Moving in together is a natural thing for loving couples to do, but their reasons sometime differ.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='250' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='../images/photos2009/nn20091215f4a.jpg' WIDTH='250' HEIGHT='188'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Started with cat spat: Nicole Despres, Kentaro Anzai and their son, Oscar Kenzo Anzai, pose in their Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, home last month. </B> MINORU MATSUTANI PHOTO</FONT></TD> </TR> </TABLE> </PHOTO> <PARAGRAPH>American Nicole Despres, 35, works as an administrator at Temple University's Tokyo campus. She and Kentaro Anzai, 32, a Yokohama municipal employee, dated for a while, took a round-the-world trip and then discussed moving in together.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Nicole's biggest motivation was just to live together and have a cat. But Kentaro was thinking about far more than a feline. That led to a big fight, followed just a day later by his marriage proposal. Nicole said 'yes' on the spot.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The couple have a son, Oscar Kenzo Anzai, 2, who is excited about becoming a big brother next May. They live in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH><B>When did you come to Japan?</B></PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH> <B>Nicole: </B>I first came to Japan in 1995 to study at Waseda University for a year. I went back to the U.S., got a job offer from sporting goods maker Mizuno Corp. and returned to Japan in October 1997 to work for the company. I was in the sports promotion department in the international section.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH><B>What was your interest in Japan?</B></PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH><B>Nicole: </B>I studied French for seven years until the end of high school and felt that was enough French. I felt like learning a language that does not use the 'ABCs,' so I majored in Japanese at my university. I wasn't sure how long I would stay in Japan; I just wanted to have the experience of working overseas. </PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH><B>When did the two of you meet?</B></PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH><B>Nicole: </B>We met in May 2001 at a gathering of triathletes in Sugamo –

. I had been involved in triathlon for two or three years.

Kentaro: It was my first or second time to join the triathlon training group when we met. She and I both lived in Oizumi Gakuen (in Nerima Ward, Tokyo). She taught me how to swim.

When and how did you propose?

Nicole: The proposal was in July 2005. But first, we began talking about moving in together because Kentaro changed his workplace from Oizumi to Yokohama.