Checking in on my international friends

Our university is such a big institution and we are very much living in a global world (even during a pandemic). With this in mind I’ve been thinking about how many international student friends I have and how long it has been since they have been home to see their families.

As an interstate student, I know it can be really challenging to not see friends and family from back home. Even though Covid has posed some challenges for domestic travel in Australia, I have still had the luxury to visit back home fairly regularly.

It can be strange when I visit home for Christmas. After a couple of months back home, I am just about ready to spread my wings and go do my own thing again. However, when I haven't visited home for a few months, I can get really homesick. I feel tired more frequently and I tend to blame my trouble and concerns on being away from home. I start to think in a negative manner, that I wouldn’t be as lonely at times when I’m home. I miss all the good food we eat as a family. Most of all, I miss the comfortability you have from being at home in my own space with family.

When I think about how sad I can become from not visiting home for a mere five months, I think about all the international students who have either been away from family for literally years or the international students cut off from Australia and their study experience. In the case of Covid, we can’t have the best of both worlds.

With this in mind, I had a good catch up with my friend who has been studying at Adelaide for three years like myself. We met in first year and have been friends ever since (we’ve certainly had our fair share of weird experiences). As it turns out, he’s now working every day to support himself through his studies. His family are well but Covid hasn’t been the easiest time for them. He also told me his mum (who he is really close with) tripped and broke a bone. We all have our own internal worlds and worries but for international students, I know that the worry extends to feeling isolated from their home.

With this being said we’ve been catching up every week and having a chat. While we’ve both been busy it is always good to make time. With the weather warming up, it could be a great time to do something exciting and distract each other from being away from home. As always though, it’s good to think about all my international student friends and how their lives might be more challenging when it comes to being homesick.