“I don’t like this place.”
“It’s your new home, Hannah! You chose this.”
“I chose a person, not the place and culture. I don’t change as an individual, because I like a particular person. I’m not compelled to adopt a different culture and lifestyle.”
“Girls do it everywhere, when they marry in a different country, and excel in it.”
“What if I don’t like it? Why are girls penalized and made to feel guilty about being themselves – or express their deeply felt views?”
“Marriages are doomed,” thought Hansen, “and effort needed to come from all sides, to make it work.”
Creative Experiments and More 
So much depends on the will to make it work. Sometimes very hard. Nice debatable take.
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I agree. Thanks, Indira!
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Part of the ongoing debate about whether newcomers adopt all customs and mores of their host country. Frankly, why should they? I’m not sure Hansen doesn’t need to think more on this.
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Complexities galore ….
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Couples need to be on the same page about certain things. If you feel you can’t be yourself it’s probably not the best math. Good piece.
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I’ve seen couples discuss who will pay the mortgage EMIs before they get married. I think it makes sense. Saves a lot of trouble later.
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Very sad. She feels trapped. Might make great longer story to she how she adapts or changes the culture.
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How both of them change with time …. Thank you, Shirley!
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Didn’t she think about the culture & place he ‘belonged’ to before marriage? But she’s also right, women should not be forced to change just for one person.
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The right questions, but it is too late 🙂 Thanks, Bernadette!
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Good points. Best of all that marriage is a two way street. Sad, the reality of women marginalized by marriage, too.
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You saw all the angles. Thanks, Jelli!
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I think you’ve cleverly left the likely outcome ambiguous. It’s the first big test of how robust the marriage is. Will they be able to agree a way forward? If Hansen accepts his wife’s challenge to live somewhere else, he may even be more successful because he will need to make more effort to win credibility rather than being complacent and relying on the same set of contacts.
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I like the visioning and the solution. Thank you so much!
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Two problems here: uniateral decisionmaking (his fault) and unwillingess to try something new (hers). They definitely need to talk it out, with sensitivity toward their respective cultures. . Heaven forbid, when they start having children! Nice picture of a standoff, with a hint that things are precariously close to breaking down…
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Good counselling for the couple 🙂
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I’m thinking arranged marriage, not a good thing I may suggest, but I could be wrong as I married for love…
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Arranged marriages are not so arranged anymore. They happen to meet through websites, and then the dating process takes off. The difference is they might be interacting with more than one person at a time.
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My goodness, it sounds as if this marriage should not have taken place. I felt a strong sense of tension within your story, which was well done in my view. !00 words is not much to get a whole world view across.
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Thank you, James!
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Cultural differences are a challenge. Thanks for playing!
Ronda
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Thank you!
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It’s all about the person you’re with. If you’re with the right person the place or culture doesn’t matter. How many times have I listened to people say, I returned to the place but it wasn’t the same, because he/she wasn’t there.
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Certainly! Thamks, Len!
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Marriages are about adjustment on both the sides. Hope she realizes that, else there are going to be many many fights
Memories
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Realizations galore ….
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It’s even worse when deeply held views are forced onto them by their husbands and those with whom he fights..
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The tragedy is – personalities don’t change. People can’t help being themselves.
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You can feel the tension. This is a good picture of what happens when a couple don’t take the time to know each other’s background, culture, family. So much pain.
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You are so right.
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IT’s not going to last, I can only hope he gives her the freedom she wants.
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Hope so 🙂 Thanks!
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So true.
Girls have to make the most sacrifices and adjustments.
Sadly, all over the world, such expectations are from girls…
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There are some cultures where the guy moves to the girl’s house – but those are changing fast. People go with the majority.
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A sad tale for sure.
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Thanks!
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The hardship when compromises can’t be made.
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But they need to be made – by one or someone.
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It’s never easy for people to start over in a new country and it’s particularly difficult when you don’t speak the language. However, the same thing happens to some extent when you marry someone quite different to yourself and you have to decide how much ou’re prepared to sell out.
Best wishes,
Rowena
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You are so right.
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Nice bit of homely, Reena.
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Thanks! What is homely, BTW?
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How true.
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Thanks!
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