Finding love abroad – Janina & Raphael’s EF love story

Traveling abroad is always an adventure – one that holds new surprises each time. For Janina and Raphael one of those surprises was finding love along the way. Read on to find out how their paths first crossed at EF San Diego and how their love story developed.

Where are you both from and why did you decide to study with EF?

Janina: We’re both from Switzerland and both of us wanted to improve our English for education purposes.

Can you tell us about when you first met? How did you both communicate at first?

Raphael: We met each other on the first day Janina transferred from Hawaii to San Diego, on the 5th of May. We were hanging out, as Janina already knew some of my friends, so I started the conversation. At first we talked in English until we realized that we‘re both from Switzerland.

How about telling us about your first date?

Janina: Raphael asked me to be his prom date in front of his whole class, and a week later we went to prom night together. It was amazing, we danced and had a lot of fun. It was very romantic spending the night together on the boat, seeing stars and just being arm in arm.

How did studying with EF benefit you?

Raphael & Janina: We improved our English and met a lot of good people who we are still friends with.

What advice would you give to anyone that wants to study with EF but might be nervous or unsure?

Janina: It‘s better to get out of your comfort zone and live. It‘s the only way to really get to know yourself. There are always 100 reasons to say no, so stick to the reasons to say yes.

Where do you think you would be if you hadn’t traveled with EF?

Raphael: I‘d still have the same lame job I used to have. With EF I’ve grown and had the courage to quit and move forward.

Janina: I’ve learned to ignore other opinions and focus on my own. I’ve also learned to strengthen my self-confidence.

We’ve now been together for over a year and have already traveled to a lot of places together. We still live 1.5 hours away from each other, but due to Corona and home office/online school we get to see each other every day.