The Insanity of Homesickness


I recently tried to explain homesickness to my fiancé who has never lived abroad. It was surprisingly difficult!


The knot in the stomach. The uncontrollable crying. The loneliness you feel despite being in a room full of people. Even if you are at the most beautiful place on Earth and next to a loving and caring person. He had no idea what I was talking about.

How do you explain to someone when you suddenly feel gloomy because you just found a restaurant that serves the food from home and it tasted nothing like at home?

My first overwhelming experience with homesickness came unexpected at a small grocery store that specialized in 'exotic' foods from outside America. There, I spotted a dry-soup package with German writing on it and burst into tears. It was as if I had no control over my muscles. I was unable to stop the crying. I was short of breath and felt this pain in my stomach as if an alien had taken over my body and was trying to kill me from the inside. It was that kind of emotional pain that makes you want to tear your skin off. My head was going a million miles a minute trying to figure out how to stop this pain. Should I drink my worries away? Should I pack my bags go to the airport and wait for the next flight home? What should I do????

Once I got back to the apartment the crying didn't stop. I locked myself in the bathroom and kept crying for two more hours. And then I did the next best thing to moving back home: I booked a trip home for a two-week vacation. Knowing that I will be back in 6 months, then 5 months, then 2 months and then only in few weeks helped immensely.

If you have an advice on how you deal with homesickness, please share!

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