Dealing With Home Sickness

Today for the first time I heard Miley Cyrus's "Party in the USA" hit British airwaves.  You have no idea how happy this makes me.  I know its not cool to be over 17 years old and publicly admit your love of Miley - but to hell with it.  If you say you don't like it you are most certainly a big fat liar.   The tune is catchy and that girl is a star.

This song is great because Miley is talking about being homesick but then a Jay - Z song comes on and it just goes away.  Oh, Jay - Z your rapping genius could put anyone at ease.  But if you are struggling a little more seriously with homesickness and Jay - Z just won't do it for you here are some of the techniques I have learned in my travels.

First off, if you think a call home will make you feel better - you're wrong.  Now I know our friends and family have the best intentions at heart, but they will probably say things that make you want to go home even more like "oh we just went to your favorite ice cream place and then we had a party and all your friends were there and its such a shame that you couldn't come!"  Damn straight its a shame.  If you really need to talk to them email or chat but don't call home its not a good idea.

I like to cook generally, but when I'm homesick I find its good to cook the food you miss.  I make lots of Skyline Chili (Cincinnati chili packets are lifesavers - please send more mom!), and lots of burritos a la Chipotle.

After all that cooking you should probably excercise.  Going for a run is great for a lot of reasons.  It is free, it will release endorphins and make you happy, and it'll help you understand the layout of your new neighborhood and find new fun things.

Another thing that helps is talking to someone who is from where you are from and probably homesick themselves.  You can talk about how awesome back home is, which inevitably is WAY more awesome than you ever thought when you were actually living there.  You can also ponder the social nuances of your new home together without offending any potential new friends.  I used this technique extensively in Australia when discussing how Australians did the dishes.  My American study abroad friends and I kept making the Aussies angry because we would leave the water running while doing dishes.  Not cool in a country that is drought prone, but with my American friends we could talk about how silly Australians were because we lived on a river!  There was lots of water.... right?    (Note: I'm aware I'm an environmental science person and this is not correct)

Last but not least take a tip from Miley and jam to some of your favorite tunes.  Music is scientifically proven to lift your spirits.  So are gays.  On that note I'll leave you with this....