1 week in. Friends here, abroad & that all too frequent homesickness.

Tomorrow, I’m 1 week in to my year abroad. A lot of things have happened over the past few days so I’ll do a little summary (with pictures!) but I also want to talk about something that not a lot of year abroad students seem to talk about. When you talk to previous YA’s they tell you; ‘the year abroad is the best year of your life!’ and ‘it’s the best experience ever!’ and you hear tales of all the new friends they made. But something that they neglect to tell you, something really important, is the homesickness that you will experience.

 But first, before I get onto the pseudo-psychologist bit, I’ll fill you in on what I’ve been up to. 

 I’ve finally got my paperwork sorted, meaning that it’s officially okay for me to be here for the next 4 months. I haven’t got any uni paperwork completed (I’m still waiting for my mentor to fill in her part…) but hopefully, fingers crossed, that will be done next week.

 The mom of my host family also took me on a walk round the old part of the village, which is beautiful. Apparently, the houses there are protected, so you can’t do anything to alter them and interestingly, it’s generally the people with financial problems who live there because the rent is cheap. I know, friends in the UK, you’re thinking… ‘WTH?!’ or perhaps even ‘WTF?!’ That’s exactly what ran through my mind! Mais, voilà.

 Yesterday, it was the beginning of a gallo-roman weekend in the town, so I went out with my mentor to explore. We went on a guided tour of the museum where I learnt new words including ‘un casque’ and ‘une épée’.  To be honest, it was difficult to understand everything that was being said because it was very detailed but I tried my best!

 We then went on a guided tour of the village and saw different ruins that aren’t accessible to the general public without a guide. They were pretty cool and the woman who did that tour was a lot easier to understand.  However, when she asked if there were any Anglophones at the beginning of the tour (she also spoke English), my mentor said my name… everyone in the group turned round (about 20 odd individuals) and started going ‘Anglais? Engleeesh? You engleesh? You speeeaaaak Engleeeeesh?’ I wanted the ground to swallow me up. I just said ‘Oui mais, je peux parler le français d’un niveau suffisant’. Don’t know if that’s grammatically correct or not, but she understood me well enough.

 After a lunch of galettes and diet coke (which cost me 17€!!!! Thank god I get a grant! It was my mentor’s choice) we went to a gladiator fight. Seriously. It was entertaining actually, but all I kept thinking was; ‘health and safety would NOT allow this in England.’

 The first question of the dad in the host family, when I told him where I’d been, was if I liked the look of the gladiators, hahahaha. Considering a lot of them were probably in their mid 30’s and dressed in what looked like bed sheets… well, not so much.

 Today, I went to the market with the dad in the host family. I feel it was a good experience because after talking in French a bit and getting to know him and the area a bit better, I feel a bit more integrated. He’s lovely and even bought me an Astérix & Obélix book, and says he’ll test me on it later!

For the rest of today, I’ve just been writing out a few ideas for things to do in English classes and compiling a list of modern English singers. When I had a look at the textbooks they use in school, the only singers I actually knew were The Beatles so I hope to bring a bit of modernity to the cultural/media side.

 And that brings me on to the peut-être taboo topic of homesickness.

 

HOMESICKNESS

If you talk to previous YA’s (year abroaders) they all tell you fantastic things about the year abroad. You hear no negatives and your expectations soar. But the reality is something quite different, especially during the first week.

 Here we go, I’m going to say it. I miss my parents and brother like hell, I miss my friends in the UK, I miss knowing exactly how to act and behave, I miss my university and it’s classes, I miss the English concept of personal space and I miss having someone there to help me when my diabetes is playing up. In essence, I’m homesick.

 Now, I don’t want you to think I hate it here, because I don’t. In fact, the family here is lovely, the town is pretty and Belgian people are really friendly. But, as they say, there’s no place like home.

 For the first time yesterday, I cried over Skype to my parents. My blood sugars have been going mad and getting me down, I have very few friends my age here and sometimes, I just don’t get what people are saying.

 You miss getting a hug from your mom/dad and a ‘eurgh’ combined with a hug from your little bro. You miss going to Meadz with your friends and having Nandos, having coffee in your workplace because it does the best coffee in town and you miss getting the bus to Sheffield.  Yes, I said it, I miss the X5 and the X14. I miss trying and failing at latte art, coming home smelling like coffee grounds and being able to balance a full tray on one hand. I miss home.

I like my new home, but I do miss home.

 I’m lucky that I live in a day and age where we have Skype and Facebook and I can communicate with friends allover the world easily. I’ve been skyping my parents every day (sometimes twice a day) just because it makes me smile seeing their faces! Last night/this morning, I sent messages to all the people I know will make me feel better and they’ve all put smiles on my face. It’s unbelievable the way that a conversation about the weather can be incredibly comforting.

 I chose to listen to some Mexican/Italian music this morning. I actually really miss studying Spanish and Italian and so talking in Italian and listening to Mexican music has actually made me feel more at home (bizzare, I know but that’s all I listen to chez moi).

 I’ve caught up on Coronation Street on youtube.

 I’ve learnt who the important people, the special people and my good friends are, whether they be in Sheffield or in a different European country.

 I’ve learnt who can cheer me up and support me, who can make me smile and laugh, who can offer good advice and who can sympathise when it’s all getting too much.

 Mom, Dad, Adam, Emma, Vicky C, Vicki G, Clare W, Chloe, Vincenzo, thanks to all you guys for making me smile when I’m feeling really homesick and down. (I felt I should name you all so that when/if you read this, you can go ‘n’awww, I helped put a smile on her face!’)

I guess it’s normal to feel homesick. I didn’t move out for the first 2 years of uni, so it’s not unusual, but it’s still horrible. However, I know I have to do the year abroad and I know everyone else out there is also homesick. So I just wanted to say to everyone on their year abroad or those planning to go on one, don’t feel guilty because you’re homesick and you should be living it up. Homesickness is normal and hopefully something that will be soon overcome.

Love to all you fellow year abroaders, I know what you’ll be going through ❤

P.S. Mom, here’s a picture of me smiling, so you know that I’m okay. Love you ❤