International Advantages

So far in my experience, there have not been many advantages having an international relationship. I won't bore you with the predictable disadvantages (plane tickets! moving! language barriers!), but instead I want to shed some light on some unexpected advantages.

Sports Fans
Some hard core fans would recommend dating outside your own conference, because how could an Eagles fan like myself live happily in the same house as a Cowboys fan? How about a Yankees/Red Sox romance? When dating an American, you always find out early where your potential partner's loyalty lies. For me, that was never a problem. Aron didn't know the difference between National and American League baseball, so it was relatively easy to convince him that the Phillies were the best (especially after their World Series win!) baseball team. I also had no loyalties within the Eredivisie (Dutch soccer league), so I had no problem accepting that Ajax Amsterdam was the best.

The only time our nationalities have influenced our sports viewing pleasure was during the 2010 Winter Olympics. Dutch hearts everywhere were broken when Sven Kramer WENT IN THE WRONG LANE! OMG THE WORLD JUST ENDED!!!! We were with a lot of family when the US speed skaters faced the Dutch team in the semi-final men's relay. The winner would race for gold and the loser would race for bronze. After much trash talking before the race, (not from me, for once) the room got pretty quiet as the US led by one second, then by two, and I forget the final difference, but their hearts were broken again. USA finished with silver, and the Dutch team won bronze with a faster time than the US and whoever won gold. Hearts. Broken.

No In-Law Competitions
I have seen some pretty hard-to-deal with in laws. Grandparents insisting that they want to see their new granddaughter AT LEAST every two weeks. Heck, I've even heard of a woman who's MIL can't even be in the same room as her own family. No matter how terrible or wonderful your in-laws are, it's always a balancing act, trying to make sure one set isn't favored over the other. And if step parents are also involved, my heart goes out to you. I can't imagine balancing three or four sets of parents! And that's good, because I don't have to balance ANY!!! Which parents should we go to for Christmas? EASY! The parents that are in the same country as us. Whose turn is it to babysit the Little Monster? SAME ANSWER! The only balancing we have to do is alternate Christmases. EASY! Seriously, if you have in-law issues, I would try to convince one to move far, far away. It sure has made my life just a little bit easier.