Homesickness.

Sorry for the lack of recent activity, I've been hit with Homesickness. Again. Most freshers, and even second and third years, will suffer at some point. There are several kinds of homesickness that I have observed.

The one that hits you like a train

This is what I suffer with. I was doing really well for the first few weeks. Then in week 4 it just hit me. Anything and everything would set me off, the smell of bread in Morrisons set me off once and I just stood there on the verge of a breakdown. Then when I got back to my room the photo of my dog set me off again. This kind of homesickness passes very quickly, I found I had a miserable night in, just moping around watching Bambi (boy was that a bad I idea).

The one that makes you seem like a hermit.

With this one people just get really miserable, don’t want to go out, don’t want to eat, or function in any way. If you suffer from this one then try and let at least one person know, flatmates really are understanding when it comes to homesickness, we have all been there.

The one where you just get drunk.

 This one is bad. It costs you way too much to go out and drown your sorrows every night. Plus you feel awful the next morning. If you really must go out and get drunk every night, don’t go on your own, go out with a group and really try and involve yourself in the night out.

The one where you turn into your mother.

I also suffer from this and I am very sorry to all my flatmates who put up with this. My mother is a massive clean freak. This means that sometimes I just have to clean. I can spend hours cleaning. I don’t even know why. I hate cleaning. I also cook a lot when I'm homesick, trying to recreate those homely meals, I make massive portions so my housemates are all well fed for the week after.

Homesickness is totally normal, embrace it, tell your family you are missing them, chances are they are missing you. You need to find your own way of coping with homesickness, mine is to grab a sad film and some popcorn and have a good cry. Although if you are suffering really badly and it is affecting your ability to function normally then don’t suffer alone, most university’s have a phone number you can call just for a chat. Here at Bangor we have Nightline that is run by students for students. You just call them up and they listen.

Keep it scrimpy
Laura.