A Cross-Cultural Relationship
This relationship that I have with wife has been a wonderful, exciting, and sometimes very stressful experience, but I know that meeting my wife and entering this relationship was the very best thing I have done in a long time.
I have experienced so many wonderful moments and adventures that I cannot begin to name them all, but at the same time, I have experienced very turbulent moments when we have had to deal with the cultural differences that exist in our lives.
When couples in America enter into relationships, they experience the drama of bringing two lives from different backgrounds together.
It is usually a trying experience and both have to work continuously to overcome some of the differences.
The one basic ingredient in the mix though, is that they are both American and for the most part, have lived life in the same cultural environment.
There is a motion of life that is common to the United States, but this motion is radically different from most other countries in the world.
This is not something that most Americans ever think about unless they have the experience of traveling internationally, and when they do experience it, they are usually very shocked.
When I first went to Russia, I was completely lost! Every aspect of how they did things was foreign to me.
I did not do anything correctly, and my wife scolded me continuously because I usually embarrassed her very much.
It was a wonderful learning experience and I would recommend it to anyone, but it was trying at the same time and I was only there for a week.
I later moved to Russia to live with her, and then experienced an emotional overload when I was bombarded with having to learn to function for myself in this radically different culture.
Each day contained moments of stress, depression, excitement, and wonder.
It was like living on an emotional roller coaster, but I survived it and matured into a more stable and confident person because of it.
Needless to say though, there were many trying moments in our marriage as a result of these differences.
After a year, I came back to the states to prepare for her coming to America.
It was very stressful re-adjusting to the fast pace of life in America, and I had another difficult time with that, but finally I got back into the rhythm of life here again and became productive once more.
Then she came, and my rhythm was once again interrupted.
Now the roles were reversed and I was the one having to coach her about how to live in America, and the roller coaster began again.
She has now been here a year, and we have been married for two years, but our life together has been one of swapping extremes, me adjusting to life in Russia and her adjusting to life in America.
The roller coaster continues, but I must admit, I have learned to enjoy the ride.
So back to what I was saying before, it is difficult enough for two individuals here in the states to combine their lives and learn to live together.
Just try and imagine, although you really cannot if you haven't experienced it, how much more is involved combining two lives and combining the vast cultural differences that exist between America and Russia.
We are happy though because we love each other and we have committed our lives to one another.
Any situation less than this would be really difficult to survive when it comes to cross-cultural relationships because there are many, many problems that come into the relationship due to cultural differences, that are in additional to normal relationship difficulties.
I am extremely happy with my wife though, and she seems to be happy with me.
We both try very hard at times to understand our differences and overcome them, but them on the flip side, there are times when we are just two people in love and building a family together, and we enjoy these very much.
I would do this relationship again in a heartbeat, but I would sincerely like to point out the fact that a cross-cultural relationship brings many more issues to the table than a like-nationality relationship would have.
I have experienced so many wonderful moments and adventures that I cannot begin to name them all, but at the same time, I have experienced very turbulent moments when we have had to deal with the cultural differences that exist in our lives.
When couples in America enter into relationships, they experience the drama of bringing two lives from different backgrounds together.
It is usually a trying experience and both have to work continuously to overcome some of the differences.
The one basic ingredient in the mix though, is that they are both American and for the most part, have lived life in the same cultural environment.
There is a motion of life that is common to the United States, but this motion is radically different from most other countries in the world.
This is not something that most Americans ever think about unless they have the experience of traveling internationally, and when they do experience it, they are usually very shocked.
When I first went to Russia, I was completely lost! Every aspect of how they did things was foreign to me.
I did not do anything correctly, and my wife scolded me continuously because I usually embarrassed her very much.
It was a wonderful learning experience and I would recommend it to anyone, but it was trying at the same time and I was only there for a week.
I later moved to Russia to live with her, and then experienced an emotional overload when I was bombarded with having to learn to function for myself in this radically different culture.
Each day contained moments of stress, depression, excitement, and wonder.
It was like living on an emotional roller coaster, but I survived it and matured into a more stable and confident person because of it.
Needless to say though, there were many trying moments in our marriage as a result of these differences.
After a year, I came back to the states to prepare for her coming to America.
It was very stressful re-adjusting to the fast pace of life in America, and I had another difficult time with that, but finally I got back into the rhythm of life here again and became productive once more.
Then she came, and my rhythm was once again interrupted.
Now the roles were reversed and I was the one having to coach her about how to live in America, and the roller coaster began again.
She has now been here a year, and we have been married for two years, but our life together has been one of swapping extremes, me adjusting to life in Russia and her adjusting to life in America.
The roller coaster continues, but I must admit, I have learned to enjoy the ride.
So back to what I was saying before, it is difficult enough for two individuals here in the states to combine their lives and learn to live together.
Just try and imagine, although you really cannot if you haven't experienced it, how much more is involved combining two lives and combining the vast cultural differences that exist between America and Russia.
We are happy though because we love each other and we have committed our lives to one another.
Any situation less than this would be really difficult to survive when it comes to cross-cultural relationships because there are many, many problems that come into the relationship due to cultural differences, that are in additional to normal relationship difficulties.
I am extremely happy with my wife though, and she seems to be happy with me.
We both try very hard at times to understand our differences and overcome them, but them on the flip side, there are times when we are just two people in love and building a family together, and we enjoy these very much.
I would do this relationship again in a heartbeat, but I would sincerely like to point out the fact that a cross-cultural relationship brings many more issues to the table than a like-nationality relationship would have.
