In today’s society, the world really is getting smaller. As we
leap from one technological breakthrough to the next, we find
that within micro-seconds we can transfer information from one
side of the earth to the other. We can live on one continent and
be employed by a company on another. Air-travel means that many
people are part of a global workforce that commutes around the
globe attending meetings in every international outpost of the
company.
This minimizing the world is filtering slowly down through the
professional world, and into our personal lives. No longer are
we of the mind set that we will one day grow up and marry the
boy next door. It happens, but it’s just as likely to marry the
boy in the next State, or next country …….or the one who lives
on the other side of the world. The Internet is probably the
biggest influencing factor on current day international dating.
Throughout history there have been mail-order brides. From the
women who were sent to the colonies, to the women who answered
small ads from ranchers out west, and more recently, the Russian
(and I’m sure other nationalities) who place ads of their own
looking for a partner outside of their homelands. Despite this
history, finding a mate through some form of media has
maintained a “desperate” image – as if the person seeking is
unable to find someone to have them locally. The Internet, even
with its reputation for “adult” sites has somehow managed to
remove some of the stigma, and there is now a healthy and
steadily growing international dating scene.
The big question is always “Can international dating lead to
anything permanent”? The answer to this is a resounding YES!
Many people are prepared to take a chance on love, and move
themselves and their lives to be closer to their overseas loved
one. Those who do this find that they are suddenly face-to-face
on a daily basis with the name they’ve been typing too for a
period of time, learning how to co-habit with someone who is
physically a stranger, whilst at the same time learning how to
handle living in a new country. By far the worst of this is
being removed from family, and taking the place of communicating
with your partner online, you now spend your time communicating
with your family online instead!
There are still many people who regard international dating as
desperate, and deem any relationship that comes of such an
enterprise to be a failure waiting to happen. Ok, so it might
happen, but there are never any guarantees in the love and
romance game. Even if you shared a sandbox with the partner you
marry, there’s no guarantee that the flame wont go out and one
day you’ll wake up and find you have nothing in common with the
person who shares your life, your home, your bed. In the best of
situations, things go wrong. If the relationship came from an
exercise in internet dating, the fallout is messier because then
someone is left in a strange country with little by way of
personal support system. They then face the situation of either
toughing it out in their new country if the local immigration
laws permit, or they can return to their homeland and face
unemployment amidst the “I told you so” looks of friends.
For every naysayer on whether international dating can turn into
a permanent loving relationship, there are two people who can
stand together and say “It can work. We are proof of it!”
Whether you’re looking for a long-term relationship, or just a
little cultural difference, internet dating can offer you the
opportunity to meet up with potential partners who may just be
the person you’ve spent your life seeking!
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