I am extreemly homesick and it is getting worse and worse, and the more I try to talk myself into being rationale the more I hear songs and stuff which reminds me of home. So all you veteran EX-Pats how did you get through your first year away from UK. My family is settled, we have a nice life, the weather is lovely but I miss home and it is a deep ache like nothing I have ever experienced in my life.
I miss my job as bad as it was sometimes in the NHS, I miss my friends, I miss my life, I miss the food, I miss the familiarity, I miss knowing how to behave, I miss people who understand me without having to explain myself repeatedly. It doesnt help that others say they feel the same way what I want to know is Does it go away.
So the truth for the other nurses who experienced home sickness how long did it last and when did it go away???????
These are very natural feelings you are having. I have been in NY for 5 years, and the first year was just hell.
I still have my yearly trip “back home” (Scotland), if only to reinforce that I had made the right decision in leaving...Ok, that and the beer is way better:cheers:
It takes a while to assimilate in a country such as the US. It is true that we have much more in common with other non-English speaking European countries, than we do with people in the US. Look around you though, the whole country is made up of people like us, who for whatever reason have left their motherland. It’s nothing to feel bad about.
Just remember, you can always go back to Blighty if it's not for you, but I would give it a little more time. I would definitely encourage a trip home now and then...it works wonders. Resist the urge to become americanised, and take things a day at a time. Don’t waste time repeating yourself to the same people time and again if they don’t understand you, it’s their problem not yours.
Make every day count, and treat yourself to some of the things, that being in the US affords you. Get yourself BBC America on your TV, and browse your local newspaper online. Keep in touch with old friends, but don’t chase after people who can’t be bothered to keep in touch with you. Look around for your favorite foods to remind you of home…you will find it somewhere. Keep an eye on http://www.weather.co.uk …that always works for me.
Having a social life is all important too. Some of the friends you will make will be as close as any you had in the UK.
Anyway, good luck. It’s not so bad here, but it takes a while to get used to. Remember, your feelings are natural.
Thank you to all the UK nurses, it has helped to read all your stories. I feel a little better this week. Do you know my mum emgirated over here when I was little and I loved it but she was so homesick we return to the UK, and I was so sad and always wanted to return-now I am here same age and much more understanding of what she must have gone through. I look at my family and see that my son who is almost 19 is happier than he has ever been.
i have been in the uk for about 9 years from South Africa and two years ago a friend recommended http://www.mikesradioworld.com. A brilliant internet based radio web site.
I was able to cach up with what goes on in my local area where i come from and send internet messages to a fav radio station relayed live on air to friends back home especially during rugby games. I do listen to the radio station avidly and now preparing for my move to the USA i will definatley be listening to it across the pond
To madwife try and log on to radio 5 live a BBC based radio station via the above weblink very informative and up to date with whats going on in Blighty might sooth the feelings of missing home which i have made mine for the past 9 years. Depending which area you come from in blighty mikesradiostation will have your area covered with a local radio station depending on the colloquial accent you favour.
I am definately be bringing my satelite box with me sad as it may seem but British news and the reporting of it is slightly:idea: better than the USA having spent alot times visiting Florida and New York.I would miss the newspapers over there though
I would dread listening to Fox news sorry folks but thats my opinion.
I'm sorry you're feeling homesick... I can relate. I've been moving around every couple of years since I turned 18 (started with a year as an exchange student) and I still get homesick here and there, but it's not as bad as it used to be. The added problem is now I even get homesick for cities I lived in that I didn't call home when I was there! I still call Canada home (the town where my parents still live in particular), but I find I'm sometimes homesick for Toronto, Washington, Vancouver, etc.... I'm sure I'll be homesick for California someday too.
The thing that helps me is phone calls (I spend a lot of money on my phone bills!!!) and just getting out and keeping busy. I was really homesick when I first moved to California because I didn't know anyone, couldn't start work for almost 2 months and had very little money. I just kept busy, went for walks, read, watched movies... Eventually I started work, made friends and now I love it here. I still call home at least once a week and talk to my friends all over North America and I've been able to have lots of visits with them (my friend from Oregon just left and I go "home" to my brother's place in a couple of weeks). I know your start in this country must have been particularly difficult with the accident and everything, but I hope knowing that people care about your well being and can empathize with your homesickness helps a bit.
