This morning is my 66th day here in Copenhagen, which sounds both like a lot and a little at the same time. I cannot believe how fast time has flown and that I am over half way done with my study abroad experience.
I haven't really felt homesickness the way I thought I would. The homesickness I have felt is more about the things I miss from home like Panera, Diet Coke (which DOES NOT exist in Denmark), Target, driving... I've started to make a list of things in my journal. They are all sort of frivolous things in the big picture, but they are things I miss.
They recommend not talking to family and friends at home everyday... max once a week. But honestly, if I didn't talk to my mom everyday I would be more homesick than I could imagine. I talk to my mom most every day which has kept me feeling connected to home.
One of the other recommendations is to stay off social media. It is so tempting to post pictures and updates and to look at what everyone else is doing back at home and at school. I was totally fine being on social media at the beginning of the semester, but recently it has become harder. I have quite a few other friends within my friend group who are also studying abroad. They have had posts from mutual friends back at school saying "Miss you! Come home!" among other things. Seeing people post messages like that for my friends but not for me hit me harder than I thought it would. Its just those little things that begin to drive you kind of crazy, especially when you are alone with no friends from home with you.
This last week was the hardest for me because my mom has really been missing me and not having talked to my friends a lot has gotten me down. Down to the point where I actually considered transferring to another school for my senior year (granted that also has a lot to do with the architecture program I am in at Miami and seeing what kids from other schools in architecture are doing). It was a very scary thought thinking that no one from home misses me and that I could just leave entirely and they wouldn't care.
My friends who are studying abroad in Luxembourg this semester planned a trip at the beginning of the semester to come visit me. At the time is seemed like such a far off thing, but this weekend was when they came. I spend Friday night and all day Saturday with them... it was amazing. I missed them so much and they were really the pick me up I needed. I spent the day as their tour guide and I never once got them lost, I helped them with the language and currency, I explained some of the weird social norms like leaving your baby in its carriage outside a store. It proved to me that I fit in here in Denmark and they showed me how fortunate I am to live in this wonderful city.
Seeing them was the taste of home I needed to push through the last bit of the semester even though I already know it is going to fly by.
Saying goodbye to them last night was the hardest thing I have had to do since saying good bye to my family at the airport. I won't see them for another 3 months, but I am beyond grateful they came for 36 hours.
I don't really know how to give advice concerning homesick because it is so unique and different for each person. Do what is best for you, there is no set formula for how to avoid or cure homesickness other than to do what makes you comfortable. If you want to call your mom every day, do it. If you want to delete Facebook, do it. If you want to travel every weekend and not think about home, do it.
I haven't really felt homesickness the way I thought I would. The homesickness I have felt is more about the things I miss from home like Panera, Diet Coke (which DOES NOT exist in Denmark), Target, driving... I've started to make a list of things in my journal. They are all sort of frivolous things in the big picture, but they are things I miss.
They recommend not talking to family and friends at home everyday... max once a week. But honestly, if I didn't talk to my mom everyday I would be more homesick than I could imagine. I talk to my mom most every day which has kept me feeling connected to home.
One of the other recommendations is to stay off social media. It is so tempting to post pictures and updates and to look at what everyone else is doing back at home and at school. I was totally fine being on social media at the beginning of the semester, but recently it has become harder. I have quite a few other friends within my friend group who are also studying abroad. They have had posts from mutual friends back at school saying "Miss you! Come home!" among other things. Seeing people post messages like that for my friends but not for me hit me harder than I thought it would. Its just those little things that begin to drive you kind of crazy, especially when you are alone with no friends from home with you.
This last week was the hardest for me because my mom has really been missing me and not having talked to my friends a lot has gotten me down. Down to the point where I actually considered transferring to another school for my senior year (granted that also has a lot to do with the architecture program I am in at Miami and seeing what kids from other schools in architecture are doing). It was a very scary thought thinking that no one from home misses me and that I could just leave entirely and they wouldn't care.
My friends who are studying abroad in Luxembourg this semester planned a trip at the beginning of the semester to come visit me. At the time is seemed like such a far off thing, but this weekend was when they came. I spend Friday night and all day Saturday with them... it was amazing. I missed them so much and they were really the pick me up I needed. I spent the day as their tour guide and I never once got them lost, I helped them with the language and currency, I explained some of the weird social norms like leaving your baby in its carriage outside a store. It proved to me that I fit in here in Denmark and they showed me how fortunate I am to live in this wonderful city.
Seeing them was the taste of home I needed to push through the last bit of the semester even though I already know it is going to fly by.
Saying goodbye to them last night was the hardest thing I have had to do since saying good bye to my family at the airport. I won't see them for another 3 months, but I am beyond grateful they came for 36 hours.
I don't really know how to give advice concerning homesick because it is so unique and different for each person. Do what is best for you, there is no set formula for how to avoid or cure homesickness other than to do what makes you comfortable. If you want to call your mom every day, do it. If you want to delete Facebook, do it. If you want to travel every weekend and not think about home, do it.