National

He traveled more than 4,500 miles for a shot at love

The couple lives a fairly normal life in Atlanta, but it hasn't always been that way...

ATLANTA — Siana and Alex are were wed earlier this year and currently live in a quaint apartment in the Atlanta neighborhood of Virginia-Highland.

While Alex is doing research for his PhD at Georgia Institute of Technology, Siana is in studios with paint-covered fingers. He’s a scientist and she’s an artist.

These newlyweds live a seemly normal life, but Siana explained that it hasn’t always been this way.

“This is the first time in our entire relationship that we have had a calm period. Our love story is unlike any other. You’ll need to pay attention because nothing about our story is traditional or make sense. I love our story, but it’s a lot to digest," she said.

TRENDING STORIES:

Back in 2014, Alex, who is originally from Germany, found himself itching for an adventure. He needed to get out of Germany to clear his head. This prompted his spur-of-the-moment trip to Indonesia.

Alex explained to us that although he considers himself an organized, prepared individual, he prefers to travel in a spontaneous fashion.

“I am the kinda traveler who follows the sun. Wherever the sun is up, that is where I’m going. Because I travel spontaneously, I spend a lot of time looking for places to stay. When I was in Indonesia, I was having so much trouble finding a hostel that wasn’t completely booked. Luckily, I came across a huge hostel that had a spot for me. I was staying in a room with six or eight people. The people I was staying with were in Siana’s travel group," he said.

Siana spent two years in China, teaching English in local schools. During the time period that she met Alex, she was enjoying her Chinese New Year time off with a little traveling.

Siana’s friends who were bunking with Alex invited him to hang out with them that day and also invited him to join them for dinner. This is where Siana and Alex first met. It was far from love at first sight.

“I honestly though Alex was so incredibly annoying. He just wouldn’t leave me alone. He was constantly joining my conversations or making a point to sit next to me. During dinner, he kept putting his greasy fingers in my face. He was seriously driving me crazy. I couldn’t believe that my friends thought it was a good idea to bring him along," she said.

Alex’s first impression of Siana was the complete opposite. He knew she was special from their first interaction

“In Germany, everyone is the same. No, seriously, I’m not just saying that. Everyone looks the same, everyone is white. It’s a very homogeneous community. When I saw Siana, she was one of the first African-American women that I had ever seen. I though she was so very beautiful. Beyond how hot she was, her personality is what really drew me in. One night in the common area of the hostel that we were at, everyone came to the common area to hang out. I was playing guitar, Siana was playing ukulele. And her voice…she has the most incredible singing. There were 30 or 40 Indonesian children that were singing along while we played. It was a really special night," he said.

After spending 10 days together, Siana warmed up to Alex and was actually quite upset that she had to go back to China. She didn’t know how to label their relationship or how it would even work. He lived in Germany. She lived in China. It just wasn’t realistic.

After coming to this conclusion, you could imagine Siana’s shock when Alex told her that he was moving to China. She remembers it like this.

“He was in Germany getting his master’s, and he said he wanted to write his master’s thesis abroad. He messaged me and told me that he has sold everything, got someone to rent his flat, and got his professors to approve his move to China. I couldn’t believe that he was actually moving to China," she said.

While Alex prepared for his big move, Siana decided that she wanted to follow her one true passion: music. She gave up her management position with the school where she taught and moved close to the venue where she consistently performed.

Her music career in China immediately took off. She was getting consistent gigs at high-end locations. The community was blown away by her talent, and she quickly became the girl everyone wanted to know.

When Alex eventually arrived in China, Siana was too wrapped up in her music career to appreciate this grand gesture.

“I hit my stupid phase really quick. I didn’t want to hang out with Alex. I didn’t want to make time for Alex. I didn’t want to invite Alex to any of my shows. I wanted to date other people, and I just really didn’t care that he was even in China. I treated him like crap. It got really bad and eventually, he ended up just moving back to Germany. After he left, I realized I has just made the biggest mistake of my life," she said.

Alex was heartbroken when he left China. He knew that their relationship could have lasted a lifetime, but clearly, he and Siana were just not on the same page.

“I wanted to forget about her. I wanted to move on. The whole thing felt awful. And the funny thing was, she kept trying to talk to me. I just wanted her to leave me alone. I wanted to focus on getting my master’s and pretend like I had never met her. I was doing a good job at that until 10 months later, when I booked my next trip to Burma. Siana had said I needed to visit Burma because it was so beautiful. While I was booking my trip, I just couldn’t get her out of my head," he said.

The stars finally aligned for these soulmates. While Alex was thinking about his lost love, Siana was thinking about him.

“During the time that Alex was booking his trip to Burma, I was extremely sick in China. While I was sick, I just couldn’t get Alex out of my head. He is all that I could think about. Nothing like that had ever happened before. I figured the only way to clear my head would be to send him an email. The email I sent was five or six pages long that explained everything. I owned up to everything that I had done, and I did my best to express how truly sorry I was. If I ever wanted to right my wrongs, this email was completely necessary," she said.

Alex was shocked to receive the email, but he replied immediately. The email said everything he had wanted to hear a year earlier.

Ever since that email, they have not missed a day of talking.

While Siana was figuring out her next big life decision, she moved to Germany to be with Alex. While in Germany, Alex proposed atop a deserted mountaintop covered in heart-shaped lanterns and candles. Siana, choking through her tears, answered “yes” with no hesitation. She wasn’t going anywhere this time.

Their love had crossed countless borders, and they wanted that portrayed through their nuptials. The couple had a beautiful Indian wedding that celebrated all the cultures they experienced though their travels across the world.

Although Alex and Siana were very open to the different cultures and races that they encountered, their interracial relationship was met with hesitation and disapproval once they moved to the United States. As Siana puts it:

“It was shocking that our interracial relationship was met with such negativity. I thought because we moved to such a metropolitan city, our relationship would be celebrated. I was wrong. I have been called terrible names and questioned because I married a non-African American man. It got to the point where I wouldn’t hold Alex’s hand in public to avoid the stares and snickers. It hurt. It hurt that I was insecure about myself, my marriage, my life. It wasn’t until Alex and I sat down and talked about it, that I knew we had to be on the same team and ignore all the negativity. He’s my whole world, and I’m going to stand by him.”

Siana wanted to share any advice for interracial, intercultural relationships that may be experiencing the hurt she and Alex went through:

“You have to talk about it with your partner. Open communication is key. You have to be aware that unfortunately, the negativity is going to happen, and that not everyone is going to celebrate your relationship. You and your partner are on the same team, and you have to remember that. If you are confident in one another, you should never let others tear you apart. Love can endure trials and tribulations. Don’t let closed-minded people ruin something beautiful. Alex is my best friend, my husband and my partner, forever.”

This article was written by Rare Life, an outlet also owned by WSB-TV's parent company, Cox Media Group.