Hello everyone! Hope you all are still healthy (and continue to be) and practicing social distancing, even though it is tough. We are social creatures, some more than others, but we have our group of people who we like to socialize with and it is hard not to go see them. I know for me personally, it has been really tough not seeing my friends whom I have not seen since I left for my study abroad program. But, I remind myself, it is for the health and wellness of them, my family, and me.
Life Update:
College work wise, I only have 3 papers to go before I am done for the year! Hooray!! One of my final projects was just turned in yesterday and I am feeling good about it. Things are starting to slow down and the rest of my deadlines are at the end of May.
Starting May 1st, I will be moving up to Decorah, Iowa (where Luther College is) to start up my nannying job with a family I nannied for last summer. They have a 10 year old boy that is on the spectrum, and he has two little sisters, that I get to work with too. They are adorable and full of energy. Most of the time, it does not even feel like work. The boy has behavioral problems and so when he escalates, it is tough, but he is such a caring kid. I am excited to see the kiddos again and to continue our adventure together.
Travel advice:
This week when I was getting coffee, something one of the other students apart of the program said popped into my mind. It has to do with feeling homesick when traveling or abroad. As I said last week, there is no comfort zone, but there are things that you can do that is familiar to you. For instance, I often go to a coffee shop, and the act of it is familiar to me and brings me comfort. I did this in every city I went to and it helped. However, that does not mean you should not go out an explore new things.
Another thing I found useful was to update family and friends, but not more than once a week. It was hard seeing my close friends and family members do things that we would have normally done together. That feeling that your missing out at home is a real and that is when homesickness sets in. BUT you have to remind yourself that you are experiencing sometime entirely new! Traveling abroad is something that many people wish they could do, but instead of wishing, you are living it. At first, I would call my mother everyday, sometimes more than once a day, then eventually, it became every other day, then once a week. We would text on between, but it was just to make sure I was alive and doing okay and to see if I needed anything. I called my best friends to talk and to update each other once a week. This was a good balance. It was not because I did not want to talk to them, but it allowed me to live in the moment and to fantasize about what could be.
I’ll add more advice in the later blogs as they come to me. That’s it for now. Stay safe my friends 🙂
Nottingham Adventures 