Far from home

[Krytha]

I finished my university studies in April and decided to take a change of pace for a while, so I threw myself halfway across the globe to teach English in a foreign country. Outside of the very different culture, food, and living conditions, things aren't going poorly. People are friendly and I am not the type to get homesick - although I have had constant dreams of friends, family and other assorted people I've left behind, and the occasional wave of nostalgia triggered by minute things.

Anyone else living far from home?

[ghost_warlock]

For me, home is usually whereever I happen to be at the time. But anyway...

The closest I have in my experience to yours was when I decided to pack up and go to college in Colorado. My immediate family helped me move out there but, once they left, I didn't know a single person and essentially had to start my life fresh. It was a fantastic experience and really allowed me to grow and experiment; forced me to come out of my shell. I hope your experience is ultimately as fulfilling as mine or moreso!

You may end up developing a real taste for where you're at now and decide to return once your visit there is over. I dated a girl for a few months in college who had spent a year studying abroad in Japan. A few years after returning to the 'states she ended up moving to Taiwan and getting married to a local. She seems incredibly happy, from what I've seen of her MySpace and LiveJournal.

[Ishmael]

I wish I could adjust as well as you two. I'm going to college in Berkeley, which is ~500 miles away from my home. It's been a pretty tough transition, personally. I was really close to my family and my life at home, and changing at first was extremely difficult. But I suppose that's part of leaving home for the first time. I'm not as homesick anymore, and now I'm really enjoying life in college. I miss a lot from home, but now I'm capable of enjoying life up here. And it's been really cool, meeting new people and the like--at home, I was kind of in a rut, and now I've been forced to get out of that. It's made me grow a lot.

So, yeah, I'm living away from home. I get to go home next weekend, though, and then for Thanksgiving. And Winter Break is not too far from that. I've gotten through the toughest parts, and now is the greatest part of the year.

[Don Julio Anejo]

Piece of advice - a phone with unlimited calls to your family/best friends helps. E.g. adding their number into "My Five" or whatever your carrier calls it.

[Krytha]

I have no problem using MSN as a method of contact. It isn't direct, but it is dirt cheap - something that needs to be taken into account when you are paying your own bills. The language barrier still needs to be brought down though. It is very tiring when you have to wave your arms and gesticulate just to find out where the grocery store is.

[dish]

My husband and pets are in Shanghai. My parents, siblings, and nephews/nieces are in England. My friends are spread around the globe. Wherever I am, I still manage to be far from one home or the other. (If 'home' means 'people you love'.)

[Mauve Shirt]

Home is where the heart is, so your real home's in your chest! :smallbiggrin:

[arguskos]

I live in Texas, for school, but my home is back in Ohio, around 1000 miles away. I'm fairly homesick, actually. I don't like the state I'm living in, I don't like the school I'm at, and I wish I fit in better.

That all said, I love the friends I have here, I love my cat, and my girlfriend, and the wonderful memories I have of my time here, but it doesn't change the fact that I miss my home. I guess what I'm saying is, I wouldn't trade the experience for the world, but sometimes I wish I had chosen a different path in life.

-argus

[Quincunx]

I moved 1000 miles away from my family at point B (who had moved 1000 miles to get away from where they grew up at point A) to go to college at point C, and managing not to be content with that, pulled up sticks and moved 8000 miles to point D for love, and now we've gone 1000 miles back towards my starting point, point E.

While I'm not sure about home, alternately identifying myself as originating from point A or point C, I do know that time doesn't exist away from him.

[JoseB]

I was born in Spain, but I have been living away from my country since 1995.

I lived in Japan from 1995 to the end of 1998, and from January 1999 till now I have been living in the Netherlands.

From time to time I miss my country.

Just my 2 eurocent!