Chris just told me that his parents would like to host an engagement party when we go back to Australia this December. A few friends have asked if we were going to have one, but it didn’t really make sense for us to have one in New York considering we have little family here, and the majority of our good friends are not here, either. Since Chris’s parents have offered to throw us a party, I guess this will be it — just in Melbourne. I’m touched that they want to do this. My own parents didn’t even offer. Then again, that’s probably because they dislike the rest of our family.

This is the hard part about being in a relationship with someone who is not from the same place as you are. You have to think about things that your old classmates and friends who married their high school sweethearts never have to think about, things like “where the heck are we having a wedding when you have family in one hemisphere and I have family in the other hemisphere?” Seemingly simple events like engagement parties are difficult because there’s no way in hell everyone you’d like to be there will be there. In this case, it will be Chris’s family, friends… and me. None of my friends or family will be there. My mom has already told me she refuses to go to Australia for any reason, and is terrified of taking a “long flight” anywhere given the plane crashes that have dominated our beloved media this year.