Once upon a time some science guys and gals done some science things and they discovered that, when moving to another country, people go through emotional stages. First there is the honeymoon stage when you are experiencing new and exciting things but soon these things that seemed so interesting and strange become the norm. It is at this stage that we start to suffer from the dreaded homesickness.

Everyone feels homesick to varying degrees but regardless if your “home” is a train ride or a long haul flight away, everyone feels that pine for where they are from at some point. It can be caused by the weirdest things; perhaps when you reference a TV show from your childhood and none of your friends get it, when you sing along to a pop hit from the early noughties and you are the only one who knows the words (shout out to Billie Piper’s early pop career before she became a side-kick to Doctor Who) or when you see all your friends partying tagged in a picture on Facebook. No matter how much you are loving your time here and how at home you feel, you will probably feel a tiny bit homesick at some point.

But luckily, there are ways to cure it. Or you can at least alleviate these blues. Right now you are in an amazing situation that you will, probably, never be in again in your life. Not only can you experience cool, new, weird and interesting aspects of Dutch culture, you are also in a massively international environment. This means that you can learn all about the cool, new, weird and interesting aspects of cultures from all over the world without even leaving Nijmegen. And as we all know so well, food solves all problems, so why not combine the two and have an international dinner. Invite some Dutchies and all your international pals. You can share your culture (and most importantly, food) and learn about different ones at the same time.

If the hankering for home and your people there gets a bit too much then there is always the magic of the internet. From watching a comedy show from your country to catching up with the news and the current memes floating about it can help you feel a bit more connected. And if all else fails there is always Skype. It always does you good to hear people’s voices and see their faces, even if it means having twenty minute conversations with your granny’s nostrils as she hasn’t quite worked out how a webcam works yet.

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