How Can I Avoid Feeling Homesick?
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Moving away from your native home can bring about a condition known as homesickness. Feeling homesick is a natural stage that many people go through when moving to a new city or environment. It affects people who leave behind family and friends to begin new lives elsewhere, as well as those who leave home to move to university or college. There a few simple steps that can be taken to ease the pain of feeling homesick.
Homesickness is more a state of mind than a physical condition. If, however, the feeling is allowed to persist, it can bring about symptoms such as anger and depression. The confusion and bewilderment felt in a new environment can leave a person longing for the simpler home life he or she once knew.
One of the best ways to avoid feeling homesick is to integrate yourself as fully as possible into your new way of life. If you have taken up new employment, attend social functions or join sports teams associated with your work community. Making new friends is the easiest way to combat the feeling of being homesick.
One of the best ways to meet people is through work. When working in a large city, you will probably find that a number of your co-workers are from different countries. They may be going through the same thing you are, and socializing after work hours is a great way to cope with feeling homesick.
Simply staying busy will enable you to keep your mind active so that it does not preoccupy itself with thoughts of home. If you have moved to a new city, take the time to get to know your new environment. By exploring the city and finding new places, you can lose any fear you have of the big city. Find a coffee shop that you can make your regular place, and people will soon get to know you and welcome you back.
Check the local newspapers for events in your area. If you have difficulty meeting people, then attending night classes in a subject you are interested in may help. If in a foreign country, make efforts to learn the language and immerse yourself in the new culture. Feeling homesick is sometimes linked to culture shock, and the more you immerse yourself in the new culture, the less homesick you should feel.
Feeling homesick is similar to feeling loss for the life you have left behind, but family and friends are no more than a phone call away. You can always keep in touch through regular mail or the Internet. Your family and friends will always be happy to hear from you and even happier if a visit to your new city is extended.
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16
Basically i am from india/gujarat. i had to leave india for three years and came to dubai. When i was doing my job i was happy and did my best during that three years period in dubai. it is time for three months of vacation after three years. it is time to go india. my mom dad love me a lot. i spent my vacation in india and was very happy. but now i am back in dubai and i am feeling home sickness badly. i can't stop crying and i cannot sleep. i cannot maintain a constant rate in my job. i am very depressed, i am missing home badly. i am dying to hear the voice of my mom dad every day and I'm calling my mom and dad two or three times. - anon49930
15
You know what pisses me off? "Help, I'm going on holiday, I'm going to miss my friends for three weeks -cry cry cry." Well guess what? I've got worse problems. I moved from England to a small island with my family. I cry every day and your petty problems humor me. - anon49272
14
please tell me and give suggestions to get free from my memories of my wide, and also i have one doubt when i was at home. she was speaking with somebody and she was very free with someone younger than her. But i know her character very well and very soft mind. but some times i get a very bad feeling. i ask her one time, she told me i won't do like that, if i did so, then i am afraid why i am doing like that. please give suggestion to get a free mind.
i am very thankful to you.
_charan - anon45714
13
I'm going away for a week with school. i've been away before and been fine, but this time i'm really worried i will be homesick. I have told my mum and she says i need to go away to get over my fear, but i am stil really worried. :( Does anyone have any tips to help me? - anon44340
12
I moved countries for love about a year ago. I've been working at the same school for most of that year, and I really felt at ease with my coworkers. As my cover contract came to an end this summer, I am now a bit nervous about being at a different school starting september until Christmas. I've really started to feel more homesick over the last month.
As I am a teacher and get six weeks off over summer, I have just spend the last month with my family - my sister has just had a little boy. I have been missing my other half so much while i have been here. I feel like I will always be missing someone or somewhere. I've noticed I am calling home whereever I am not. I think it's been getting worse since my regular cheap airline flights have been cancelled. I am now looking at very expensive flights, or a very long train or car journey. I am lucky to be a teacher, because just about every seven weeks I have a week off. But for the first break of the new school year we planned to go to Berlin with my boyfriend's brother. At the time it sounded like a really cool idea. But right now I am realizing this means I won't be going over until Christmas. I know it's not as bad a situation as most of the other people here, and I am lucky to be able to travel over as frequently as I can. But ... it's still real :) - anon43218
11
i feel homesick! it's just 1 week when the time i left my wife and my daughter. i'm here in the other country and miles and miles away just to work and earn lot of money. this is the second time i left them. but why until now i feel homesick? some times i'm asking my self; do i need to do this? seventeen;-( - anon41451
10
i am going on holiday with my friend. she is really lovely but i am not sure about her mum. whenever i do something embarrassing she makes a big deal of it. when she does this i realise how lovely my mum is and miss her even more! help!
- anon40835
9
I am going away for a few days for three weeks abroad. I am going with all my friends, but I still feel really sad. I get really badly homesick and I can't take it anymore. I can't sleep and then i think about my family and start crying. Please help me - anon38474
8
I studied abroad in Prague for about a month and a half nearly two years ago. For the first 10 days, I was horribly depressed and hopeless, fearing that I would never see home again -- I almost gave up and left for home. Exploring the city and getting close to other students helped me through it. Now I am moving to New Hampshire soon for graduate school and these feelings are beginning to arise yet again. Keeping yourself busy and remembering to rationalize the situation helps tremendously. - anon38321
7
same situation. i have here in cagliari. i feel im dying because of the life i left behind in the philippines, for so many years there. now i am new here facing and embracing life in europe. i still dont have work and thats why i've got nothing to do that to stress my mind thinking of home...my mind and heart wanted to get back home but i have no money. i was here for only a week and how i feel i've been lost from home for years...i pity myself because i feel i'm dying. i wanted to cry but i can't...all i can do is take a far look for nothing...i'm like the living dead, got no appetite for everything..i just wanted to sleep all day long to forget everthing that bugs me..So god help me.. glen - anon37914
5
I feel homesick when I go to other places. I am preparing for my own enemy for when I travel. That is why I'm always listening to bob marley's song's. His song's give me peace in my heart. "It will soon passed away." - anon31267
4
im at university of TUT i've been missing and sometimes it breaks my heart. today i was writing my first exams and i wanted to call home b4 i could write, i did but they did not pick up the phone and i was so heart broken to the fact that they did not remember to wish me luck. during the exams when i was at home i used to get so much attention and support here im all alone. - anon20593
3
sandhu420: Same situation I am facing and i came here after googling the homesick!
- anon20414
2
Hey, I was just googlin' home sickness and i found this.Im a student at university and ive just moved away from home, i try to keep myself busy as much as possible but when i get those 5 minutes of a break i cant stop but think about my family.. my mother mostly. It makes me cry alot, i know i just have to get used to it but i dont know how anyone can live away from their family.. i miss them so much! - sandhu420
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Written by
Garry Crystal
Last Modified: 24 October 2009
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