home·sick adjective \ˈhōm-ˌsik\
He was homesick for America after five weeks in Europe.
and Merriam-Webster defines it as this:
home·sick adjective \ˈhōm-ˌsik\
Longing for home and family while absent from them.
Two of the top questions I get asked here would be "Hast du dich schon ein bisschen eingelebt?" (Have you settled yourself in a bit?) and "Und hast du immer noch kein Heimweh?" (And you still have no homesickness?)
The first question I now find silly. Of course I've settled in--I've been here for five weeks officially. (PS. whoa, weird that I look up the definition today and the example sentence is about being in Europe for five weeks...spooky!) The second question, I always answer with "Nein, nicht wirklich." (No, not really.) or "Noch nicht." (Not yet.)
I then try to think about why, or what homesick really means. I've been abroad before, for different lengths of time, and the last time I rarely, if at all, experienced homesickness. This time around, my situation is a bit different. I don't have any American friends who are in the same situation as me and with whom I can share a sort of "home base." This time, I am alone. I'm not really alone, because there are of course a lot of people surrounding me every day, and I have begun to make friends, but I am alone in the sense of having a "home base." And that's fine with me! I don't necessarily need that, but I think it makes me, this time, more susceptible to homesickness.
Yet, I still haven't really experienced homesickness. At least, I don't think I have. I've always thought of homesickness as the strong desire to go back home; however, if someone offered me a plane ticket home right now, I don't think I would take it. I like it here and I'm enjoying being here. I'm still excited to be here and I'm not ready to leave.
Today, however, I did find myself wishing that my family members or some of my friends would just happen to walk through the door and give me a big hug. Is that homesick? I still want to be here and I don't yet want to go home, but I miss my family and friends. Is it homesick when you want your family or friends to be here? I guess I always assumed it was me wanting to be wherever my family or friends are or wherever home is.
According to my Computer Dictionary, I am not yet homesick. But according to Merriam Webster, I maybe am.
I think part of me has felt that homesickness is a sign of weakness. If I'm homesick, then I'm not really that "Brave World Traveler" that some people think I am. But if I'm never homesick, then that's kind of strange. I guess I expect to be homesick at Christmas and on my birthday, but the in-between times...I don't know. Maybe being a "Brave World Traveler" has nothing to do with whether or not I am ever homesick, but rather with the fact that I'm here and staying here.
Homesick is not a fun feeling. Take it from one who has experienced it more than once growing up. Praise God for the little things and don't look for something that you have not experienced. Homesick is wanting to go back to your comfort zone (the place you call home), which you are in your comfort zone so need to be homesick :) Make sense???? Love and miss you but I know that we will be together again very soon. Like I always say "Age is just a number", well "homesick is just a feeling for wanting to be in your comfort zone".
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mom :-)
DeleteYou know, since we moved around so much when I was growing up, I used to get feelings of whatever I imagine homesickness is even when I was with my family in the same room...so I tried to figure out why that was. To use a very profound Harry Potter simile...home is like a horocrux, and it is being split continuously. Only it doesn't make you weaker. Part of my home is in Switzerland with you, part of it is in a couple other countries, some in Ohio, some in Texas, some only a few minutes away, and some of my home is still stuck in a few places from which I am trying to move out.
ReplyDeleteThere is this song that goes "If home is really where the heart is, then we're the smartest kids I know, because wherever we are in this great big world, we'll never be more than a few hours from home." I looove that. It makes me want to gather up all of my homes and stick them in a bus and force them to follow me around everywhere. But then I would never get new homes. And we need new homes so that wherever we are we have them, yes?
I can no longer remember what to point of all of that rambling was, but I had a point when I started. I think my point was that I can actually understand and that I'm proud of you. And to be horribly horribly cheesy for one moment...homesickness is NOT a sign of weakness. It is a sign of love.
Thank you<3 I love the Harry Potter analogy!
DeleteChica, this is awesome. Seriously. And so true.
ReplyDeleteAww, thank you, Keri! :-)
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