Imagine waking up early in the morning, feeling a rush through your veins and knowing that in a couple of hours you will be in a different country with a whole new family and a whole new life.
As a student from abroad, another state or even just 30 minutes away, you can easily feel homesick; this could be the first time leaving home. Homesickness is unavoidable when you are away from home. However, it is possible to find solace in the beauty of Santa Barbara.
“It is a district adjustment disorder with identifiable symptoms that could affect all people and is nearly unavoidable,” said CNN’s Derrick Ho in an article called “Homesickness isn’t really about ‘home’.”
Some things might be the same as back at home. You might miss something as simple as a coffee shop that you and your friends always went to; this might be what you miss the most.
But some aspects might be completely different. Some things might be so much better that they make you wonder why you didn’t move earlier.
As a student from abroad, Santa Barbara is a beautiful place to live because of the beach, the heat and the lack of rain. Who wouldn’t want to live in pure sunshine everyday?
There are small and cozy restaurants like the Italian place Pascucci that look so small from the outside. You see a lot of people when you walk in as waitresses and waiters run around and take orders. There are too many reasons to enjoy Santa Barbara to count.
This town has a lot of movements. It is a town that never sleeps, and people are friendly and ask how you are doing. This is what you should surround yourself with to overcome homesickness.
Students who move away from friends and family might miss certain things they are used to back home. It might be “brunost” which translates into brown cheese, which is what a Norwegian student who moved here recently missed the most. Or feeling safe when out partying, which is what a Danish student said he misses. Or it could be something as simple as Swiss chocolate, which would be so normal to a Swiss student.
The three students have just begun their first semester at City College. The students said their best way to combat homesickness is to do something in the moment that doesn’t remind you of home. Distractions from homesickness are talking to friends, or splurging on cravings.
It is a common thought that calling your parents and talking to them for a while helps ease homesickness, but it often only makes things worse. I have missed my family during the short time I have been here, and suffered from homesickness since moving here about a month ago.
But go out on a midnight grocery run to Ralph’s and buy exactly what you want; it could be your favorite cookie dough brand. You know exactly where it is in the store. Find it and buy it from that funny cashier; sometimes that is exactly what you need.
