Homesickness

In the past 2 to 3 days, I have had discussions with two different people about homesickness.  In the first instance, a Filipina who is living in the USA left a comment on one of my blogs saying how she was very homesick for her previous life in the Philippines.  I told her that I certainly understood her feelings, because when my Filipina wife first came to live in the States, she often experienced homesickness.  As a matter of fact, for about 3 years or so, she had regular bouts of homesickness.  For the other 7 years she lived in the States, she had occasional homesickness problems, but not nearly as often.

Earlier today, a fellow asked me if I got homesick, since I am living so far from my family and the things that I grew up with in the States.  Well, it is true, I do get homesick from time to time, but it is not often enough that I consider it a problem.  I have lived here for almost 7 years now, and I would say that I have been homesick only about 4 or 5 times or so.  When I got homesick, it generally lasted from a couple hours up to a full day at the most.  It certainly doesn’t happen often.

Another question that he asked is if I miss my family back in the States.  I don’t mean to sound callous or uncaring, but I don’t really miss them.  I guess the reason is probably because I have Vonage VOIP telephone service, so I can call and talk to my Mom whenever I want to, and she can call me.  We normally talk daily, and sometimes several times per day.  Because of that, we are still in touch and keep our connection going.  Also, my Mom has been here to visit us twice, and will be here a third time soon.  So, I am able to maintain good contact with my family, and that feels good.  I believe that it also helps me from getting homesick.

So, will you get homesick when you move here?  Of course you will from time to time.  I don’t believe there is any way around that!  But, you can also take steps to minimize the homesickness, keep in close contact with your family and friends, and generally have the best of both worlds!