Coping up with homesickness abroad ;(

ynnejsedna wrote:

Any advice... 

How long have you been there? Homesickness comes and goes and it is all part of the process we know as culture shock. There are of course a number of things that you can do to help reduce it.

1. If you don't already know it, learn the local language or at least enough of it to carry on a basic conversation with the locals. The more people you have in your social circle, the less you'll be trapped within your expat/ethnic group, the more you will keep yourself occupied and thus have less time to feel homesick.

2. Find interesting and fun activities that you can participate in there, that perhaps wouldn't have been available at home, or that you didn't have time for. (for same reasons as above)

For far too many expats it's just work, work, work... when you're bored then you're much more prone to feeling homesick. Even if it's difficult to do so, MAKE the time to recharge your batteries, relax, enjoy yourself, go places and do things. The more you're out and about, the more you learn about the culture, customs, traditions and history of the country you're in the greater the chance you'll begin to enjoy it and your adaptation will be that much easier.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

Thank you... 

It's tough. I have been abroad for 7 years and it still comes and goes. Best way to combat it is regular trips home and video Skype calls with family and friends.

Also, you have to make the new place your home. Get pictures up, make your room homely

Thank you, im really having a hard time right now. I miss my family, i was in my country last month and now im here again for work.. it seems like i just slept for 1 day and wake up the next day. anyway, thanks for your advice...

Make some friends and exercise

Well it's really bad feeling when you miss your home but you have to be cohesion for better life for the future. Try to do some things that you like and you need to set with your friends more time in this period in particular. Welcome back to our country again and all the best

Home sickness?

I did the following and that made me  feel worse:

1) Cheap fone calls back home.
2) Skype, Whatsapp, IMO calls.
3) On line chats.
4) Visiting my country men here for  discussion on my country's politics, law and order situation etc.
5) Watching TV channels of my home country , culture, language ,food.

Then I discovered the following and that brought me out of loneliness :

1) learnt a 2nd and even a 3rd language, practiced it with natives.
2) Knocked at my neighbor's door, offered him Spicy food, went for badminton, swimming , shopping together.
3) Got my self registered at local community center as a volunteer for weekends.
4) Re started some unfinished hobbies I never had time for, eg Photography, Reading Autobiographies, religion.
5) Planned holidays a year in advance in Egypt and Turkey.

The list goes on and on, was it some kind of sickness we were discussing ?

I couldn't agree more with what riazcdki has said. The more things you do, the more activities you did and the more calls back home, the more you're going to think about home. When you're far away and can't go back very often this will only increase the loneliness.

The secret is to increase the things that expose you to your new country, the people who live there, their foods, their culture, etc. Learning the language is imperative and making a circle of local friends is the real answer.

Activities, social events, etc., that are ONLY available to you there and not back home will help your adaptation and reduce the loneliness. Steer clear of what reminds you of home, it's going to eat you up. The more you learn about where you are and the culture, the more things to like you're going to find.

Cheers,
James
expat.com Experts Team

well i guess people have different perspective about this. Anyway thanks for sharing your experience on how you deal with homesickness..

A different perspective.  I've spent most of my life travelling & working around the world and can relate to your feeling homesick.  Now, 40 years later, my daughter has moved to another country and created a career/future for herself; we miss her, but modern technology has made keeping in contact very easy.  Knowing that she can speak to us as and when she needs to has made it much easier for her and us; in my time, I seemed to spend a lot of time waiting for the postman (the Internet didn't exist back then and casual phone calls were out of the question as the cost was prohibitive).  Of one thing I'm sure, your family will want the best for you and if that's in another country, then "c'est la vie" (or in my case, "c'est la guerre").

The tips offered by riazcdki are worthwhile following up.  In my travels, I've made friends from all over the world; I still keep in contact with many of them, they've became part of my extended family and were my temporary home at the time.  I learnt photography, so that I could share what I could see with friends and family.

If I'm honest, I think my daughter misses the dogs more than she misses us; they've even learnt to come running to the Computer when the Facetime rings.

thanks cynic.. i guess i really need to become more mature this time. I am like a crying baby every time i  am coming back from a vacation.

Well, Thanks everyone...

I've lived in the UK for over thirty years and I still get homesick for Finland! I just reposted a blog I wrote about how I miss my home town, Tampere, here. Sharing your sense of displacement usually helps. 🙂