Railway can be a little bit rough at times, but I am staunchly convinced he is a good guy at heart…

But what strucked me today: I spoke to some Pakistani, here in Korea.

They got Korean citizenship. They are speaking Korean well. They are living here. Their wifes became muslims. Refusing to eat pork meat.
One Pakistani told me that he enjoys living in Korea. In Pakistan there are too many restrictions.
It was weird, we were talking about religion, Korean citizenship, how to master the language test and we were looking through the open doors of the ‘Asian Restaurant’ at the curious Korean bypassers. And the wifes are not the ones who are hiding in the kitchen. But they are adding the Kimchi to the Indian dish we had today.

WJK,

I am sorry to tell you that no, I haven’t.

I am afraid I cannot really comment on developments in Germany in the period between 1974 (when I left the country at the age of 9 so as to move to Hong Kong where my adoptive father had accepted a job as a sales engineer) and 2004 (when I finally returned to Germany after having spent 30 years abroad, most notably in Singapore, France, Britain, Canada and, finally, the ROK).

“I have a little trouble taking your attestment that Germany may be more open to other races than the US.”

WJK,

I did not mean to say that Germany is generally more open towards immigration than the US - that would indeed be an overstatement, although, the numerical ratio of immigrants towards locals is higher here than in the US (no kidding - I am suprised about this, as well, but I got the figures from German government stats).

I was rather referring to the topic of openness of German society towards international interracial marriages, which seem to be regarded as a problem by certain groups in the US.

In contrast, the (albeit rather belated, primarily post-1990) appearance of this type of marriage as a mass phenomenon in Germany (and elsewhere in Europe) does, indeed, testify to the profound mental change that this country has undergone since 1945, from a nation obsessed with racial purity to a nation that regards racial purity as more or less akin to inbreeding and as a sure path towards the reinforcement of genetic defects which are, naturally, more prevalent among the offspring of monoracial than of interracial couples.

Thus the international interracial marriage is, indeed, largely welcomed here, as it is seen as a contribution to the refresment of the genetic pool, as well as as the prime path towards the integration of an immigrant (m/f).

And, believe it or not, whiteness is definitely no longer an asset here, neither in the job market, nor in the housing market, and even less in the marriage market. Non-Whites are frequently preferred, provided their linguistic ability is up to scratch.

On the other hand, I am certainly prepared to admit that immigrants who, for whatever reason, introduce spouses from their home countries into Germany, or limit their choice of a spouse to members of their own ethnic group among the residents of this country, are not infrequently subject to harassment, even by those Germans who are not connected to the Neo-Nazi scene. There is definitely more tolerance in this respect in the US…

To put it bluntly, even at the peril of attracting heavy criticism:

I (and most others here) cordially welcome immigrants who are willing to marry German women, as they are likely to integrate well into this country, but we are generally sceptical with regard to the integration of immigrants who are staunchly committted to marrying women of their own race, culture and nationality. There are, of course, exceptions but usually these people are not really prepared to contribute to and identify with their chosen country of residence, i.e. Germany.

And, btw, German women, in their overwhelming majority, love to marry immigrant men, provided these are open enough to consider them marriage material, as the immigrants are generally regarded here as more handsome and virile than the members of the indigenous population. So the chances are definitely there, immigrants just have to seize them…

But adherence to the Islamic way of life may, of course, well prove to be an insurmountable obstacle to a successful courtship…

Have you seen the film, Otomo, a German film produced in 1989?

your input on it?

“The linked piece also notes that there is no shortage of Asian-”American women for Asian-American guys because many of the white-Asian marriages are also INTERNATIONAL marriages. In other words, a lot of the Asian women married to white Americans are immigrants. Since there is no similar immigration of Asian grooms, Asian-American guys can breath a little easier.”

Certainly an important observation…

# 103:

“Inter-racial marriages aren’t the problem, international ones are.”

There clearly are important differences between the two concepts - but would you maybe care to elaborate why international marriages constitute a problem per se in your view ?

You should know that, over here in Europe, international interracial marriages (such as my own) are considered rather the norm than the exception, without many people finding this fact particularly problematic. My home country of Germany certainly has its fair share of Thai, Filipino/-a, Mexican, Colombian, Brazilian, Nigerian and Kenyan husbands and wives (married to German nationals) - but the immigration problem this country has rather lies with those immigrant groups who habitually introduce spouses of their own nationality and ethnic group into the country, not with those who are open-minded enough to marry outside their “tribes”. Because the dogged attempt to limit oneself in one’s choice of a mate to members of one’s own ethnic group is usually (though not invariably) indicative of low social intelligence, an unwillingness to integrate into the host society, and a strong tendency to commit crimes of violence…