Homesickness in a Place that Feels like Home

A lot of people who study abroad talk about the feeling of culture shock and homesickness that seems to either hit you like a truck out of nowhere or never go away. Dealing with that culture shock and homesickness is one of the main topics of ENGAGE sessions you have with IES Abroad. I personally felt lucky that the culture shock didn’t hit me like it does with most people; being from Hawaii, having a lot of knowledge and experience in Japanese American culture and also having been to Japan a few times before studying abroad made handling the culture here easy. I remember in one of the ENGAGE sessions having to make up something that culturally shocked me because nothing shocked me here. I expected the homesickness to not hit either, I mean, I’m studying abroad in the country I’ve been dreaming about living in for years now and I honestly love it here. It feels like a second home. But now, I know that you can feel homesick in a place that feels like home. 

If you follow me on social media, you’d know that I recently went on a trip to Okinawa with some of my friends from IES Abroad and Nanzan University. I’ll admit, I had a ton of fun there. It was warm and mostly sunny and we even got to go to the beach! As a girl from Hawaii, that was the thing I most looked forward to, maybe it’s stereotypical but I missed the ocean a lot. Okinawa is still technically part of Japan, acting as the southernmost prefecture of the country, but what I didn’t expect was for how much of it reminded me of Hawaii. Now don’t get me wrong, it was still very obviously a part of Japan, the main language there is Japanese, there’s still the convenience stores you’ll find in Japan there, yen is still the main currency, etc. But still yet, it felt so different. I remember telling Tayler, who’s also from Hawaii, the moment I stepped on the plane that I felt like I was walking into Honolulu Airport. The layout of the airport, the way you can immediately feel the humidity hit your skin, even the various planters they had in the airport and the baggage claim reminded me so much of home. No matter where we walked, I always thought, “This is literally like Hawaii.” Even the people there reminded me of people back home! Don’t even get me started on when we went to the beach. I was ecstatic! The sand, the water, the sun, the small shells and animals on the beach, even the smell of salt in the air, it all felt like home. Maybe being half Okinawan also made it feel a lot more sentimental to me, but it truly made me feel like for a moment I was back home. 

Heading back to Nagoya, I felt a weird sense of sadness that I haven’t felt in a while. It felt similar but not exact to how I felt when I left Hawaii to go to college for the first time. I never thought I would feel that feeling again, let alone for a place I’ve only visited for 4 days. At first I honestly thought it was just being tired from the trip, but when the feeling didn’t go away I knew it was something different. I assumed it would go away within a few days but a few days passed and the feeling was still there. Confusion had begun to set in, why was I feeling this way? Why was it that even when I’m hanging out with friends or my host family do I still feel down? I don’t think I realized I was dealing with homesickness until I finally was able to have my weekly call with my parents (that sounds bad but it’s only because they’re both teachers so we can only call on one specific day with the timezones!) I immediately felt a sense of relief when I was able to talk and rant to them about how much Okinawa had reminded me of home that I realized I just miss home. Being in Okinawa made me realize how much I truly missed home, even if it was only a sliver of what home was like. 

Now how to deal with it. The honest answer is I have no idea. I’m currently figuring this newfound homesickness out as I’m typing this. Since my call with my parents, I will say things have been getting better. Hanging out with friends has also been helping but maybe it’s also the excitement of my birthday coming up. What I can say really helped is talking with those who have or are experiencing homesickness. If you are feeling homesick while studying abroad, I can promise you nearly if not all of the other students you’re studying abroad with have or are currently feeling a similar way. Not everyone will be feeling the same thing but it really does help to get out all the feelings you’ve been dealing with, it’s a lot harder to hold it in alone. With that, just remember that you’re not alone and also that these feelings are normal. A lot of people expect you to be the happiest when studying abroad in a foreign country but the truth is that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. Some things are going to suck and some days you’ll feel like you just want to go home, but that’s just how things are. There are so many more positives to your journey and this will be just a small little downside in the many upsides you’ll experience. Until next time!!