After returning to Germany, she couldn't wait to go on another adventure. Working on her master's thesis at the University of Illinois provided the next opportunity. During this stint in Champaign, which she was sure would be her last ever, Silke met Shaun, and the rest is history. These days, Silke is working on her PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology at the University of Illinois, and is hoping to get a job in human resource consulting after her graduation. She is still marveling at the turns life takes, and is truly grateful for all the factors that had to be in place for her and Shaun to meet.
Shaun was born on June 3, 1978, and grew up in Portage, Indiana. He started taking German classes in high school when he was 14. When he was 17, Shaun went to Germany on an exchange program. He spent a month in the small town of Rockenhausen and took trips to some nearby cities, including Heidelberg. (Meanwhile, Silke was off in the US on vacation.)
Shaun studied mathematics in college at Purdue University Calumet, but somehow fell into programming. After college, he moved to Champaign to work for Wolfram Research, and shortly thereafter started working on Gnome, the graphical desktop environment for GNU/Linux. After spending one too many evenings in front of the computer, Shaun decided to learn to dance. As fate would have it, Shaun's work on Gnome was about to take him back to Germany for a conference just as he met Silke, who graciously (and flirtatiously) offered him her apartment in Heidelberg while she was still finishing up her Master's thesis in Champaign.
How we met
When Silke returned to Champaign to work on her master's thesis in January 2005, she started taking Salsa classes again. As fate would have it, Shaun had caught the dancing bug not long before that. We started seeing each other at the weekly Salsa dances, but didn't really talk. When both of us were taking a Rueda (Cuban-style Salsa that is danced in a circle) class in April, we both participated in a demo of the dance during the Dancing Illini Graduation Dance. That night, things finally got rolling. We started going to dances together, often talking, laughing, and dancing on the street for hours after the dance was over. A whirlwind week of dates every night – including an impromptu trip to Indianapolis to see a live jazz band, lots of late night movies, and some nudging from Yue, Erika, and Mary – finally led to our first kiss on May 14, 2005. We've been dancing ever since.
How we got engaged
In August 2006, we decided to do something nice on the weekend before Silke would embark on her first year as a PhD student. As it happened, Mingo Fishtrap, one of Shaun's favorite funk bands, gave a small concert in St. Louis that Saturday. Even though it initially rained that night (and the concert was outside), we enjoyed a beautiful evening with sweet delicious funk and lots of dancing. On our way back to the hotel, Shaun took a detour through Kiener Plaza, a small park right next to our hotel. Shaun said he just wanted to take a picture of us in front of the Old Courthouse framed by the Arch, and set up the camera with a timer on a big planter, while Silke was waiting for him. When Shaun turned around, he took the ring out of his pocket, kneeled down, and proposed to Silke (who still remembers each and every word he said). Needless to say, Silke said yes… As we were hugging and kissing, a homeless guy approached us – he was the first to congratulate us and wished us "a lifetime of happiness." The next morning, when calling her mom, Silke told her "You're the first people to know – after the homeless guy!"
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