They say that, “home is where your heart is,” and while some might agree, some who decided to work or study in another country might find it difficult not to miss their actual home. When I was studying in Korea, I also felt homesick a lot, and here were 4 powerful ways that helped me cope:
Bring a taste of home
Those who have lived alone abroad before would agree on how amazing home-cooked meals are, so it’s important to bring whatever is necessary to recreate some of your favorite meals outside of your native country. If you’re not keen on cooking, load up on snacks that you can only find at your home country to also help your homesickness. If all else fails, find a restaurant that serves authentic meals to go to every now and again whenever you miss home.
Watch local TV online
Before studying in Korea, I was never truly keen on watching local channels in Indonesia, but even just having the TV on in background brought me the nostalgia of being home. Perhaps this simple tips can bring you back home a little too. There are different websites available that allow you to stream your local channels online for free and other subscription sites to make you feel more at home.
Join an online expat forum
Anywhere you are in the world living as an expat, there would be others who have to deal with similar situations, so joining an expat forum enables you to find useful information, advice, and new friends too. In forums or Facebook groups, normally you can see upcoming activities you can join in, which is also the time for you to meet new people, so joining a forum is definitely the key to feeling less left out in a country that you’re not from.
Join community meet ups
Through these various forums, you can find a community from your home country that you can be a part of, and these communities often hang out together, so make sure to join and be part of the fun. If you’re socially awkward — like me, perhaps these meet ups are too much, so you can try befriending someone from the community — someone you actually like, and hang out with that person instead.
Hopefully these tips can help you feel a little more at home wherever you are in the world. Just remember that “home really is where your heart is,” so as long as you have your heart out for the country that you’re staying at, you can have both a first and second home, which is a great thing that not everyone is lucky enough to have.
