Living a 24-hour plan ride away from your parents may seem like the dream to some but for me it is quite the hardship.
I came to Tasmania about a year ago on exchange and the plan was to just stay for the semester, which turned into a year, which has now turned into two years. I love university life, love being on my own, and love the wonderful relationship I have with my Aussie boyfriend. Everything has been absolutely amazing. Yet, from time to time, I find myself getting really homesick. Sometimes it is just for trivial things like a bagel with crème cheese or some New York pizza.  And then other times it’s the real stuff, like the chats I’d have with my mom over our morning cup of coffee, or watching friends with my sister. One time, when I was really homesick I burst into tears out in public because Frank Sinatra came on singing New York New York; a song that always makes me think of my dad.
Since then however I have gotten much better with dealing with the distance. I have made more girl friends (friends outside my boyfriend) and started a job. I also make sure I stay active and eat right. I notice when I am lazy or unhealthy I seem to get down about things a lot easier. I still do get sentimental when I hear certain songs or see certain things. Like when I am on Facebook and I see pictures up of all my girlfriends back home. And I cannot help but sigh and smile every time I walk past a music store, as my brother is a very talented musician. But now that I have a lot of my own stuff going on the homesickness is not so severe. I would recommend to anyone who is far from home to find a hobby, join a club and make social connections to fight off homesickness and to just keep you feeling upbeat.
I did not realize until I left home how there really is no other place like it, no matter how awesome anywhere else is. Your home could be a trailer, or in an undesirable spot like near an airport (like in the awesome Aussie film the Castle) or even be a place where your family drives you up a wall, but still, no where else on the face of the earth will ever have the same charm, memories or love.  It’s where your heart lives.
Janine
How do you cope when homesickness kicks in? Leave a comment below or Share Your Story in audio, visual, images or text. Want to see your blog feature here? Check out how to Be Involved.
Image by: Sidereal on Flickr
Tags: homesick
Hi Janine,
Thank you for the post, it brought back fond memories of being homesick when I first moved sways from my family and lived in Siberia.
Lucky for me, it was nothing like Malaysia and so there was nothing around to remind me of my home. Internet was available for receiving and sending emails only because it was just too expensive. Phone calls were 15 min long every 4-5 months. I thought I was gonna toughen up but one day after almost a year I broke down and cried my lungs out.
What kept me going? Friendships. I made lots of them although it took me almost 2 yrs to develop them.
Kishan
Hi Kishen,
I am glad that you were able to relate to my blog however sad to hear about the pain you have had to endure. Only one 15 minute phone call ever four-five months must have been extremely difficult for you. I am curious if you have heard of skype. Most people use it for video chat but you can also go to the skype website and buy skype credit. With this you can call any mobile or landline in the world for next to nothing. I use it all the time to make calls to America and it saves me a bundle. Also if you have and iphone or Itouch you can get skype as an application and call from there, which is cool because then it is like you are really talking on the phone. You do need wifi for it to work though.
Janine