Friday, December 11, 2009

Question of the Week (12/11/09)

What would it be like to spend a long time away from your friends, family, and home? How would you cope with returning to your old life? Write about the most difficult challenges you’d face. Discuss how you would deal with them, as well as how other people could help you cope with your return to your old life. Post and respond to a classmate's post by Sunday.

34 comments:

Unknown said...

Its like going to private school, or, a long summer camp. There is a time of home sickness which is easily overcome. Then you begin having fun with the new life you are living. Soon though, you recall what your life used to be and then your mind is stuck between the life you are living and the life you left. Its a troubling time.
Once you return home, I find that it is very easy to recalibrate yourself to your normal life. I start by doing what i miss the most (video games, eating, etc.) then, the other activities just find their way in. After about 2 weeks I return myself to my normal life.

The only things that can be done to cope with the problems of leaving your home and friends is by really participating in whatever you left them for. I go to hockey for roughly 6 weeks over the summer (not the longest time away, but enough to understand some of the feelings). THe way I calibrate to the new style of living is by just focusing on hockey and nothing else. The more I play and focus on hockey, the less I think about what I miss.

George Papa said...

I would assume being away from your friends and family for an extended period of time would be both boring and you would feel a homesickness constantly. Returning to your old life would not be to difficult depending on if you like the place you had been for the extended period of time or if you missed your old life more then you liked (if you did like) where you were for that time.

Some difficulties you might face when returning are missing the place you were, so a great way cope with that would be to do the things you liked to do before you were gone for an extended period of time, you could do that yourself or with family and friends.

Alice.Rottersman said...

I would first like to briefly respond to Brendon's post...do you not eat at hockey camp?! I knew there's a good reason I don't play hockey.

Anyway, being away from one's friends and family would be different depending on where you went. If you were imprisoned I'd imagine it would be quite a different experiance than going to a year long Batman Palooza (yes, I wish they existed, too). Being imprisoned (like Mr. Manette) you have time on your hands, you can sit around and be homesick, lonely. While at a something like a Batman Palooza you are occupied and probably wont miss everyone as much.

As George said, dealing with one's return, again, varies on the condition of your absence. Challenges you might face might include readjusting to being social and dealing with people in general(if your were imprisoned). To deal with that, I suppose time heals most wounds, and baby steps are always helpful if you're going through such a dramatic change as Mr. Manette was (he brought along his familiar shoe-making tools). Other people could help one cope by being flexible and understanding your going through a tough transition.

Sonya said...

I've had some experience with this. When I was in sixth grade, I went to live in a town in Slovakia for a few months. I was with my family, but away from my friends and very far away from home. My family really helped, and I can't imagine what it would have been like without them there. In this type of situation, it is hard to adjust to a new way of life, and in my case very new customs plus a different language. For me, although I was constantly missing home and my friends, I almost started to forget what life was like at home. And that was only four months away. I can only imagine how difficult it would have been to be away for 18 years.

Brendon said that "once you return home, I find that it is very easy to recalibrate yourself to your normal life". But I think that this is only the case with going away to camp, as he was talking about. When I got home from my trip, it was great to be back, but also hard. My friends had new friends, and I had to readjust back to a different school, a different food, and a different way of life again. I think the hardest thing for me was that nobody at home when I got back seemed to understand that what I had experienced was life-changing. It was sort of "out of sight, out of mind" for them, and it didn't seem to occur to many people that I had actually been doing something for the past four months. It would have helped a lot if people had realized that, and maybe tried to think about how difficult it might be for me to be coming back. Since I hadn't been gone for very long, the home I remembered was very similar to the way it was when I got back, it would be so much more difficult for Dr. Manette, who probably has not much recollection of any sort of life before his imprisonment.

Michaela Helble said...

