I’m in an interracial relationship yet I often forget this is a fact. It’s 2016 now and interracial relationships are pretty common. Even famous people have them. Disney movies for goodness sake center their plots around two people of different races letting their hormones rage.

Being in an interracial relationship hardly feels like a big deal. When Jenny and I were together in the Philippines people did stare. I felt it. It had nothing to do with the fact that a white man was with a Filipino girl. It had everything to do with the fact that a white man was there doing anything at all. As diverse as much of the world is, it’s still uncommon in many parts of the Philippines to see a white guy in his late-20s walking around.

Other people in interracial relationships may feel differently than I do in mine. Parts of Middle America still frown upon race-mixing or any fun at all. In fact, there are likely towns where they still care about hair color. The Northeastern United States is as much of a melting pot as there is with people of all different flavors mixing together. Eventually we’ll all be a weird shade of grey without any identifiable stereotype.

Rather than think about my relationship with Jenny as an interracial one I see it more as intercultural. Race really doesn’t seem to divide us at all as much as our differences in culture could lead to a few misunderstandings. You can read more about those in our section on this blog dedicated to how weird Filipinos and Americans are.

Admittedly, I do notice race in people. It’s something I find fascinating how people from different walks of life can come together. With Jenny though, as Westernized as the Philippines has become, I forget she lives in a place with coconut trees in the backyard. I look out my window and see a pair of sneakers hanging from telephone wires with the only trees regularly in sight being the ones suspicious men are selling on the corners out of their long coats.

Irish-American living in the United States and Filipino appropriately living in the Philippines, Jenny and I are an interracial couple. Because I see it almost everywhere I go, sometimes I forget parts of the world don’t realize this is natural.