How are you "preparing" for your international relationship (culture related) ?

[Verojoon]

Need to start learning the language (french). We also have a huge culture gap but he doesnt know about it (yet).

French is my native tongue. Je peux t'aider!

[Verojoon]

My other half is Hispanic, so his world is very different to my own in some ways. He's experienced a culture I never have before, and he also has different types of food to what I have over in the UK. His ancestry is extremely varied and he has all manner of nationalities running through his family: Mexican, Cherokee Indian, not to mention Irish, English and a number of other European nationalities, whereas I'm English on my father's side and have a tiny bit of my mother's side in me too (she's originally from Iraq, but her family was mainly English and it's only my mother's father and his part of the family that was originally from there, but that's another story). I guess I could work on my Spanish a bit more, since although he's not fluent, he can speak more than I can at least xD.

wow! I love the mix of cultures you both have! What a rich and diverse background!

[Nbaby]

French is my native tongue. Je peux t'aider!

Teach me master! Just what i need a french speaking canadian lol.

[Verojoon]

Just what i need a french speaking canadian lol.

LOL! Most people who say that, are saying it sarcastically!!

[Nbaby]

LOL! Most people who say that, are saying it sarcastically!!

Oh i am not sarcastic at all lol. He is french-canadian. So i could actually learn a lot from u . Im south american living in europe. I dont think there is a huge difference between the european and canadian culture. But there is a huge difference in my own culture ( not european ) and his.

[milaya]

Since my major at university is Japan studies, I don't think I actually could get more "involved" XD
I speak Japanese without any major problems, I study Japanese society, history and culture. I've studied abroad in Japan and all in all been to Japan around 10 times. We only communicate in Japanese and I often make Japanese food - when we're in Japan I often only make Japanese food. I have a lot of Japanese friends - especially those friendships I made during my exchange in Japan - so I'm able to have a broader picture of the Japanese people, besides just my SO and his family.

Looking at the reports I've written during my University time, I should especially have good knowledge concerning the history and analysis about the women's right in Japan, young Japanese people's view on international marriages, the Japanese educational system and the history and opinions about suicide in Japan ...

[lademoiselle]

Need to start learning the language (french).

Moi aussi!

[roosie]

This has been on my mind a lot lately, after spending two months with my SO this summer. I'm a Finn, he is half Chinese (Hongkonger), half English and 1/4 Irish.. Yes I know my maths don't quite add up. His friends always say that he has got the worst of both worlds and I do admit it's quite a mix sometimes. My SO is a terrible teaser and really funny in a quirky way, I often say that it must come from his Iris side. His dad's Irish family is known for being a bunch of tormentors. His late grandpa particularly enjoyed making people cry. He has great family stories about a group of comedians who traveled around the UK entertaining people and but got tired of it and decided to become animal stuffers (?!). His uncle also went to pick up the newspaper one morning and out of whim decided to join the Navy.. He was never seen again. Oh yeah and his grandfather from his mum's Chinese side was a Kung Fu master.

Well anyways, back to topic. Since my SO has lived in three different countries, England, Hong Kong and Australia, he doesn't have strong ties to anywhere. He has always felt quite rootless. It's strange to me because even though I've never been that patriotic, I do feel proud of my culture and I'm happy to show my country to my SO. I always want to know more about his background and I ask silly questions all the time to understand him better but it's hard to educate myself about his culture as he doesn't have only one. It's difficult to say where he is from as he has spent almost the same amount of time in both England and Hong Kong. I would say he is more English because he only speaks English and language is definitely a big part of one's identity but then sometimes he also acts very Chinese. I've studied Chinese and I'm minoring in Southeast Asian studies which helps me to understand his Chinese side more as well as helps me deal with the cultural clashes I sometimes experience while living in Hong Kong.

We have quite a lot of cultural differences but they are usually so small that it takes us time to understand that it's also a cultural difference and not just a personality difference. Some are more obvious though, like my SO always complains that I'm very impolite because I don't say 'please' or 'thank you' all the time and it hurts his English heart. Well what can you do, our impossibly complicated language has about thousand words for each things but no equivalent for the word 'please'. What sounds polite enough for me, sounds quite rude to him. It's the little things that take most work. Most of the time I love it though as I've always been fascinated about different cultures and I'm majoring in history and social sciences, with a strong point in cultural exchange. I often shamelessly take advantage of him in my studies.

