Homesick. Webster's Dictionary defines homesick as "sad or
depressed from a home or family while away from them for a long
time."
I've never really experienced being
homesick. Both my children are grown and live away and have been for years.
When I joined the Foreign Service, I sold my home, car, most of my worldly
possessions and off I went. I was
assigned to Honduras, to Muscat, Oman and volunteered for 2 years in
Pakistan. Since I didn't really have a
'home', I never felt that feeling of being away. I have never really experienced being homesick.
Until now.
I've been in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei
for a little over 14 weeks now with a little over 6 weeks to go...and I miss my
bed. I miss the routine that I established since I retired in July of 2014. I
miss my new kitchen. I miss my car. To me, that sounds so foreign, so unlike
me. I've tried to figure out if maybe I
miss something else that could be causing me to feel the way I do but I can't
think of anything. So I guess I am
finally experiencing being homesick.
It's not like I'm unhappy here.
I'm really not sad, as Webster's states I should be. I'm really enjoying
the work, the people I work with and this lovely country. But something is
missing. It could be that I spend too much time in the house instead of out
doing things. But on the plus side, I'm putting my entire paycheck every two
weeks in savings and am trying to spend as little as possible while I'm here. Most of what I spend is at the grocery store! I only brought 2
suitcases and am allowed much less weight on Royal Brunei Airlines going to Hong Kong than on
American Airlines from Hong Kong to DFW. Besides, there aren't many souvenirs to be found here.
I might be feeling this way because I've successfully
settled into retirement and am truly happy.
However, the opportunity to work again doing something I love, earn a
salary again and see more of the world was something I just couldn't turn down.
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