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- Gemma has been in a long-distance relationship since she met her fiancé who is originally from China while she was on holiday in Mozambique.
- The couple got engaged a year ago and planned to start a life together in China.
- Sadly, Covid-19 has left them unable to live together - Gemma is still in South Africa and her partner in China.
I have been in a long-distance relationship for a year and a half and engaged for a year of that (got engaged last year, May).
We met while I was on holiday in Mozambique and I lived in Cape Town at the time. For most of our relationship, we've been flying between Cape Town and Mozambique and would meet in Johannesburg as it was only one flight away on either side.
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I am South African, and he is Chinese. We planned our future and decided to relocate to Beijing, China. He would be going back home after three years, and I would join him.
After months of planning, his transfer from Maputo to Beijing was approved, and I completed my TEFL course and got a job teaching English in China. I resigned from my company in Cape Town and packed up my life and moved to JHB to spend time with my family before finalizing my move to China.
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He left Mozambique on the 5th of March, and I was planning to leave the middle of April and join him to start our new life and adventure, but The pandemic and lockdown has halted all my plans and changed everything.
I have been in limbo in Johannesburg for a while now and can't plan anything right now. With no idea, if I will be able to move and still teach in Beijing or even knowing when I will be seeing him is hard and puts such a strain on our relationship - one of the biggest things that always made us feel we got this was the next plan to see each other and build on our plans. Now that's out of the window!
For now, our daily video calls and updates on how our days are going is all that's keeping us connected!
What's your lockdown love story? Tell us about it here.
*Name changed to protect Gemma's identity.
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