Caroline and her husband Adrian

I rarely tell anyone that not only did I get married, but I have been married almost a year now. Because I think that most people believe that getting married is a very special and holy神圣的 thing, they will get startled 诧异；吃惊 or even shocked, if they hear my little getting-married story.

I didn’t tell any of my family members, not even my beloved sister, when I decided to marry my friend. One day we walked along the street and suddenly my friend turned to me and said “Why don’t we get married so that my country will never be able to refuse your getting into England.” I thought about a second and said “Why not.” So we did.

Tying the Knot  I felt that our lives were bound together 联结在一起 and nothing could ever easily break us away from each other.   Caroline

It was a fine afternoon when we got our marriage certificate 结婚证 and walked out the transnational marriage bureau 涉外婚姻登记处 in Nanjing. If you think that one must feel special the day when he/she gets married, then you are mistaken. My friend looked at me and smiled: So we are married now. I smiled back: Yes, we are.

If one has to feel special the day when he/she gets married, then that moment was my special moment. I felt that our lives were bound together 联结在一起 and nothing could ever easily break us away from each other. There were so many moments that only we ourselves could remember. I think it was all these accumulative 累积的 small moments and things that bonded us together. It was like I became the witness of his life in Shanghai in 2005 and 2006, and vice versa. Sometimes nothing could be sweeter than that.

The night when we went back to Shanghai, I called my sister on her mobile and told her I got married. She was not surprised at all. “This is just like you.” I felt relieved 松了一口气 that she didn’t blame me, and was convinced 确信 once again that no one could ever know me as much as she could. I didn’t tell my parents until the day before I left China. I didn’t know why but I did it anyway. Probably because I didn’t want them to make a fuss 虚张声势about my marriage, but I knew they would. As usual, my mother cried on the phone. My father asked me to look after myself and to remember who I could turn to if I was not happy. It was that moment that I couldn’t control my emotions and got very upset. But I knew it would pass and I would have to leave anyway. After all we all had to move on.

Just as Sweet  I felt as sweet, if not more, as those who had all of those things, and our relationship is as strong and special, if not more, as those who have gone through all the ceremonies.   Caroline

The first few weeks I arrived in England was difficult for me. The sort of isolated 孤立的 feeling haunted me once and again. The business prospect 生意前景 was quite slim 微小的 when looked in the cold and grim winter times. I started to doubt what I could achieve here, and as a result doubted if I had made the right decision to leave everything behind and try to start everything afresh 一切重新开始 in another totally different country. I felt there was just so much history of my friend in this environment that it was impossible for me to fit in. But somewhat I did in the end.

Soon it will have been two years that my friend and I have known each other and one year that we have married. Though probably we won’t take much effort to celebrate it, both of us believe it is memorable.

Now when I pass some glamorous wedding dress耀眼的婚礼服 shops, it is strange that I still don’t l regret that I never had the chance to wear a wedding gown 婚纱. Nor did I ever ask for a diamond ring钻戒. Nor a marriage celebration party. Nor exquisite 精致的,精巧的 marriage albums. Nor a luxurious 豪华的and romantic honeymoon trip. But believe it or not, the little marriage I had was sufficient enough for me. And I do think I felt as sweet, if not more, as those who had all of those things, and our relationship is as strong and special, if not more, as those who have gone through all the ceremonies.

Do you have a question or comment for Caroline? We will publish all your comments and questions on this pages.

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Send her a question by filling in the form at the top of the page or email us at chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

请填写上面的问题反馈表或发邮件给我们 chinaelt@bbc.co.uk

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文章中可能含有某些语法错误，这是因为这些撰稿者的母语不是英语。我们没有刻意纠正，因为我们希望采用作者的原话。