This entire year has been a struggle for me. I'm a freelancer, and business is down dramatically. I can hardly pay my bills. I rarely talk about it, but the holidays are approaching, and I cannot show up the way I usually do with gifts for everyone. I barely have the cash to get to my hometown to be with the family. The thing is, everyone thinks of me as the successful one, the one who moved to the big city and made it.
For cross-cultural marriages, traditions from both backgrounds often dictate aspects such as wedding ceremonies, gender roles, career ambitions, and family dynamics. As a result, couples frequently navigate differences in expectations and traditions to foster their foundation. This blending of traditions necessitates ongoing negotiation and compromise. Partners learn to recognize which aspects of their respective cultures are most meaningful and decide together how to integrate (or adapt) them within their shared lives.