The relationship looks good, there’s every indication this is the one that’ll see you into the Happily Ever After, and the concept of ‘living in sin’ sounds about as relevant as a Ford Capri. Moving in together before the big ‘I do’ seems like a logical next step, the ultimate test drive.
More young Asian couples are setting up home before marriage than ever before, and it’s easy to see why. Not only are we less constrained by the strict expectations of the family or bothered by the judgement of the community, both partners in the relationship are likely to be earning a wage, and independent enough to live away from home. And seeing as you seem to spend far more time with one another than you do with flatmates or alone with the cat, it makes sense to pool together as one rather than pay rent and bills in separate flats.
Even more importantly, living together will give you the opportunity to see all the kinks in the relationship that don’t seem noticeable during dating, and how you both manage to iron them out will form the basis of the rest of your time together. Get it right, and you can expect to grow old and wrinkly through laughter lines together; get it wrong, and you’ll be crying in your mother’s arms and agreeing never to be under the same roof as a man that wasn’t your husband ever again!
If you’ve already lived with a man (you can count the boyfriend at university that became a permanent fixture at your digs, forever irritating your housemates by nabbing their couscous and toiletries), you’ll know the pitfalls. If you’re living with one right now and things are far from hunky dory, you’ll be wondering where it all went wrong and how to put it right. And if you’ve never co-inhabited the same resting ground with that strange creature we know as Man – boy, are you in for a shock to the system.
Here’s what you need to prepare for, where you’ll need to stand your ground, and how you’ll know the setting is right to lay the Home Sweet Home mat on your doorstep…
Read the entire article, plus relationship advice, why men are better at exercise than we are, and our regular Blind Date report, in Asiana 22. Out now…
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