Homesickness

I am homesick. I'm not sure how to describe what I'm going through but I'll try. I think the Christmas season set it off, not being home with family for Christmas and also missing the typical Canadian "white" Christmas. No snow, no family here. I'm missing my family, my friends back in Canada and those that are scattered around the world. I'm missing Canadian culture, Canadian food, vocabulary, politics, sports, weather and t.v. I'm missing Tim Horton's, Canadian Tire and Zellers. I'm missing Hockey Night in Canada, the World Juniors Finals, and curling. I'm missing CBC world news and Corner Gas. I'm missing being able to say things like "pogey", "screech" and "toque" and have people understand what I'm talking about. Not that screech comes up in conversation very often, but that's not the point. I'm missing hearing about the Canadian Federal election, although I've already voted by mail. I'm missing perogies, cabbage roles, cranberry sauce, and blizzards. Not to mention my mom's cooking...oh don't get me started. I'm missing being able to watch t.v. in English, being able to pick up the phone and call a loved one without scheduling a time to call so that I don't wake them up with the time difference. I'm missing being able to drive a car, to ride a bike, to see the stars at night.

Well this is turning into a long list of things that I'm missing in Canada or about Canada. But all this missing is causing me to feel a little blue. I'm struggling to keep my attitude positive and also to make sure I don't take my homesickness to another level, which usually turns into hating the culture or place that you're in. There are things about France, and Marseille in particular, that are annoying, frustrating and irritating. But it doesn't mean it's wrong. It's just different. I have to see the good and get past my irritation. And ride out this wave of homesickness. I'm reading a book called "Timbit Nation, A Hitchhikers View of Canada" so that's helping fill in some gaps and also making me laugh at the Canadian culture. I'll tell you about the book in another post.