She came to the US to work as a nanny for another of our good friends who met his wife in Haiti while working for the State Department. He and his wife thought they would be a good match, so they were introduced and married shortly thereafter.
Personally, I think he got married because he was very lonely and insecure. From what I have observed, their marriage is without affection - almost entirely a business arrangement. I believe that he is trying to convince himself that his marriage is sound, even though I think deep down he knows it's love-less.
His henpecking ramped up a notch after his trip to Shanghai. For months afterward he was urging me to go there and "rescue" a Chinese woman by marrying her and bringing her back to the U.S. Even after I told him that such a marriage arrangement wouldn't work for me, he kept insisting "you can make yourself love her - I did with my wife." He just doesn't accept my reasons for not wanting such a thing.
He's a self-described Liberal, but he's pretty much the most conservative friend I have. Take his views on arranged marriage and add a heaping dose of predeterminism and a sharp disdain for science. Sometimes being a friend is hard.
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