I am currently spending a semester in Scotland, and since I’ve come here, I have experienced homesickness. A lot of homesickness. Though I love it here, and though I have friends here and though everyone here is so kind and welcoming, I still can’t help but miss a lot of things about home and about the college that I have left for the time being in order to study here. A lot of you are probably thinking that I should be happy here and not missing home as much as I am. And perhaps you are right. I am living my dream of going to Scotland. I am living my dream of getting to live here. But now I’m realizing that my dreams have changed a little, and coming here has reinforced how much I love the people I’ve left behind. So, here are just a few things that I miss about home.

1. I miss my family. This one is pretty obvious, but it is even worse when I have to rely on the internet to be able to communicate with them. When I am at college, they are just a phone call away, and I don’t have to worry about any time differences.
2. I miss my college campus. Though everything that I need here is fairly close, I do miss my college campus. I miss the beautiful place that I have come to love. I miss the ease in socializing and living.
3. I miss “Alex’s” and the “Brig”. These are the two places on campus that provide food. I really miss the ability and ease of grabbing dinner or a snack. Living here in Scotland, I have been forced to cook for myself and the person with whom I am living. This is great and all, good for having future life skills. However, it does put a damper on being able to snack whenever you want.
4. I miss having a job. While over here, I don’t have a job. This means that if I buy things using my debit card or anything that takes money out of my bank account, I currently don’t have a way to give it a boost. This does make me think more about having a budget. However, this makes it really difficult for me. I enjoy having that security of knowing that at least every other week, a little bit of minimum wage pay is going into my bank account.
5. I miss my friends at college. My friend group is basically a second family to me. I miss them a whole lot, and I especially miss them when I know that one of them I struggling really badly. It makes me feel helpless and unable to help them, because I am all the way across the sea.
6. I miss “short-distance” relationships. A long-distance relationship, whether it is a friendship or something deeper than a friendship is often hard on the emotions. Though it can be handled, and though it is not felt every day, I do miss getting to give hugs and just be around the people that are most important in my life.
7. I miss selective American TV shows. There are a lot of American TV shows on Netflix over here, even a lot that aren’t on American Netflix. But, they are missing some of my favorites, and I do miss them a lot. This is forgiven, because they do have Doctor Who, which is my all-time favorite show.
8. I miss warm weather. Sure it’s warm sometimes over here, but so far it has not been nearly as warm as it was back home. I’m all for sweater weather, but I don’t really appreciate sweater weather that threatens rain just about every day. The day I flew from home, it was just a little bit too hot for jeans and long sleeves. The day I got to Scotland, it was wet and rainy and dreary and rather chilly. Definitely long sleeves. All the time.

Basically, I miss what is familiar. I know that I am only here for a short amount of time, and I know that I should be enjoying it for all it’s worth. Scotland is full of rich history. Scotland is beautiful, even in the misty, foggy, dreary weather. I am thoroughly enjoying my time here. But being homesick cannot really be helped when one is all the way across the sea from everything they know and love. I can’t say I won’t miss Scotland when I return home, for I know that I will. But I will also rejoice greatly to return to the familiar and beloved.