Mixed Marriages: Juggling with responsibilities towards ‘the family’

By: Sita van Bemmelen

Mixed married couples in Indonesia often face demands from relatives of the Indonesian spouse. It is a very entrenched idea among Indonesians that a foreign spouse from the West or a wealthier Indonesian country in Asia (Japan, Korea) must be rich. It rarely dawns upon them that contrary to Indonesian parents who often continue supporting their married children financially, parents in the West are less inclined to do so, being of the opinion that once their children have become adults, they should take care of themselves.

Cross-Cultural Couples: Romano and Rochelle

By: Joan Mae & Emma Kwee

Get to know another cross-cultural couple, this time from the Philippine Islands! This couple started out as friends but ended up as lovers! Now, they are happily settled in the southern part of the country, Davao City. Read the stories of the other couples featured in Latitudes Cross-Cultural Couples Series and don’t hesitate to drop us a line on info@latitudes.nu if you’re interested in joining.

Please introduce yourselves, what are your names, where are you from, how old are you and where do you live? We are Romano (Swiss-Italian) and Rochelle (Filipino) Venuti, our family lives in Davao City, Philippines.

How did you meet and where? We met in Bali, Indonesia. I was singing with a band playing in the Hyatt Hotel and he was the pastry chef of the same hotel.

Cross-Cultural Couples: Rithy and Sylvia

By: Abigail Gilbert & Emma Kwee

Yes, it’s time to meet yet another cross-cultural couple! Feel free to meet the other couples featured in this series. This time we travel to Cambodia, where Rithy (Khmer) and Sylvia (German) started an innocent holiday flirt, that evolved into a full fling relationship. The couple now live in Germany and have a 7 month old son named Phiron.

Please introduce yourselves, what are your names, where are you from, how old are you and where do you live?

‘We, Rithy (Khmer) and Sylvia (German) lived  in Cambodia together for 18 months, before we moved to Germany to deliver our new family member Phiron (7 months old).  Since March 2011, we live in the Southeast of Germany and have not yet fixed plans for the future.’