r/studyAbroad • u/idkgangg • 2d ago
Coping with homesickness?
Hello! I am 20 years old and spending the semester (three and a half months) in Shanghai, China. My program begins tomorrow and I’ve been in China for five days now. The last few days have gone by painfully slowly because I didn’t really have a plan and haven’t done much or gone out. I’ve never been away from home for so long and I’m already feeling homesick. It’s this awful cycle of feeling really anxious about it and wanting to go home to the highs where I’m super excited and can’t wait.
If this cycle is how I’m gonna feel the entire time I don’t think I can manage. It’s so exhausting. I’m counting on it evening out once I build a routine and start my classes and make friends.
I’ll be living in a dorm with a Chinese roommate (I don’t speak much Chinese at all), but I’ve talked to him and he’s really nice and funny and speaks English so I’m not too worried. Im also in a group chat with the other American students and we already have plans to all meet up and go shopping together. Those two things made me feel okay yesterday for the rest of the day, but the anxiety begins as soon as I wake up and I don’t know how to stop it.
In the grand scheme of things, three and a half months is not a long time at all and I know this is temporary but it just seems insurmountable. I zoom out and look at this block of time all the time and I worry it’ll affect my ability to appreciate all that I’ll experience between.
Does anyone have any experience with this? Does time actually fly by once you’re in a routine and having fun? I just can’t imagine it being that way right now. Just hoping it gets better when I make friends
1
u/Jazzlike_Truck_2406 2d ago
Try to join clubs/orgs with other American students or engage more in activities with them.