There are days that I would miss everything about home. I would miss my father, my mother, and my younger brother. I would miss my dog even more, even though he does not listen most of the time and gets really dirty when we go out for his walks. 

There are days that I would miss my bike. I would miss listening to music while riding my bike and just looking around. I would even miss the bike rides from my high school to home in the rain. 

There are days that I would miss the park that is only two minutes away from my house. I would miss watching the sunset on this watchtower that is at the park, even though you have to climb multiple stairs to make it to the top. 

There are days that I would miss going for a drive. I would miss my mother’s car with all its deficits. I would miss all the roundabouts. I would even miss the signs on the road that says ‘kilometers’ instead of ‘miles’. 

There are days that I would miss going to the bars in my town. I would miss running into friends at the snack bar we always go to after a night out. I would even miss falling off my bike on the way home because we had a little too much to drink. 

There are days that I would miss talking Dutch. I would miss not having to worry about making mistakes or messing up the grammar in a sentence. I would miss watching the news without having to turn on subtitles. 

There are days that I would miss working at the restaurant I used to work at. I would miss all of my coworkers and the fun we had on those long days from noon to midnight. I would even miss the stupid, blue, little scarf we had to wear that made us all look like flight attendants. 

There are days that I would miss my room in my childhood house. I would miss waking up in my own bed each morning and hearing the birds singing outside. I would miss the pictures on the wall and the giant mirror that takes up one entire wall in my room. 

There are days that I would miss going out to dinner with friends. I would miss the conversations about our lives over a good glass of white wine. I would even miss the comments my two vegan friends always make about everyone else’s meals and how all of us should become vegan. 

There are days that I would miss taking the train to Amsterdam. I would miss driving only 35 minutes to see my grandparents. I would miss taking my bike everywhere because everything is so close. 

There are days that I would miss shopping at the little boutiques in my town. I would miss buying a latte macchiato and a bagel with goat cheese, honey, and walnuts at Bagels and Beans. I would miss reading books in one of those comfy chairs at the library.

There are days that I would miss cuddling my dog on our couch while watching my favorite show. I would miss eating the chocolate chip cookies my mother always makes on Sundays. I would miss family dinners and just all of us talking about our days. 

There are days that I would miss playing volleyball with my old club team. I would miss practicing only twice a week instead of practicing every day. I would miss having team dinner every Friday night after our game. 

There are days that I think everything is just a little bit too much sometimes. I would miss everyone and everything about home.

There are days that I question myself for coming to the United States and I would ask myself if this is all going to be worth it.

These kinds of days occur about twice a week. And that is okay. It is okay to overthink things from time to time.

These are also the kind of days that make me realize returning home after five months will feel so much more special than going home after a weekend away. Even though my real home is not my home anymore these days, it always feels so good to come back.

It feels good not having to miss everyone and everything anymore.