What it’s like to be in a multinational relationship

One of the questions I get quite often is what it’s like to be in a multinational relationship.
The first thing that comes to my mind is the added cultural experiences. Istanbul is in my opinion one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and if it hadn’t been for Simay I wouldn’t have seen all the different things the city has to offer. Of course, I would probably have gone there at some point, but I wouldn’t have had the true experience of living in Istanbul. Since 2015, I have spent a little over 3 months in total in Istanbul. I was even there when the attempted coup was going on this past summer. 

There are so many new things that I get to experience thanks to being in a multinational relationship. I have tasted lots of incredible Turkish food, and thanks to the person Simi is I have also tasted some other incredible food from other parts of the world. I have got to see other parts of Turkey, tried things I haven’t tried before. There are even a lot of places in Norway that we’ve seen together, that I probably wouldn’t have seen if it wasn’t for the fact that Simay wanted to see them. I get to experience how much football means to some of the people in Simay’s closest circle of friends and family, and I have got another football team to root for: Beşiktaş.

En büyük Beşiktaş!

But one of the things I appreciate the most is that it gives me the opportunity to see the world from a different perspective. Yes, I am half Swedish, so I grew up in a multinational family, but Sweden and Norway is not that different, except when it comes to sports. Having a girlfriend from Turkey gives me more inside perspective of Turkey, political views and what it is like to be Turkish in other countries. I also get to see what it is like to be a Muslim, as all of her friends and family are muslim. That is something I really appreciate experiencing, maybe especially now in todays society when people are prone to judge everything that they do not have a direct relationship with or little knowledge about thanks to the media and everything that is going on.

I have also seen how lucky I am to be born in Norway, not only because it is in my opinion one of the greatest countries in the world, but also because of how easy it is to travel to other countries. In the EU, I didn’t even need to bring a passport when travelling (until some stricter rules as of lately). When I went to visit the US it took me 5 minutes to apply for a visa, the same when applying for a visa in Turkey. Simay on the other hand have had to plan months in advance, have all the right papers (I think she needed 7-8 different documents just to get a tourist visa in Norway).

I also get to learn a different language, although my Turkish is on the same level as a 2,5-year-old. The fact that I have to prioritize learning French at the moment enables Simay to talk for hours on the phone without me understanding more than who she is talking to and what subject they are talking about. For all I know they could be talking about how frustrating it is to live with me, while I think that they are talking about living in Paris…

The last positive thing about being in a multinational relationship that I will write about today is the Turkish temperament Simay shows whenever she loses a game or competition. Especially when she loses in Backgammon (Tavla in Turkish), which have been happening more and more lately (at least in my opinion).

One of the few times she actually won the plaque...