrating to all his ability to craft a chicken from a towel. He had everyone's attention with this silly, funny display in the torrential rain. When I'm missing him now I often think of how cute he looked holding court giggling his way through this daft performance. I was amazed by his energy and confidence. It was like nothing could dampen his spirit. I was already starting to think how I really like this guy and how I'd like to spend a bit more time with him. But still I was telling myself I was only thinking in terms of friends/colleagues.

After a great show with all crew and musicians having had a fun day the touring crew start talking about taking the party atmosphere out on the town. I'm invited to come along as I'm drawing maps showing late night drinking establishments in the area. I often get asked out for post show shenanigans and always refuse after what can be a 16hr work day I'm usually feeling and looking pretty rough. This time however something or someone made me say yes.

When all the work was done it's just me and Mike left to walk into town, the rain was still making a bit of a show of itself but we walked slowly through town talking about books and food. We spent the rest of the night dancing badly and talking to random people. He asked me if I'd be interested in meeting him to check out the darkened restaurant he was telling us all about back at the venue. It sounds like an adventure to me so I instantly say yes. The penny still doesn't drop! Lots more crazy things happen and as we're all leaving the club at closing time the rest of the party move on to somebody's house, leaving me and Mike again alone, in the rain. We walk back to the venue with both of us planning to retire for the evening. As I bid him farewell he asked me if I was serious about meeting up next time he's working in London. He seemed surprised when I said yes. I was thinking now in terms of this being a date but as we exchanged numbers I convinced myself I was just meeting a guy to see if we could work together. We shook hands and part of me was telling me to not let go, but I pushed the thought back thinking he's so much older and he couldn't possibly be interested in me in that way, besides I had a boyfriend.

Over the next few weeks we kept good contact and as I thought about all of the things I've just written about and lots more I started to realise I had to break up with the boyfriend I had, which was hard because although we both wanted very different things he was always very sweet to me. The good news is we're still good friends and we're both much happier apart now than when we were together.

The story of when we finally met in London is a much better one but I'll save that for another day if anybody is interested.