Forget American Guys, Here's Why You Should Date a Foreigner

I'm an all-American girl. In fact, my mom and aunt were both born on the Fourth of July, and I own practically everything you can with an American flag on it . . . bathing suits, tablecloths, bandannas. Yet somehow I ended up married to a man with a US Green Card and a foreign passport. Luckily, that comes with perks. Over the past six years together, I've become well-versed in the benefits of dating someone who was born and raised in a different country and speaks English as a second language. Here are the top benefits of dating a foreigner, based on my experience dating — and then marrying — a Frenchman. If you have your own international love, I hope you can relate!

  1. Visiting his family means taking a trip abroad.
  2. You always get to celebrate Thanksgiving together, since it's not a holiday in other countries.
  3. You also get to celebrate foreign national holidays, like Bastille Day, for example. More excuses to party!
  4. He'll cook you a delicious meal whenever he wants to introduce you to one of his favorite dishes from back home.
  5. He reminds you why your country is so great, since he's decided to leave home and live here, after all.
  6. You'll realize how ridiculous some of your laws and traditions are, like not being able to drink in a public park and huge restaurant portions.
  7. You always have something to talk about: comparing even the simplest details of life here vs. there.
  8. You'll crack up trying to explain sports like baseball to him. It will sound like you're making up the rules as you go along.
  9. When his family visit from abroad, you can ask them to bring your favorite overseas delicacies.
  10. Getting your two families together feels like an exciting anthropological study and less like a chore.
  11. He'll encourage you to take long vacations, escape the American rat race, and appreciate the simple life.
  12. You'll expand your taste in music, discovering what other countries have to offer.
  13. As you start to pick up the language more, you'll notice when the English subtitles are different than what the actors are saying and feel like your mind is blown.
  14. You have two teams to root for at the Olympics and World Cup.
  15. You can start following a whole new batch of famous foreign athletes and actors.
  16. You won't be totally out of the loop about current affairs, having some insight into international politics.
  17. And finally, you can say, "I love you," in two languages.