Homesickness

okay, so i get this question a lot. what about homesickness? do you get it? have you got it now?
this can be an interesting one to answer depending on who i'm talking to. if i'm talking to most people (friends of my host family, people who i don't really know) i'll say,

'yeah i get, but it comes and goes and thankfully i have a wonderful family around me to help me through it. and with all the technology these days, both my sister and mum are on facebook and my dad just got hooked up to the internet at work so he can now talk to me as well. so its not that big of a deal.'

and yes i pretty much have that speech down to a T after 6 and half months. if i'm talking to any one that doesn't fit into this category (you, some of my friends back in Aus, close friends here, or my acting class- we're a very open group) i would say something along the lines of...

'it gets horrible at times. i put on a happy face cause i know that this is hows its gonna be if i move over here for good. but really there are times when i am ready to get on the next plane back to Australia when i hear about things that have happened or to simply for a hug from one of several people. i can rant and rave as much as i want about how much i miss home and how different things are over here, and how there are times when i don't want to be where i am, but what it really comes down to is love. its corny but for people who knew me back in Aus, i was a hugely affectionate person (just ask my mum about 'tall hugs' and you'll get the picture) and over here i don't get that much affection from people. part of it is me, i don't quite trust anyone (maybe one or two people) enough to let them through my exterior and get to my affectionate side, but really is it too much to ask for a hug? this is when the homesickness kicks in, i would get hugs from everybody, hugs from my family at least thrice daily and from everyone else who knows how many times. so basically i'm lonely, not in the sense of i don't know people cause i do, i could be out every weekend, and most of the week if i wanted to be (then again i've never really been a party girl), i just need more hugs.'

so now that i've got all of that out, i hope that answers some of the questions about homesickness. i can tell you now, a lot of answers people get to questions they ask me about personal and heartfelt stuff- unless they have my complete trust and faith, they will get a generic, memorised answer. 'yes, things are fine, there are ways around it, and i have many things to distract me' well, 'no things are not always fine, there are ways, but they don't substitute for the real ting, and i'm constantly thinking about things/people i have left behind in Aus'

til next time
Katie
xo
PS. Mum, Dad, Becca, Georgia, Katie, Daniel, Ballerina, Matt, Amber and everyone else back in Aus, i miss you so much! xoxoxoxoxoxoxo :)