LAlien the eBook - now available for only €3.99!
Photo by Michelle Mock Photography Available at https://www.mymorawa.com/self-publishing/gestaltung/publizieren/?books/ID47439/LAlien
Posts
European Vacation vs American Vacation
The title of this post could also have been '5 weeks vs. 2 weeks'. Once you are used to having five weeks vacation (or even six weeks when I lived in Germany) it is very hard to drop down to two weeks of paid vacation. via GIPHY How do you not go insane on only two weeks of vacation? You plan your time off work very carefully and strategically - especially when you want to do trips overseas, which for me meant 'going home' to Europe. When you live abroad, going home is essential for not feeling gutted and not suddenly crying non-stop due to homesickness. It is one of the worst emotions I have ever felt. Yes, it gets better over the years but especially in the beginning those trips back home are necessary for the expat's/emigrant's well-being. Some companies that I worked for didn't even allow its employees to take these two weeks at once. Flying to Europe for a week is possible but very exhausting. Coming back and feeling relaxed after a one week trip ...
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. I...
...likes this. - Staying connected in the era of social networking
...is cooking dinner. ...doesn't know what to watch on TV tonight. ...is looking for a restaurant recommendation. ...likes your photo/activity/status/bowel movement. I'll be the first to admit that the general content on people's social networking profiles is beyond boring. Do you really think that people care that your cat just spit out a hair ball? That your boyfriend cooked you dinner? That your favorite sports team won? That your boyfriend's dinner gave you food poisoning. Probably not. Hell, how often do I think - wow, you really don't have a life do you? But then again, I'm sure some people say that about my hiking photos, my party pics (that, I admit, look pretty similar every weekend - oh yeah, I'm guilty of frequent photogasms on my profile page), that I became a fan of 'I love Milka' and 'I did not sleep with Tiger Woods'. BUT! As someone dealing with feeling homesick as well as living on her own, social networking sites - and one i...