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But a chance encounter with a Russian man at a concert in Hanoi convinced her almost instantly that she had met her future husband.

After returning to Vietnam in 2021 following six years of study in Japan, the 27-year-old had grown accustomed to a work-focused, independent lifestyle. Surrounded by single friends and teachers, she had never felt pressure to date and devoted herself entirely to her studies.

She says: “Seventy percent of my teachers and friends in Japan were single. I too only focused on my studies”.

That certainty unraveled one autumn evening in 2023 when she met Arsenii Paramonov, a 34-year-old Russian mathematics teacher, at a concert in Hanoi. Amid the crowd, she noticed his calm presence, pale blue eyes and gentle demeanor. “He was like a prince straight out of a fairy tale,” she recalls.

Despite her limited English, she was the one to break the ice. When she learned he was single, she quietly made up her mind. “This man is definitely going to be my husband,” Huyen says.

She guided the conversation from music to shared experiences of living abroad, aware of how isolating life in a foreign country can be. Her confidence and thoughtful insights surprised him. As the concert ended she asked for his number and sent a thank-you text as soon as she got home.

For their first date, Huyen invited him for coffee at a café in the building where her family lived, hoping to reassure him of her background and intentions. “I wanted him to feel reassured that he was getting to know someone with a clear and reputable background,” she says.

Her warmth quickly melted away Paramonov’s initial hesitations.

As they talked, Arsenii shared stories of his upbringing in Saint Petersburg, his parents’ artistic careers, his studies in the U.K. and his eventual move to Vietnam to teach.

She listened carefully. Their afternoon coffee stretched into dinner at an eel noodle street vendor.

Seeing him in an old shirt with a phone with a cracked screen and lacking conventional “gentlemanly” gestures, like pulling out her chair or letting her go first, only made her more confident in her choice. She says: “He isn’t flashy and has little dating experience. My parents taught me to value personality over possessions.”

Never one to hide her feelings, Huyen made her move after their third date. “I really like you, and I want to see where [our relationship] could go,” she messaged him. “If you want that too, please let me know.” By that evening, he had sent a text agreeing to give it a try.

Their subsequent dates were filled with stories about the cultures of the countries they had both visited. Together, Huyen and her Russian companion explored famous landmarks in Hanoi and spent hours sampling the city’s street food. “Vietnam has felt more friendly and life has been much more joyful since she arrived,” he shares. To ensure she wasn’t doing all the work, Huyen gradually let him initiate texts and arrange their dates.

After three months, Huyen introduced her boyfriend to her older sister, whom Arsenii quickly won over with his calm demeanor and intellectual nature. However, Huyen’s sister still advised her to remain cautious, wary of any secrets he might be hiding. Taking this to heart, Huyen asked for her boyfriend’s passport and ID, and even reached out to acquaintances to verify his background. Once she was certain of his integrity, she finally took him home to Nam Dinh to meet her parents.

During the 2024 Lunar New Year holiday, Arsenii visited his girlfriend’s hometown, joining his future parents-in-law in chopping wood and wrapping banh chung. The cozy atmosphere of a Vietnamese family meal deeply moved the expat. “She values education and family, the very things I have always been looking for,” Arsenii says.

After six months together, Huyen proposed. Arsenii accepted immediately. With the help of a Russian interpreter, she formally sought his parents’ blessing. In August 2024, a year after they first met, the couple married and soon welcomed their first daughter.

However, cultural and personality differences occasionally caused friction. Huyen is an extrovert who loves sharing her life on social media, while Arsenii is more private. After some heated discussions, Huyen chose to scale back her online presence to focus on earning her second university degree. Arsenii, in turn, hired a domestic helper and cut back on personal spending so his wife could focus on her studies without worry.

“He may not be romantic, but he has never let me down,” Huyen said. As for Arsenii, he often jokes with his ife: “If you hadn’t talked to me that day, I’d probably still be single.”

A Vietnamese girl decided to marry a Russian guy after a chance meeting