How I almost changed my tickets and flew back home after just one month.
“Homesick? That’s not me. How can you miss home while in the USA?! If you’re bored, it just means you’re not ready for this program yet.”
Before I even got my host family info, I thought of this trip as something like flying to Mars: wow, I was accepted, no one I know has ever been there, no idea what it’ll be like, but hey—it’s MARS (USA)! Who would miss their parents and their cozy room while living on another planet?
But once the tickets were bought, the reality of moving 9,000 km away hit me hard. Suddenly it wasn’t just “a cool adventure,” it was serious.
Me. A whole year. In the USA. Okay, fine.
August 29 at night I packed, and August 30 in the morning I flew out. It was sad, I cried, texting my friends like crazy.
But the moment I landed in Chicago, the sadness got replaced with pure excitement: “I’m in the USA for a year!!!” For two weeks I was riding this wave of total thrill.
And then… the homesickness hit. I missed my favorite coffee shop, talking to my mom in person, walking through my hometown in awful weather. Even the bright sun and 30°C in September couldn’t stop me from feeling homesick.
By late September, I was seriously looking at tickets back home. It was tough. I just wanted to press pause on this endless interactive episode of an American TV series—without subtitles.
What made me stay? Just two arguments:
- You’re not a quitter.
- There’s nothing to do back home anyway.
Now I feel better. My emotions finally balanced out. I go to school with 50-minute classes, lockers, and yellow buses, I buy giant 20oz coffees, and instead of preparing for Russian exams, I’m getting ready for the SAT.
And it’s awesome.
Because it’s different.
Because I’ve never experienced anything like this before.
This is exchange life as it is 🤩
Try it yourself and become an exchange student!