Almost everyone who has to move away to come here will feel homesick at one point or another. Some people are lucky and surf right over it.
There is very little that makes me miss my family and friends more than being sick. I’m very lucky that I don’t particularly miss Hong Kong as such — I like the place more than I used to give it credit for, but as a rule, Vancouver feels more like home than anywhere else now. Still, sometimes I want my parents very much.
Vanier is eerily quiet for a weekend; almost everyone who can has gone home for the long Thanksgiving weekend. This would probably have made me feel more wistful for my own family if I hadn’t had dinner with my brother last night and if my parents weren’t coming to visit us soon. They’re going to be here in less than two weeks. I’ve marked the date with a big sign on the academic calendar I bought from the Bookshop that is now hanging on my door. (P.S. Go to UBC Bound! events prior to coming to UBC. They give 10% discount Bookshop coupons. These are very good and useful.)
I miss my old friends more than usual when I’m ill. I miss having people who’ve known me anywhere from the last three to thirteen years, people who have seen me at my absolute worst and still love me anyway. It’s hard not to feel lonely occasionally when there isn’t anyone who knows just how often you get sick or what you are saying when you begin to make whining noises.
But my new friends are lovely too. One came over from Totem to give me medicine, which I love her very much for. Another has been tolerating my worrying — I worry at small, specific things like a bulldog at a bone — and my tears last week when I was particularly miserable and unwell. Others have been checking up on me regularly, and things don’t seem so bad after all.
Keeping in contact with family and old friends is my biggest key to staying okay while making the transition to my new life here. Facebook and emails are my main device for keeping in touch with most secondary school friends. Vox long-distance calling cards are excellent for phone calls — a call is usually less than two cents a minute, so use these if Skype isn’t an option! I like Skype too, but I do a lot of my calling when I’m walking around campus.
Still, what with everyone else going home, I’m keener than ever to see my parents and to go back to HK for Christmas.
