ALT-1 Living Abroad
Working abroad may make your friends, relatives and siblings jealous of your career advancement. Little do they know that the anxiety and loneliness of being abroad without anyone you can rely on is tough and challenging. I've been working in the United States for about 5 years now and I'm still learning how to cope with my loneliness from time to time although it's getting easier nowaday with the technologies. I have several of my favorite things I like to do while feeling homesick:
1) WEBCAM CONFERENCE/ INTERNET MESSAGING
With the latest laptop these days coming with the built in webcam and integrated microphone system, it has never been easier to connect with my friends and family from home. You can either choose skype, MSN messenger, yahoo messenger or AIM. All of the above messaging system support webcam conference. My most favorite is skype for webcam conferencing because not only are the sounds and image clearer, the connection is great and there's little chance of lagging while you are trying to talk to your family or friends. I usually have my skype date with my family and I get to see them and also show them my living quarters and the stuff I've been up to. I also chat with my friends through MSN messenger frequently and keeping in touch with their daily life, which makes me feel closer and when I go home and visit, there's not a dull or awkward moment as we can just continue where we left off.
2) FACEBOOK
This is the greatest creation of all time and I'm addicted to facebook. Not only do I get updates from my friends and family status but I get to see the pictures and what they have been up to lately. We get to exchange messages or simply just write a brief notes on their wall to keep in touch with some old friends. There's also plenty of applications that you can choose from to determine if any of your friends are similar to you, or you can make up your own quiz and see how much they really know you. You can pretty much spend long hours lingering within facebook and get connected with anyone from a stones throw to ten of thousands of miles away using the search engine to look for people within your network or living area.
3) MAKE NEW FRIENDS
It's always hard when you have to leave your groups of good friends behind and start a new life in a foreign country or area. Don't get stuck in the moment of misery, makomg friends at work will be the first step of stepping out of the comfort zone. Don't be shy and open yourself up to other people and I'm sure they will reciprocate. Slowly but surely, friendship will blossom. Being friends with your colleague also open new opportunity to know other people through their network of friends from dinner, movies or house party. You can also join fitness group to get in shape and meet up with some new acquaintance that way.
4) MAKE YOUR HOME COUNTRY CUISINE
Whenever I get homesick, I crave for home cooking. Therefore, I've learn from my mother how to make some of my own favorite dishes and invite friends to come over. I get to tell stories of my country and my friends get to enjoy the lovely ethnic meals that I've prepared. Making dinner for house guest takes a lot of preparation, so I won't have too much time on my mind to think how lonely and miserable I am being alone in the foreign land.
5) SMALL TRIP
I'm sure there's plenty of interesting places you can visit around the area that you live in, whether you live in the city or rural area. If you are living in the city, take a trip to drive out to the countryside and enjoy the peace and quiet. If you are living in the rural area, take a trip to the city and enjoy the mall, museums, local foods, antique stores, or whatever that you might be interested in. I personally like to drive to the countryside and enjoy the nature, the culture and the history of the small towns in America. I also like to take pictures and write a blog about the things that happen around me and my friends can read and give comments about my life abroad.
I'm sure there's something you can do to make yourself happy while working abroad. Take advantage of the opportunity and live it to the fulless. You don't have to be lonely if you don't want to. If you always stay in your apartment and don't go out and socialize, your working life in foreign country will only get miserable and not better.
