The holidays are almost here, and some of our international students do not come home for the winter break, like Galena. In this open-heart discussion, she shares about feeling homesick and how she deals with it.
Can you introduce yourself?
My name is Galena and I am from Bulgaria. I am a second-year student in International Human Resource Management. I also have a part-time job within the International Office in Saxion.
What is homesickness for you?
It means missing home. It is when something here reminds me of my family, of my parents especially because I am very close to them. To me, homesickness is like feeling empty inside. I can feel it also during conversations with friends when talking about our parents for instance. Homesickness is deeply linked with memories. This time of the year is particularly hard because of the holiday. For the first time, I am not coming home to my parents for Christmas, so I feel more emotional and... homesick.
Last year I missed St George’s Day (6 May), which is big in Bulgaria. It was the first time not being around my family, so it was a big moment of feeling homesick as well. In general, celebrations are a hard time when you cannot be around your family and friends in your home country.
Is it hard to talk about homesickness?
Yes, I have not talked about it a lot with people around me. I used to avoid the topic because I did not wanted to feel homesick. It was a way to deny the feeling. I used to think: ‘I have been wanting to leave Bulgaria my whole life, so I shouldn’t feel homesick, since it is my choice!’ I am now processing the feeling of homesickness and maybe accepting it. I am still not sharing a lot about it, but I believe this is something people should talk about more. It is a very normal feeling to have when studying abroad, and you can even feel it when moving from one city to another!
We should talk more about it. Homesickness is a very normal feeling to have when studying abroad.
How do you deal with homesickness?
I call my parents almost every day. Before I left, they learned how to use WhatsApp so that was very convenient to see each other often. Also, I am an only child and have a strong bond with my parents so leaving them was particularly hard. What I did is put pictures of them, the rest of my family and my friends on the walls. Now they are with me again, in some way. With my friends from Bulgaria I mostly text, I guess it’s something from our generation. So, it feels like I am always in contact with them.
Here in the Netherlands, my close circle of friends mostly consists of Bulgarians. To deal with homesickness during Christmas, we organise a dinner with dishes that our mothers cook for us back in Bulgaria. It allows us to experience our culture again, as well as celebrate together, even without our families.
What advice would you give to other international students who might struggle with homesickness?
What helped me to deal with homesickness was to connect with people from the same nationality as me. However when I started studying in the Netherlands, I was avoiding them, and I think it is a common thing some international students do. I am glad I finally realised how nice it is to hang out with people from the same culture as well. In my class of International Human Resource Management, there are eight other Bulgarian, and they are really cool people! We hang out a lot and chat together. We missed Bulgarian food together, so we have diners where some of us cook dishes we love and it is truly heart-warming. I think missing the food from your home country is a big part of feeling homesick.
In addition to bonding with people from the same nationality, I would add to remain open to the country you are now in. When feeling homesick it can be easy to shut down and only study. But then you miss the present moment. It is always possible to find your way in. For instance, I am helping the International Office of Saxion with the Winter Programme: it is a programme dedicated to international students staying in the Netherlands during the winter break.
Celebrate your own country’s traditions and holidays. Stay connected to your culture and try not to shut down to the present moment.
Another tip to deal with homesickness is to plan ahead when you can go back to your native country. I try to go back home during the winter break and the holiday break. I know for myself that six months is the maximum without seeing my family. Planning the trips ahead makes waiting easier.
And finally, talk about it around you. Not only with international students but also with teachers, the staff, and Dutch students as well. At Saxion many people can relate to feeling homesick, so you are not alone in this.
