How to Make Your Marriage Last

While there are some cultural differences between a Filipino woman and an Australian or any other nationality, still marriage is marriage. Just because there isn't any divorce in the Philippines doesn't mean that a Filipina will never any disagreements with you. She will not blindly follow everything you say. Marriage takes work no matter whom you marry.

Of course, when she finally gets her visa and you bring her to Australia, everything is very exciting and wonderful. You wake up in the morning with her next to you, she fusses over you, your life seems complete now, and you think you will live happily ever after in wedded bliss!

As time goes on and you have your first argument, reality sets in. Oh wow, my wife is mad at me and hasn't spoken to me for days. What went wrong? Nothing has gone wrong really. She is a woman, and as they say - men are from Mars, and women are from Venus!

Sometimes it is just a lack of communication. A misunderstanding based on an expression that was not understood for example, because Filipinos never heard that expression, or don’t have the same sense of humour. One time a client of mine told me that he said to his wife, “See ya in a while crocodile,” and his wife got so mad because she thought he was saying her skin was like a crocodile!  

Little things can cause problems you would never anticipate.  We see many couples who are happy, but sometimes we hear back from clients and find they are really struggling in their relationship. Most of the time their problems are not real problems at all. They’re caused by their own ignorance, ego and inflexibility.

We really hate to see that, especially when you think of how hard they struggled and what they went through to get where they are, only to see a dream turn into a nightmare. I wish I could just shake them, and say, “What’s the matter with you?”