Far away from home

I have heard about it, I have read about it and felt very certain that I won't be affected by it. But three months in to living in Melbourne and it hit me. I was caught unawares. If you ever tripped over a step when you are feeling the most smug about yourself, you will know the feeling. If you have not, then try it once, up your confidence and remind yourself that you are all knowing, all conquering, you are the smartest and the strongest, do this while you are walking up a flight of stairs and sooner or later you will trip.

Back to the point, I became home sick. While there are varying degrees of home sickness, I was unfortunate enough to get hurt the hardest. I will say that about me won't I? During the start of winter 2003, I was a lonely soul, wandering about on the streets of Melbourne, very depressed and longing to go back home.

I had no money, had about 90 dollars left in my bank account. The remedy for homesickness is to not let it get worse, a whole lot of good that would do. Calling home and crying over the phone is not recommended, cause the called party wails more than the called party, which in turn makes the called party (in this case me) a bit more depressed, if you catch my drift.

The remedy for any mentally related problems is to keep your mind busy, which certainly wasn't being observed in this case. But washing cars in the middle of winter certainly took my mind off things, I was too busy thinking about how to stop my foot from freezing.

A tip for you dreamers out there, if you leave your home and ever get homesick, just remember that it is natural and expected. And if it is winter then wash cars, you will make a bit of money and sleep tired.