The time has come to leave the place you have been living for the some time now and travel back home. Whether you have finished a degree or your job placement abroad was just terminated, the process of having to pack everything up and transfer them and yourself to your old room back home is never easy.

Being a graduate student in a foreign country for the last couple of years, I have found myself, more frequently that I would like to admit, to miss my old room, my mother's cooking, my father's advice, my cat sleeping on my lap, my house. From the furniture to that movie I have stored somewhere in the living room, my house "smells" familiar everywhere I decide to look when I visit my home-country. Needless to say, when time comes for me to leave again, although I am excited to come back to my beloved apartment here in the "other" land, something seems impossible for me to leave behind; the memories of where I grew up.

Everything I do now I love doing. I so lucky that I am not anywhere I do not wish to be nor do I suffer from being homesick that often. I am just concerned with the fact that although I love my parent's house and I am always unhappy that I will not be able to see them anytime soon, I have come to a "weird" realization. My life now goes forward in another country. I am not feeling trapped or unable to do otherwise. I really enjoy the time I am spending in this foreign country and I will dare to admit that it has somehow become my "new" cherished home. My apartment, my friends, my truly incredible professors, my studies, my happy or unhappy memories, everything has made me evolve and become the person my folks see whenever I visit the house I grew up. Whether I want to admit to myself or not, the only thing that I miss is people. Friends or family would be silly for me to think that I can replace, but the things that I once seemed to cherish so, have already been replaced in my heart. I would love to have my CD collection available, or my beautiful couch to sit on and watch a movie, but regardless of their presence I will continue having a wonderful time and experiencing life as I should.

What I am trying to say is the following. Although we tend to associate our home with the house we grew up in, which in many cases is where our parents still live, home is actually where our hearts belong. Perhaps in another graduate student's case, home would actually be another house, country, or continent, but for me, I recently realized, home is where my mind travels when it wants to think of something relaxing. The last three times that happened, home was my "new" place. Hopefully, by the time I will have to go back, I will be glad I experienced my stay here in such a positive way. I wish you all the same.