11 Oct The Long and Winding Road
It is October and everything is still exciting and new. Most days are definitely good days, and the creeping feeling of homesickness has not been to prevailing. However, at some point you are going to get homesick. Midterms are all around us, you do not understand why taxes are always added when they should have been included in the price, and the professor keeps calling your name in class even though you never raise your hand. The sound of the lecturer going on and on about some dead, white guy is blurred out as you stare longingly out the window and wish you were back home where everything is familiar.
Maybe there is an exception to this rule. The only person who reads this blog post might be going: “heyyy, speak for yourself!”, but for the rest of us this is true. Everything is just awful when you are homesick, the language is tiresome, the people around you are stupid, everyone and everything is loud and insisting, class is boring, homework is the end of the world, and even your favorite burrito doesn’t do it for you anymore. Then you just got to stop yourself and say: “I’m sorry SF. It’s not you, it’s me.” You got to take some time for yourself and do whatever you need to get out of your rut. For me there are some factors that are essential for me to cure my homesickness:
Food
Food really brings you back. What you eat is an important part of your identity and culture. Boiling potatoes and frying fish, or getting my hands on knekkebrød, Norwegian candy or Norwegian cheese brightens up even my bluest days. For homesick Norwegians in the area, the Norwegian Seamen’s Church is worth the visit, and once a month there is a affordable student and au pair dinner there for those who miss Norwegian cuisine.
© Marie Aadnesen
Language
If you know anyone who speaks your language it can be nice to indulge in some conversation in your mother tongue from time to another. Unless someone who does not speak that language is present of course, then you are being rude and may increase their feelings of homesickness.
Music
When I put on my favorite Norwegian artist I feel like I’m right back home again. My patriotism and nostalgia gets a little exaggerated sometimes as I catch myself listening to Norwegian songs on Spotify I would never have put on if I were back home.
Peace and quiet
To deliberately isolate yourself for a short period of time can be quite healthy for your peace of mind, however if you submerge from your cave with a new, fully grown beard, you overdid it.
Fresh air
Sometimes what you need to appreciate what you got is to get away. Get out of the city if you can, if your schedule or budget does not allow you try to relax in a park, nearby forest, or enjoy the sites from a peak somewhere in or around the city. Make sure you go somewhere you can breath fresh air and won’t crash into someone if you take a step to the left. Being in nature really clears your mind of all the clutter you carry around, and getting away from your daily routine may help you get perspective on your situation.
© Marie Aadnesen
TV or radio
It could do you good to simply put on some familiar entertainment and relax. Watching Norwegian sitcoms on my laptop or listening to comic duo Tusvik & Tønne podcast will quickly make me forget that I was feeling blue in the first place.
Talk to someone
Take comfort in that you are not the only one who feels this way. Talk with your friends about your homesickness or go to an IEEC event and talk with someone about what they miss from their home country. Sometimes airing your thoughts do a lot of good.
Call your loved ones
I try to skype with my family every weekend, or at least every other week. This helps me keep in touch with them, and also feel connected with everyone and everything back home. After talking with them for an hour it feels like we have hung out in real life, and my spirits are lifted.
Lastly, remember that this feeling is temporary, and so is your time here, and when you get home, it is San Francisco you will long for.
Photo by Megan Lombardi
PS. While the last picture is taken in SF (Golden Gate bridge and all), the rest of the pictures depict beloved sites where I’m from.
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