Grasping the opportunity to study abroad in Montreal, Canada for one year last year, I truly appreciated the chance to sense a foreign yet familiar breeze once again. Besides attending 600-people lectures, socializing and making new friends were equally as important. A prospective university senior this summer, I had never experienced any relationships and had been eagerly seeking one for 2 years. Therefore, I decided to take action by downloading POF, a major dating app. Despite the fact that I was not being serious and simply wanted to explore using a dating app, a pleasant surprise happened about 2 months ago.
After using the app for about a week, I started messaging one Asian guy who also happened to be a student and the same age as me. We share many common interests and can talk about KPop music for quite a long time. We mutually agreed to go on 2 dates before I had to return to Tokyo for my final year, meaning that I would have to deal with a long-distance relationship, which is also my first relationship. There are numerous videos and websites online that state that long-distance relationships usually result in breakups, yet here is my personal opinion regarding what I have learned so far from my 2-month long-distance relationship.
Toronto, such a beautiful city on the other side of the globe, which I dearly miss. (Photo credit: myself)
Cons: the desire to meet each other, time-zone difference, and higher chance of miscommunication.
These are pretty self-explanatory but are also the most troublesome issues with long-distance relationships. As a young Sagittarius, I am still learning the lesson of dealing with my impulse to meet up with my s.o., but I have gradually learned to handle my emotional overflow. For long-distance relationships, of course you will have to cope with the time-zone difference, which is 14 hours in my case. I am the type of person that loves to send my boyfriend tons of messages on a daily basis, and the best that you can expect in a long-distance relationship is for him (or her) to respond only when he is available.
Pros: won’t sense relationship fatigue easily, more me-time, and can be more romantic at times.
Surprise! There are actually some merits when it comes to having a long-distance relationship. If both of you are busy with all the schedules but still want to arrange your upcoming date, there is a chance that small arguments can spark. Even though it has only been 2 months short, what I appreciate most about my bf is his effort to show his affections towards me through messaging or occasionally phone calls when he finds spare time. We are both busy as university seniors, but knowing that your significant other is supporting you on the other side is sweet enough. There is a Chinese quote: “Seeing your s.o. once in a while is better than newlyweds.” I guess this partially counts as the reason why I find long-distance relationships slightly romantic at times.
I have truly learned a lot from my current long-distance relationship. It gives you a good chance to explore your inner feelings more while also helping you improve as a person. Long-distance relationships can make you miss each other more as you cherish the reciprocal love between yourself and your partner.