Cross Cultural Differences
“One of the challenges of relationship is to forgive the other for being different.” -Dr. Walkup
Understanding your own family culture seems like a strange thing to do. You may feel like a fish who is asked to describe water. You grew up in a world where when you celebrate a holiday, everybody in the family expects to show up and have huge amounts of food. But if your partner’s family never really took holidays seriously because they were working to make ends meet, she may not understand why you have to have the whole family over.
Similarly if your partner grew up in a quiet family who never got emotional, he might not understand why you feel it necessary to raise your voice all of the time. You may feel like it’s your nature and your temperament to gesticulate ardently and make a big thing of sometimes admittedly small issues. Yet your partner may feel that if you are this upset, you probably want to leave the marriage or at least need counseling.
When you have been swimming in water all of your life, you may not understand what walking on land is like. The culture that you grew up in, often seems like the “right way to do things.” Marrying a person from another culture than your own has become quite common. Many couples, who do so, find relationship or marriage counseling to be quite helpful. Some conscious awareness of how to understand and deal with cultural differences can save your marriage. Please feel free to explore some of the topics listed below to understand how to deal with the cultural differences in your marriage.
Dr. Walkup offers marriage and relationship counseling for cross cultural couples in Manhattan (New York City) and Bronxville in Westchester County, New York
Click below for other articles by Dr. Walkup on Cross Cultural Marriage
Was I Crazy to Marry Someone from a Different Culture?
One of the Best Kept Secrets for a Happy Marriage
10 Do’s For Creating a Happy Cross-Cultural Marriage
10 Don’ts for Building a Strong Cross-Cultural Marriage
Cultural Expectations Matter
Getting Your Own Needs Met in a Cross Cultural Marriage
Take a Problem Solving Approach
