Dating for ethnic singles made easy by Ethnicify

Ethnicify is a new start-up based in Riga, Latvia with some fresh and novelty ideas on how people can manage matching with each other from an ethnic angle. The company's employees are mostly from various ethnic origins and this particular characteristics of their founder and employees must have given them the urge to launch a service which would help ethnic singles living abroad. The company was launched solely on a capital by current shareholders, but they might be starting some funding process at some point soon.

Over 10% of the world population is now living in a country different than the country of their birth. Immigration has become widespread phenomenon with increased speed of globalization and less restricted travelling opportunities. Here is a snapshot of their findings about dating people abroad.

Reasons Why It’s So Hard To Date A Foreigner

Love is something unexpected and impromptu. Nobody knows when or how to find it and when you do, it always comes with challenges.

For an old legend, we all have our soul mates that we created as two halves of an apple but lost each other after we are left to the Earth. That is why we are looking for love and we feel incomplete before we reunite.

Sometimes it is easy to find your better half. You might be lucky enough to be high school sweethearts. However, sometimes you find them on the other side of the world. They are so far away and yet you feel like you find the closest soul to yours.

Maybe as an exchange student, maybe as an international employee, maybe as a traveler, you met with the love of your life while you are abroad. Well, just like everything else in life, it has its own surprises, some are good and some are bad. Even though the feelings can be strong, different backgrounds can make intimacy harder to establish…

Stereotypes

Stereotypes will be something you will be struggling with when you are dating a foreigner. Everybody has them to a certain extent and probably you will hate them when they blame you for being too jealous and sexist because you have Eastern roots.

It is so wrong to judge a person because of their national, cultural, or religious background. If you think that you are not the same as every single citizen of your country, you also shouldn’t assume that your partner is an average example of her folk. Give her a chance to show who really she is with all the complexity of being a human.

You can come across introvert Italians or Norwegians who are into snuggles. Some French guys can disappoint you in kisses and a Japanese guy can be macho. Do not approach your dates with (positive or negative) stereotypes and instead try to know them as individuals.

Meeting

When you are abroad, you don’t know where to look for possible partners, which outlets they more likely to use, how you should approach them, and what works or not in general. Your way of flirt can be just too weird in that country.

For example, old fashioned chivalry can be a big plus in Eastern European countries but if you try it in Western Europe, it is more likely to be rejected and get negative feedback from women. Splitting bills, expectation of first dates, borders of sexual intimacy and many other issues are different in each country and you will never be sure if you are sweet or rude.

Besides, that is also possible that when you meet, you can be turned down by your interest. Even though they like your look, they can avoid flirting with you because you are not belonged to their comfort zone and they don’t know how to speak and behave with you.

Inequality

This is a controversial topic to discuss but unfortunately, inequality can be an issue in many cases.

For example, if you are a migrant in a country who is dating a local, her/his family can look down on you. Just because you don’t know the culture and language as well as them, they can make fun of you or humiliate our values. They might even question your feelings toward their kid and think you are together with them because of visa issues or you are a gold digger.

Sometimes, it is not the family but directly your partner who can hurt your feelings. They can speak for you if you are in their country because they know the language better, but that could exclude you from social life and feel more dependent in the end. Or they can make negative jokes or comments about your country, religion, race, etc. and that can break your heart even though you know it is a joke or you criticize the same thing anyway.

Moving

Love is something so strong that it can move people all around the world. If you are in love with a foreigner, you might consider moving together somewhere, yours or their home country more possibly.

Firstly, if you are moving to your partner’s country, it is possible to feel kind of in debt since it is a lot of paperwork. Or it can make things difficult because you are in a place that one knows all and one knows nothing (or very less) so you will be more dependent on each other.

Moving is not only a matter of changing location, it changes people too. Moving to a new country makes individuals feel more relaxed and free as they are so far away from their home and everything they know so they feel less responsible afterward. It can be seen as a chance to discover new options in life and personal borders which can harm your relationship.

Language

You might have a language in common to communicate, probably you both can speak English anyway but still, it is not your mother tongue. You can still get to know each other well but there will be times that you cannot share your happiness with idioms, or read her your favourite poem because it is not the same when you translate it. They will never understand the song makes you cry. Language is more than words. So you might lack passion in romance or in anger, it will not be the same.