That you see each other a couple of times a month is pretty good going. I'd be lucky to see my partner 4/5 times a year.
Email was incredibly important. The time zones (me in London, him in Tokyo) made calling him difficult, I was either at work or he'd be asleep - I couldn't just call whenever it suited me as he didn't live alone.
You guys can comment on the same TV programs, discuss News stories, there are a lot of upsides to living in the same country.
To be honest, the long distance thing sucked and it was more of an endurance test than anything else which went on for more than 4 years and drained us of our finances.
We got married last year and I've spent the past 6 months in bed due to back problems and surgery. But even this is much less stressful and frustrating than maintaining the long distance relationship was.
If you can keep it up and get though it, the upside is that you should be more certain than most that you really are meant to be together.
Best of luck!