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!
- Visiting his family means taking a trip abroad.
- You always get to celebrate Thanksgiving together, since it's not a holiday in other countries.
- You also get to celebrate foreign national holidays, like Bastille Day, for example. More excuses to party!
- He'll cook you a delicious meal whenever he wants to introduce you to one of his favorite dishes from back home.
- He reminds you why your country is so great, since he's decided to leave home and live here, after all.
- 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.
- You always have something to talk about: comparing even the simplest details of life here vs. there.
- 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.
- When his family visit from abroad, you can ask them to bring your favorite overseas delicacies.
- Getting your two families together feels like an exciting anthropological study and less like a chore.
- He'll encourage you to take long vacations, escape the American rat race, and appreciate the simple life.
- You'll expand your taste in music, discovering what other countries have to offer.
- 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.
- You have two teams to root for at the Olympics and World Cup.
- You can start following a whole new batch of famous foreign athletes and actors.
- You won't be totally out of the loop about current affairs, having some insight into international politics.
- And finally, you can say, "I love you," in two languages.