HOW TO DEAL WITH HOMESICKNESS.
If I have to be honest, I wasn't homesick when first I got abroad. I was homesick four or five months later, basically the period between my birthday and Christmas, but nothing major. At the beginning though, as I said, I was not. Because I was really excited to be in America, I waited for so long that I could not think about home at that time. I am from Milan and I lived in a smaller town in Northern Colorado, but I didn't care at all. I was where I've always wanted to be. I didn't have all the services that Milan offered me, but I loved Colorado and I adapted myself to that kind of life because going on exchange means being flexible.
So how do we behave when homesickness hits us hard?
No one forced you to go abroad.
You left home because you wanted to. You waited a long time, you dreamed of it for months or even years. And now that you are finally abroad, you think about home? You seriously think that eleven months is a long time? You have a whole life ahead of you to spend back home, don't be sad now that you have the opportunity to start from scratch.
Stay away from Social Networks.
Don't open Facebook for a few days. Give it a rest, because scrolling your feed and looking at what your friends are doing back at home without you isn't going to help you feel any better. Don't Skype with your family every single day. Do you even have something new to say from one day to the other? Probably not, especially when you don't feel good. You might just end up complaining about everything with your parents who will worry about you for no reason because they can't do anything since you are so far away. Just skype once every couple of weeks, that way you will have a lot to talk about and will decide to focus your interest in telling your mom all the good things that happened to you rather than the bad things.
Leave your room.
I'm going to be honest with you. You won't have a second chance. When you will go back home you will be telling yourself "I wish I spent my time differently". So, since you are living the moment right now my advice for you is: Do not spend too much time in your room. You should be there only when you go to sleep. What? You need to write a paper for tomorrow? That's okay, do it in the living room. Talk to your host family, maybe they will also help you out if you need. If you feel bored don't sit on your bed with your phone, talk to your host mom while she cooks. Go to the grocery store with your host dad and help him carry the kart. Engage with the people you live with and all of the sudden you will feel better.
The clock is ticking.
Now you're all sad. You miss your mom's food, petting your dog and grabbing coffee with your friends. I get it. But you will make it through this, and hopefully very soon because the clock is ticking. Your exchange isn't endless. All you worked for, all the paperwork you had to fill up, all the money you invested, all the things you built so far.. would you really give it all up just to have something that you will soon get anyways? Your mom's food can wait, and so everything else.
Live it up. You will know if you fully lived it because it will hurt when you will have to fly back home. However, it will be worth it. I promise.
"Homesickness is not good, stop for a minute and think about all the stuff that's around you. I am not used to living in a small farm town, without public transportation, but what about the people I met during the exchange? what about my awesome host family? what about all the "first times" I experienced? Honestly, I am not ready to leave yet. I'm not ready for home. I'm not ready to go back and say "everything is gone" or "was I really there? was it a dream?". People say "you will meet your friends again" or "you can come back and visit" but they don't see things the way we, exchange students, do. It's the combination of everything that makes our exchange year unique. I can come back and visit, but what about high school, I can't just come back to school as well. In addition, my rotary friends won't be there, and so most of the seniors in my class because they will be going out of state for college. So yeah, I still have a few weeks and I will do my best to enjoy this experience until the end."
Facebook Memories are evil but also really nice. Evil because you see how happy you were and can't go back in time. Really nice because they are reminders that good things happen.
While I was on exchange, I posted something on my Facebook wall, and I'd like to share it with you because my friends told me that it actually helped them:
- Cris
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