Despite the difficulties I love the fact that he has such a diverse background. It has enriched my life in so many ways - some days he makes me watch some old English shows or stand up comedy, the other times we cook incredibly delicious Chinese food together.. and then he makes me scrambled eggs, bacon and beans for the breakfast. I wouldn't change it.

[TwoThree]

Interesting thread.

I am trying to learn Finnish. Really trying. But it's not going very well, as other people hinted at in this thread. It is really very difficult, and I haven't been able to muster enough motivation to advance much, lately.

Algerian and Finnish societies are like night and day, so what I'm doing is mentally preparing myself for a big culture shock, and hope for the best. I have been to Finland several time but visiting isn't the same as living somewhere. I don't think I can do anything else.

[Dutch girl]

My girl is Finnish, I'm Dutch. Together, we speak English (of course) but we tried to learn some of eachothers language. It's so different and has no similarities at all. It's hard! Hope to learn Finnish in the future...

[Carenza LaRue]

I am from the Netherlands and he is from the USA.

so far so good...... we share a lot of 'same values' but he is more conservative than I am
things he would never do, are natural to me..... he says I am flirting but I see it as being friendly for example.

at the moment I am reading as much as I can about the USA. and I am amazed to see there is are differences between our cultures.
I had never expected that really....

Until I met my SO, I was never interested in the US.... but I have to admit, the country.... or better said his state, New Jersey, becomes more attractive to me by the minute.

[Sukkerklumpen]

My SO's culture and mine are entirely opposite. I am from the Caribbean, he is Scandinavian, and I LOVE it! It gives me the opportunity to learn all about his culture and an entirely new place I hadn't even thought about (before knowing him) and it also helps me to see things from THEIR point of view, which is quite interesting. I have done a lot of research when it concerns in learning the language which I really wanted to do before actually moving there but, I haven't been able to find an institution that teaches it over here. He has taught me a lot about their culture, their language, dialects, every day life, religion, politics, economics, gastronomy...He is a great teacher Recently I recreated the traditional Norwegian plate of "kjøttkaker" ( It is REALLY good! ) at home and it turned out great. I really want to delve more in the gastronomy of Norway. It is afterall, a delicious way to getting to know another culture ;D !

[Inspirement]

I'm from Sweden and she's Australian, but even though we're a world apart, the biggest difference in our cultures I think is the lack of snow in Australia and the abundance of it we get here xD

[Karura]

Even though I'm portuguese I've been living in Macau almost my entire life and the Chinese culture is very different from the South America one. I know my SO and his family are very tight so I'm hoping to warm up to them (totally nervous about meeting them XP). The chinese aren't very warm, they are more distant when it comes to relations but ever since I've started studiing here in Portugal the people here are so welcoming and friendly it has helped me warm up and be more open. I've noticed a few culture differences that make me feel uncomfortable sometimes but those are uncommon so it's fine, plus since my father is Portuguese I'm not a complete stranger to the portuguese culture.
We're right next to Spain and our language is very similar so I don't have trouble understanding Spanish (I've been practicing a little ever since I've started a romantic relation with my SO), however I can't say the same for him as he can barely understand portuguese (only a few words sometimes). We talk in English but his parents don't speak it so it makes me somewhat worried they won't understand me very well even though my SO tells me not to be.
In about 3 months I'll be going to Chile so we'll see how things go. =)

[Tooki]

My first post was an epic fail.

I've (very slowly) tried to learn Estonian. It's very similar to Finnish, and it's just as painful to learn. It doesn't help that my GF stubbornly wants to communicate in only English with me. She speaks English at a high level, but she has learnt some Australian colloquialisms.

Apart from that, I have tried to learn about her culture. I've picked up little things, and I've also eaten (and enjoyed) Estonian food immensely. I know the basics about Estonian history and I'm reading some books written by an American who married an Estonian and moved to Estonia to get another outsider perspective.

Our respective cultures are quite different, but they are very compatible with each other. There isn't anything in our cultures that prevents one another from living in the others environment.