First Semester in USA : I Feel Home Sick and Lonely
HSB Reader sent the following email couple of weeks back saying he’s felling lonely and home sick. It is common for students coming to USA. It takes sometime to get used to American lifestyle.
Also, the reader is asking for help with cooking and food for pure vegetarian’s.
I had one other reader who wanted to cover this same topic about adjusting to boring, lonely life in first semester.
Home Sick, Food and Living
I am studying at Florida.
I am a follower of HSB. I got my visa and I came to US for my Master’s.
The place is very boring here and there are no friends,even my roomates go out to work from morning 8 then come back at 12 in the nigth. Some of them are like so so friends.
I feel very home sick and very alone… Do u have any idea on how to cope up with this?Ii came in this Spring … I am planning to go to India in the spring holidays for 3months as there is nothing here to do.. Can you please help me…This place is like a small Village here. There is nothing here. I have to walk about 1 km to go to Walmart.
Do u have any idea for students who are pure vegetarian survive? I know to cook but 80% here is non veg.
Hope I get adjusted here soon.
Pure Vegetarian Food in USA
I remembered the following sentence posted by Anisha at Little Scraps of information about American Lifestyle.
If you’re vegetarian and you’re not a good cook, god be with you.
Once my dad walked into a McDonald’s and asked if they had any vegetarian stuff. He was met with a blank, confused expression. Eventually we realized it was silly to have even asked, and my dad ended up having to munch on french fries, and we picked up a cheese pizza on the way home.
You will slowly get used to food habits. Its survival and learning process takes time. First semester is always tough for some.
That’s one shock that one will have to acclimatize to in contrast to India, and particularly in universities that are not in proper cities.
Barely any people, particularly outside university hours.
To a reader in India, it might not appear to be a big deal, but once you start living this life, it does become frustrating at one point of time…so be prepared!!
Home Sick
I’m not sure why there is nothing to do in Florida.
I love the Florida.
Cost of living is less and with beach are nearby.
If your room mates are not home, then make new friends.
Friends shouldn’t be just from India. You see lots of friendly students from other countries and American students.
Hit the Gym in the evenings.
If you are kind of person who never stayed in hostel or lived away from home, it will take a while to adjust to lifestyle in America.
Here is a nice tip for you – Find a girlfriend, your life will get very interesting and time will go by fast.
Florida
Florida is one of the best places to live and study. Even in Winter, you temperature will be in 70’s.
Places to see
- Miami –
- Orlando –
- Tampa, Clearwater Beach –
- Disney, Universal, Sea world –
- Vero Beach Mall –
- Key West –
- NASA –
Above all doing the following is Priceless
- White Mocha from Starbucks in Melbourne Beach and sitting on the board walk.
- Playing Beach Volley Ball in Indialantic Beach
- Casino Cruise from Cocoa Beach is priceless
- Watching Space Shuttle Launch from Melbourne Beach
Now, if you are wondering how come I know so much about Florida
It takes time to get used to new lifestyle. Florida is awesome place to live. Once you settle down and get a car, life will be awesome.
Hey HSB,
I’m a vegeterian too, I dont even eat egg, and I live in a village in Texas, atleast the guy is able to walk to walmart, I’ve to ask ppl for rides to go to HEB or Walmart, they are too far to go even on a bike. I would say cooking is easy once you know what to cook, you can always add Indian flavours to anything you cook, and most of the stuff you need is available in Walmart or HEB. Also in this village there is not a single Indian store, so I would say that guy is lucky compared to the situation we have here. Cooking is not difficult and once you start cooking, you’ll soon forget your boredom (I’ve a secret passion for cooking so I may sound a little persuading :D) The only dish I like to eat outside is Mashed potatoes, try it with ranch, its good. If anyone needs recipies for vegeterian dishes that we can easily cook let me know, I learnt watching youtube and some with my own trial and error methods, Well till now I would say it was never an error, most of the Indians here seem to like all that I cook, so I would consider it as my tiny achievement :). Regarding feeling homesick, everyone feels that at one point or another, you can make best use of time if you want to, if your room mates do not come home until late night, you should probably take walk in the evenings or go to gym, and I’m sure you’ll find new friends there, also for me books have been best friends ever since childhood, so I guess I never had time to feel lonely. Good luck for the guy, try to visit some places in US. I heard Colorado is beautiful, if I had atleast quarter the money of a ticket to India I would visit Colorado.
Well,this article is really helpful.I have also felt home sick when i am studying 12th,two years in the hostel in a different place is unforgettable in my life.
Start making food man!!!! You can do you tube search for recipies of making food. If there is any forum in HSB about how to make food indian student way, it will be fun to contribute.
HSB, there are no more Space Shuttle Launches 🙁 I had plans to go Florida for the launches, when I was in India after I come here for my Masters… But now, I am in Boulder and there is no Shuttle program…! Damn..!!
I know. I was lucky to see 2 launches and several trips to NASA space center.
Even I am a new student at Florida Institute Of Technology ..I started this spring semester … On the contrary to whatever the student posteds, I am having a blast here. It all depends on how you interact with people and How quickly you can make friends. As for Melbourne being a boring place, Well If you compare it with whatever place you from in India , it is bound to be boring as nothing can match back home but again if you know what you want to do and have the time and money for it then you can do pretty much anything you want here. Miami and Orlando are close by ..How can someone say its boring.
To sum it up anything can be made boring or interesting based on an individuals mind set.
Get the email id of the guy who sent the email from HSB and contact him 🙂
cmon man am not screwed even staying at a place like oklahoma where there is no beach or wonderland. Florida is amongst the best part of US with some of famous places like MIAMI. Everyone fells the same when they first land here. I came here in fall 2011 and found the place dull and boring. But i made a lot of new friends from various countries, hit health clubs in evening , bought a bike and explored various places by myself. Later i found their lot more to do then i expected. My most college friends including my apartment mate were boring though with all the time stuck in there labs,But people admired the way i enjoyed my life here and maintained my grades as well. Also visited my favourite destinations like hollywood, Vegas, Disneyland , Los angeles and San fransisco during my fall break. Do not plan to be back home that early.
Very helpful & hopeful reply- I really really like your work here 🙂