23 Sep Homesickness Hurts

As you probably guessed from the title, I got homesick. I knew that this would happen at some point. It’s natural! I’ve moved really far away from home; quite frankly if I didn’t get homesick, then it would be weird. Nevertheless, I was pretty shocked when my Mum diagnosed me with it. We email regularly, and one day she told me that I seemed ‘not right’ and suggested that I might be missing home. Only your Mum could detect homesickness in an email. I swear my Mum should’ve been a therapist or a nurse or something. She just gets people. It’s not quite the same kind of homesickness I get when I’m in the UK. Even though my University at home is a mere hour and a half drive from my house, I still get homesick from time-to-time. But when I do it’s because I want to actually be home, in my house having my food cooked for me by my lovely Mum (who should’ve also been a chef). Here, it’s vastly different. I don’t want to be at home, I want everyone from home to be here with me. I want them to witness and experience San Francisco the way that I do. I want to share all my burrito experiences with them, and show them the naked guys in Dolores Park so that they can get wildly uncomfortable alongside me. (Side note: I get it guys; you want to be naked. Do you really have to wear that eye-catching gold-sequinned sock over your penis though?)

The view from Dolores Park – I cropped out the naked men.

It happened about two weeks ago. I was spending a lot of time in my room and devoting my time to my work and watching every single episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race. I didn’t realize it, but I was becoming a recluse. Anyone who knows me understands that I like to have time to myself, but if I become withdrawn then something’s wrong. I wanted my parents and my best friends to be here, or at least in the same time zone as me. I wanted to go into the city, but I also didn’t want to leave my apartment. Don’t get me wrong, I know how lucky I am to be spending a year in San Francisco – I can literally walk outside and be at the bay in less than an hour. That doesn’t make it any easier though. When you miss something or someone, it hurts and it takes time for to get past that feeling.

Luckily, there’s a remedy for this. And I’m going to share it with all of you lucky people:

DO SOMETHING.

8 Brits, 5 Australians, and 1 American. Proving that we can still be be friends with former colonies.

Take the plunge, and get out of your little bubble and go some place. Contact your friends and join in with them! It makes it so much more bearable. Fortunately, my friend Luke lives two floors above me and he let me know that a group of international students were hiking up Twin Peaks. Score! I could get out, see one of the finest views of the city, and finally wear my Giants hat in public! Additionally, my department back home has a photo contest for year abroad pictures. Basically, you take a good picture and they put it up for everyone to see. Being majorly competitive, I had a vision. I wanted a piece of home with me when I got to the top, so I took my University of Hull sweater with me and wore it proudly.

For anyone back in the American Studies department at Hull, I’m not dropping any hints. I just want you to know that you won’t find a better photo than this.

So there you go. Homesickness is inevitable, but temporary. Always missing my Mum’s cooking, Lucie P.S. – Don’t go shopping to numb the pain. It just leaves you even more disappointed and seriously poor.