How could someone not miss this?

One of the things I haven’t written about yet (and yes, I know there are a lot – I don’t write much, I get it) is homesickness.  I haven’t written about it much because I haven’t really been homesick.  The closest thing to homesickness was the first night I was in Durham for when I was the only person living in my building that has an odd smell and could use some TLC. My room was impersonal and felt unwelcoming and I had a moment where I thought “What have I gotten myself into?” Luckily I was so exhausted after being awake for about 36 hours that I fell asleep in seconds and the next morning I unpacked my bags and my room instantly felt like home.

Why didn’t I feel homesick? I think a few things helped.  Firstly, the UK really isn’t that different from Canada. I spoke the language, recognized the food, and vaguely understood most cultural references.  I knew what I was getting myself into for the most part and nothing really surprised me.  I think this is pretty important because it meant I avoided the culture shock that can be really traumatic for people who have never lived abroad before.  Instead of worrying about figuring out where I was and what was up with all these strange new things, I could focus on making a spot for myself in my new host country.

Another thing that played a big role in me not feeling homesick was, I think, the way Durham treats exchange students.  We were given the opportunity to live in the residences at Durham and be a part of their ‘Freshers’ (the equivalent of Frosh Week or Jumpstart at UBC here).  I was immediately throne into a community, initially with just a few international students but then with all the new students.  Making friends was easy and for the first week-and-a-half I couldn’t have had more than 5 minutes to myself if I’d tried.  This meant there was no time for me to miss home, I was too busy exploring my new home.

I think the last thing that really helped my adjust was that I changed what I considered home pretty quickly.  My home while I’m here is this room I’m sitting in as I write this.  It isn’t the house I left behind in Vancouver, it’s the small room that all the things I need for my year now live in.  It’s the room I return to after going on a day trip to Edinburgh or a week-long trip to London.  I think this adjustment is important for exchange students because it helps you feel like an insider, not an outsider.  If you always treat your home as being in Vancouver or Canada or anywhere except the city your on exchange to, you’ll never truly feel like you belong in that city.

So that’s why I didn’t get homesick but I think there are a few lessons to take from it if your worried about homesick or are feeling homesick:

1. Know what to expect – don’t jump blindly into a foreign culture.
2. Keep busy – doing things helps to keep your mind of home.
3. Change where ‘home’ is – try to make your new exchange city feel like home by going on day trips or weekend trips.
4. Meet people – making connections is the easiest way to make a new city feel like home.  There’s nothing more reassuring than seeing family faces all over town or campus!

For now, that’s going to be it! I have another idea for a post so look for that soon!