Justine Larbalestier

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Music not a cure for homesickness

I have been conducting a series of scientific experiments on how to cure homesickness. Here is my latest finding:

LISTENING TO MUSIC FROM HOME DOES NOT WORK.

In fact, it makes it much much worse. I have been listening to Oz music for the last four hours. Some of it music I don’t even like. So far I have cried 4.7 times.

I feel my findings are conclusive and I can now cease the experiment.

Next: The stabbing-your-hand-with-toothpicks cure.

Wish me luck.

Posted by Justine at 13:38, 19 June 2008 under Listening, Sydney/Australia | 12 Comments »

Comments

  1. David Moles Says:

    but sometimes it’s worse in a good way? maybe?

    (so what oz music do real aussies listen to?)

    June 19th, 2008 at 1:50 pm

  2. 2. Justine Says:

    I cannot say. If I told you all my Aussie friends would mock me for the rest of my life.

    June 19th, 2008 at 4:16 pm

  3. becky Says:

    I have to ask. tee hee. Do you listen to Darren Hayes?

    June 19th, 2008 at 4:45 pm

  4. emmaco Says:

    Have you tried watching clips from Australian programs so you can miss the accents? about as effective as the music listening. Next on the list for me: texting my sisters every hour to see how they’re enjoying their road trip down the Queensland coast together.

    June 19th, 2008 at 4:52 pm

  5. jonathan Says:

    4.7 times? 0.7? You were listing to Sherbet weren’t you :)

    June 19th, 2008 at 5:08 pm

  6. Amber Says:

    In Canada, I only listen to Kiwi music if I want to feel very sorry for myself indeed. And vice versa. It is only good for dejected wallowing.

    Under no circumstances point your browser anywhere near the word Youtube in conjunction with the words Paul and Kelly. It may just be too too much.

    June 19th, 2008 at 7:26 pm

  7. Lizabelle Says:

    If it’s any help (although I don’t suppose it is, sorry), I am in your beautiful, amazing city of Sydney, and am homesick for my home in the UK.

    Homesickness just IS, sadly.

    June 19th, 2008 at 8:33 pm

  8. hillary! Says:

    After seven years I still miss Eugene, Oregon. I’ve never even been back for a small visit. SEVEN YEARS! This prolly doesn’t help.

    June 19th, 2008 at 9:42 pm

  9. Cheryl Rainfield Says:

    Homesickness can be painful. I don’t know a cure for it–and sometimes it helps to feel–but I also know that sometimes distraction can help alleviate pain, at least for a while. What about getting lost in a great book? Watching a movie you love? Doing something creative–doodling, drawing, dancing…. Or just getting a hug?

    June 19th, 2008 at 10:03 pm

  10. sir tessa Says:

    australia misses you too.

    June 19th, 2008 at 10:48 pm

  11. caitlin Says:

    I live in Seattle now, but grew up in Upstate, NY nearish to Saratoga. Recently, I watched a fascinating PBS program on the stunning Adirondack Mountains. I found myself homesick and practically in tears. I also oddly enough really miss the way NYC smells. I hope that you’re able to spend loads of time in Sydney soon.

    June 19th, 2008 at 11:43 pm

  12. eek Says:

    I grew up and lived my first 28 years on the Eastern US Coast, never more than a 45-minute drive from the Atlantic Ocean. Now I live in the midwest. I know everyone I say this too looks at me weird, but I regularly have just a bit of panic or vertigo or something that there isn’t an ocean just a short car ride East of me…

    I miss family and friends and places/things unique to both the East Coast places most familiar to me, and in ways that can feel almost too much for fleeting moments, but the overwhelming weirdness of it, even after living here for 4 years, is the sort of vertigo of missing my ocean.

    No suggested cures – just an empathetic nod of understanding.

    I am where I need to be, and not sure I will ever be an East Coaster again, but the moments of missing that time or place can be powerful. When those moments hit you, hold on, breathe, and ride them out…

    Emily

    June 20th, 2008 at 1:41 am

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