18 Days Left!

There are 18 days until I’ll be in Argentina! Yesterday I talked a bit at the end about talking to people back home when you are feeling frustrated or homesick and I want to expand on that a bit today.

If you are going to study a language abroad for a year, if your primary intention for your abroad program is to immerse you in a language so that you will become fluent, it is important that you do not go home during the long vacations. Why, you ask? Simply because it disrupts the acquisition process and stunts your learning of the language when you go home and stop using it for several weeks. So what do you do when you feel homesick, how can you keep in contact with your family and friends. Well in this day and age it’s not very difficult; I mean if you’re reading this blog entry then you already know one way to keep your loved ones updated.

If you want to actually talk to your family and friends though, it can be expensive to get international cell phone service. Try using Skype or Oovoo (or Facetime if you have Apple products) to videochat with people. There are also several apps you can download if you have a smartphone you plan to take with you, that give free international texting or calling, like Facebook Messenger (yes, you can make phone calls on Messenger, it’s crazy) or apps like What’sApp that only needs wifi to send texts internationally (but if you and your loved ones have Apple products you can use iMessage).

For people that you don’t necessarily talk to often but who you want to keep in the loop, I suggest starting a travel blog and inviting everyone to follow it so that they can keep up with your day to day experiences. It can be kind of tiresome telling the same story over and over again to a bunch of different people or frustrating trying to remember everything that happened in the last month when you finally get to catch up with someone. Ultimately still, keeping a travel blog will enable you to recount your own experiences once you get back home; that way you will never forget anything. It doesn’t matter if your blog is mostly writing, or if it all pictures; it doesn’t matter if your writing is professional or amateur. What is important is that you tell your story the way you want to share it and to remember it.

Additionally,  sometimes it’s hard to go abroad for a long time because you have to leave things behind, like jobs, clubs, etc. It can feel like you are becoming completely disconnected and you may even fear that when you get back you won’t have been missed. My advice is to stay connected. Be pen pals with you club members, or your classmates, or your co-workers. Send each other letters or emails giving each other updates. Invite them to follow your blog or to check out your pictures on Instagram or whatever it takes to make them feel a part of your life even while you are away, that way when you get back, you won’t feel like there isn’t a place for you.

Being away from home doesn’t mean being disconnected. Make use of the technology around you. It’s not the same as being with the people you want to talk to, but it’s better than not being about to talk to them at all.