BAM. There it is. It came out of nowhere. Something or some thought made you start crying like a baby. Did you see it coming? Nope, you weren´t prepared for it. Because you were actually doing fine. Or at least that´s what you thought you were doing. Homesickness hit you.

Homesickness always creeps up unprepared. And anything can set you off; from a phone call, to a song to a memory. You suddenly feel broken hearted for the separation from your home country and you wish you could be there in an instant.

It wasn´t until our first guest from the Netherlands had just left, when I experienced the acute moment of homesickness for the first time. After one year of beating culture shock and going through the process of saying goodbye to my trusted home, I didn´t see this coming at all.

I thought I was done with most of the emotional reactions, but apparently I wasn´t. Even more interesting: the homesick feeling disappeared as quickly as it came. The next day, I felt perfectly fine again, energized to continue my life abroad as I had built it up.

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