Oh,
and make your friends back home send you care packages!!! Nothing gets me out of a funk faster than getting some ketchup chips or coffee crisp delivered from a friend in Canada! The last package even included some Canadian movies:) I know there are lots of good UK films you could get (Lock Stock is my current brit fave, closely followed by Layer Cake cause I have a huge crush on the lead actor!)
Oh, and another fun way to socialize is to continue to celebrate your occasions. I host a yearly Canadian Thanksgiving in the US (Canadian Thanksgiving is in October, not November like Americans). I take a bunch of friends out for dinner that night and we have a great time. I also threw a Canada day picnic on the beach and I'm trying to think of something to do for Remembrance Day this year (it's the day I feel the most homesick because it seems to pass without notice here). It's partly those traditions that I think make me Canadian.
Specializes in renal,peritoneal dialysis, medicine.
i have been in the uk for about 9 years from South Africa and two years ago a friend recommended http://www.mikesradioworld.com. A brilliant internet based radio web site.
I was able to cach up with what goes on in my local area where i come from and send internet messages to a fav radio station relayed live on air to friends back home especially during rugby games. I do listen to the radio station avidly and now preparing for my move to the USA i will definatley be listening to it across the pond
To madwife try and log on to radio 5 live a BBC based radio station via the above weblink very informative and up to date with whats going on in Blighty might sooth the feelings of missing home which i have made mine for the past 9 years. Depending which area you come from in blighty mikesradiostation will have your area covered with a local radio station depending on the colloquial accent you favour.
I am definately be bringing my satelite box with me sad as it may seem but British news and the reporting of it is slightly:idea: better than the USA having spent alot times visiting Florida and New York.I would miss the newspapers over there though
I would dread listening to Fox news sorry folks but thats my opinion.
Hope that helps
Plato 353
will your satielite box work in the USA?
am i missing something
hey the pudding sounds nice, i havnt had that in years
Specializes in Stroke Rehab, Elderly, Rehab. Ortho.
I have been here 10 months now (in Florida) and havent felt much homesickness to be honest....I have had tinges of sadness for my previous life but that is it. Dotn get me wrong I miss my best friends and my family and some foods (especially Revels) but other than that I dont feel homesickness. I have had no longings to go home even when things have gone wrong for us here....
Maybe there is something wrong with me...I dont know...I know it is normal to feel homesickness, but is it normal not to aswell? My Hubby feels the same way too.
My eldest does miss his friends but doesnt really want to go back to the UK...
Scott33, BSN, EMT-P
31 Posts
These are very natural feelings you are having. I have been in NY for 5 years, and the first year was just hell.
I still have my yearly trip “back home” (Scotland), if only to reinforce that I had made the right decision in leaving...Ok, that and the beer is way better:cheers:
It takes a while to assimilate in a country such as the US. It is true that we have much more in common with other non-English speaking European countries, than we do with people in the US. Look around you though, the whole country is made up of people like us, who for whatever reason have left their motherland. It’s nothing to feel bad about.
Just remember, you can always go back to Blighty if it's not for you, but I would give it a little more time. I would definitely encourage a trip home now and then...it works wonders. Resist the urge to become americanised, and take things a day at a time. Don’t waste time repeating yourself to the same people time and again
if they don’t understand you, it’s their problem not yours.
Make every day count, and treat yourself to some of the things, that being in the US affords you. Get yourself BBC America on your TV, and browse your local newspaper online. Keep in touch with old friends, but don’t chase after people who can’t be bothered to keep in touch with you. Look around for your favorite foods to remind you of home…you will find it somewhere. Keep an eye on http://www.weather.co.uk …that always works for me.
Having a social life is all important too. Some of the friends you will make will be as close as any you had in the UK.
Anyway, good luck. It’s not so bad here, but it takes a while to get used to. Remember, your feelings are natural.