It may be difficult for you to adjust in a new country if you work abroad. Culture shock, being surrounded by strangers, and being cut off from your regular support system can cause homesickness. Homesickness is an acute form of anxiety or emotional distress that results from feeling disconnected from familiar people and places and forced out on your regular routine.
If you are a newly-hired Filipino helper | Indonesian helper | Myanmar helper who is definitely dragged down by homesickness now, read the following tips to overcome what you’re feeling.
1. Get adopted
The best way to avoid missing your family back home is recreate a new one. It doesn’t mean forgetting your original culture, family, and nationality. Overcome shyness by talking to the locals. As a domestic helper, the best way to have a social circle is opening up to the family you are serving. Talk to them and treat them as the new friends you can trust and you will surely overcome loneliness.
2. Overexpose yourself
Your unfamiliarity to the foreign land adds to the homesickness you are feeling. Do not remain a stranger. Explore the new country you are working in. You can volunteer to buy groceries for the family until the strange market turns into a familiar place. If you spend more time on the overwhelming places, you’ll soon get used to it and feel more relaxed. Don’t be afraid to immerse in new culture! Know people and let them know you as well.
3. Take a break from social media
Social media will only remind you how far you are from your old friends and family. If you’re spending two hours every day talking to your relatives and catching up on every tiny thing happening at home, you’re not using that time to explore and connect with your new space. Not only that it hinders you from connecting to your employer, too much time spent on phone and Skype also makes you unproductive as a helper.
Stop keeping track of what they are doing at home and make your own happy memories on your present place.
4. Start as a foreigner then an expert
Everybody starts as a stranger in a foreign land. If you’ve agreed a day-off with your employer, try exploring nearby popular spots on that days! Find the places you feel most comfortable, a restaurant that has food you’re obsessed with, a great park for jogging, or whatever that will make you love the new country.
5. Work positively
Sometimes, loneliness is just a state of mind. It can lead to laziness and unproductivity. Be positive. Remind yourself of the good days you have in the new place. Work hard and impress your employer with your good performance. A positive mind changes your mood and output.
One of the most significant challenges that people abroad face, especially those living abroad for the first time, is homesickness. Keep in mind that it’s normal. Everybody who work abroad feels it. However, don’t let it create depression and defeat you.
Eden Grace organize activities for you and your fellow helpers to have a fun fellowship. Everytime those opportunities come, seize the moment and make friends. You’ll feel better!
