While living abroad can be adventurous and exciting, giving you new experiences and stories you would never get otherwise, there are also times it can be very alienating. Alienating is the word my husband used at the tail end of our Thanksgiving celebrations. I sometimes forget how different everything is for him and how far from home.
Home. Hopefully that place for you brings some sense of security. It is familiar, full of nostalgia and warm memories and the people you love. When I left home a few years ago to live abroad, I always knew it was going to be temporary. That knowledge helped a bit with being so far away. My initial shock with the unfamiliar inspired an incredible bout of homesickness, but I was able to push past it once my intense fear began to subside. For most of my year abroad I wanted to soak up the moments and celebrate the different culture, but again, I always knew I would be returning home.
Imagine you don’t know that. You don’t know when or if you will return or even when you will next get to see beloved family and friends. The thing my husband described as difficult was watching people follow traditions that were different from his as well as spending time with people who were close. While we may be in our element and relishing in the holidays we looked forward to with the people we always spend them with, it’s a reminder to the outsider that they don’t have that right now. Their home is very far away, along with all the traditions they used to celebrate and the people who understood them.
In this season of thankfulness (at least, here in the U.S.) I want to stop and recognize the sacrifices my husband has made. Right now he is an alien in a foreign land doing his best to assimilate with no family or friends from back home. I am so grateful for him and the effort he has made, and I don’t want to take that lightly. Our homes (childhood homes) will always be far apart, but he has made the sacrifice to be here in my homeland with all that is familiar to me just so we can be together. I recognize that it isn’t easy, and I hope that someday if we see the opportunity, I can do the same for him. I love you Carlos – you are my new home.
Hugs,
Heidi
Hugs from Heidi 