How to Deal with Homesickness While Studying Abroad

An individual can experience different things by studying abroad like broadening horizons, creation of lasting memories and constructing new friendships. A research has been conducted which shows that most of the students that are studying abroad are feeling homesickness. Students are subjected to sleep-away camp at very early stage.

It is considered as the most acute form of emotional distress and anxiety resulting in the influences created for disconnecting them from familiar places and people and creates the force to get out of the regular routine. Homesickness can be created from various different factors like difficulty in the adjustment to a new environment, problems and confusion in understanding a new language/environment/culture, loneliness due to cutting off from the regular support system, culture shock, lack of control on surroundings or happenings nearby and many more. Like the communicable disease, homesickness will not go overnight.

It does not happen due to any particular or small cause. There are different ways that exhibits consequences of homesickness like making comparison in the environment, constantly willing to make calls to family and friends, rejecting the social life and many more. This problem requires lots of efforts and hard work to overcome it. Sometimes it has become difficult to come out from homesickness that further creates trouble for people. An individual could be able to see positivity all around, if he/she will remove all the glasses of homesickness. Everyone has different and own method of overcoming from the problem of homesickness, but there are some strategies that will allow each and every student to work on it effectively and efficiently, some of them are:

1. Be a tourist – There are many students that are going abroad for their studies, but they have no idea that they can get the enjoyment along with the learning over there. It is the best chance or opportunity for their holiday. While studying abroad, you can have the access over the most interesting tourist destination of the world. When there is less burden of study, bag packs your items and go for sightseeing. When you start pretending yourself a tourist, there are more chances to overcome your homesickness and discover the beautiful things of life.

2. Use social media proactively – Social media act as a blessing or curse when it comes to battle homesickness. Your homesickness can become worse, if you will spend more time on social media and get lost in the news feed of your friends and family. While you can overcome your homesickness, if you will proactively involve in the social media tools. You only need to spread the word based on your doing, show your pictures to the closest people of your life, looking up of events in the area and connecting with new friends.

3. Taste the local cuisine – Food is one and the only thing that is common with everyone, no matter what your nationality is. Student can get connected with each other through food by letting you learn about your local or living area and is considered as the great activity to create and maintain bond with each other. To make yourself comfort and engage in your senses, you need to try different types of drinks and foods.

4. Remember your happy habits – The outbreak of going abroad can distract you from some of the habits that are centered at home. In some cases, it is important for the student to get out of the comfort zone as with some rituals you can feel less disconnected. Some of the habits in your life get set as a routine. Therefore, sometimes students miss their routine habits rather than their home itself.

5. Exercise – The movement of body helps in releasing endorphins that further helps in providing healthy methods or ways that could make you and your body feel easy. Apart of getting out from the homesickness, an individual can feel better and energetic with regular involvement in exercises and also help you in your work and play better at your new home in abroad or study country.

6. Take up a hobby – Hobbies are the best part of your life. It will let the students to feel enjoyed, happy and comfortable. It will be helpful during your down time. These activities could include anything and everything from dancing, craft, sport, art or any other. You can focus on your lovable activities and avoid homesickness. With this, you can also make new connections and make new friends.

7. Keep a journal – It is considered as the lifetime adventure for a student if they are studying abroad. A student can maintain the diary and can make the tracks or records of your daily activities, their likes and dislikes, happy and sad moments and many more, so that they could look back to the memories in the future. Also, one can alleviate their stress through writing especially in the cases when you wanted to hide your emotions. You can spend 10-20 minutes each day by writing your feelings and thoughts and avoid negativity and homesickness.

8. Form new relationships – An individual can make new relations by maintaining the old one while they are living in abroad for their studies. These relations can be with friends, colleagues, love interest or mentors. There are cases when you would meet your fellow mates that have also come to other country for their studies. You would more likely to connect with those people as they have something common with you.

By living together and making good connections with each other, you can learn different techniques and tips of living a better life in some other country and can also practice your language skills together. Also, try to make as much as local friends, as they could help you in different ways during your stay at their country or place. You can get yto know about the best eatable or locations, things to do and places to see by making local connections and friends. Therefore, local friends will help you in navigating easily to your new home and does not let you feel isolated.

9. Don’t compare – A student will feel homesickness if they had started comparing their present with the past or the best times he/she had spent at their home. You will only feel isolated and lonely, if you will fall into the trap of comparison. The life of every person is full of ups and downs. So, try to distract yourself from negative experiences to the good and beautiful memories. When you are studying abroad, it is not necessary that you will have the party all the time, but t will help you in generating new experiences of life along with learning for a longer period of time.

10. Ask for help – Getting help from other people is good in some or the other way. It is important for you to stay healthy and happy while you are studying abroad.