I've never really spent a long time away from friends or family, so I can't completely imagine what it would be like. Reading Sonya's post, I understood a lot more about how hard it would be to come back to people who have basically "moved on", and I understand more about what it would be like to be "reborn", like Dr.Manette.
The closest I have ever come to this sort of experience would be one of the many times I've moved in my life. My family and I went on sabbatical to Washington DC for a year, intending to return back to our old home once the year was up (we never did- we moved somewhere else instead). Because of this, I still thought of my house in Connecticut as my home, and my friends in Connecticut as my real friends. The hardest parts about the move were making new friends and missing the old. It was sometimes hard to move on and focus on making new friends and having new experiences, rather than dwelling on the old ones, which I think would be some of the many challenges for anyone who went away for a long time.
The hardest parts about returning to the old life, I'd imagine, would be getting caught up with everything that has happened in your absence. I would probably start by seeing people I used to know, and then doing things I used to do, until I fit back into my old life. Friends and family would definitely help with the return by being supportive and patient until I got used to the old life again. This role is Lucie's in the book- and even with her help, I think it will take a long time for Dr.Manette to be perfectly normal because he'd been imprisoned for such a long time, and barely remembered his old life.

Katie Callahan said...

Each scenario in which someone leaves home and their ability to readjust to the new living condition and then readjust to the old once they return depends of the person, past experience leaving, and as Alice said, the conditions they are entering and exiting.

Some people find it very easy to adjust to new situations, make new friends and overall getting used to everything. This can be made easier or more difficult by the situation you find yourself in, if you are entering a horrible place, it is going to be harder to forget the old and move on with the new. In vice versa, it would be easier to accept and adjust to a new place if it was a better scenario than you were in originally.

I have had a few experiences leaving home then returning. I have not had any troubles falling in and out of routines. Like Brendon, I went to a sports camp over the summer, for me, it was a field hockey camp. It took a few days to get used to everything – the people, the schedule, the rooms, the food etc. But soon, I found myself comfortable. When I went home, I found myself waking up at the ‘camp time’ and getting hungry when I used to eat meals. But after a week maximum, I was back to my old ways.

mallory patton said...

It would be horrible to spend a long time away from home, with my family and friends. You don't realize at the time, but you depend on your family a lot for all kinds of support. Being away from home would also mean living on your own for a while and I'm not completely ready for that in my life. I think you could always make new friends but it would be harder, and you would miss your old ones. I think if you were gone a month or so it wouldn't be that hard to readjust back to your life. But I disagree with George on how easy it would be to just readjust after a very long period of time. I think if you were gone for so long, like Mr. Manette, it would be hard to go back with your family. You wouldn't be as comfortable, like you were before with everyone and it would feel different. My friends and family could easily make me feel welcome again if they were same as they always had been and just remembered me that way too. If they make the effort to bond it wouldn't be that hard.

Daniel G said...

I think that no matter what it would be difficult to make a drastic change in your lifestyle and then change back again. When you first move away, you would constantly be thinking about your old life and the people you knew and how they affected you. However, as happens in almost everything, you would eventually become more accustomed to it and, even if you never learned to like your life, you would learn to accept it and move on with the new one. Then returning again to your old would probably seem easier, because you knew it once before, but it would still be another sudden change, none of which are ever easy. The easiest way to get through all of this would be to have a mentor of some sort to help you through it, someone you trusted. Also, the more supportive people around you, the easier it would be.

I agree with much of what Katie said about the difficulty of the change depending on the situation that you were moving from and the one you were moving to. If you are moving into an much better situation, then it would be much easier. However, even when the move is beneficial in every way, it would still be difficult because you have to get accustomed to new things and forget all the ways that you used to do things. Just because the new ways are better doesn't mean that it is easy to become accustomed to them all at once.

Kelsey said...

I agree that it would be extremely difficult and lonely to be sent away from friends and family for a while, and then have to return back home and pretend everything is just the same as you left it. When I was 10, I went to a seven week sleep away camp for the first time in Maine. It looked like a lot of fun with all the new activities like waterskiing and rock climbing that I would get to try for the first time. And, for the first week it was a blast, but after that it was really hard to be away from the people I was comfortable with like friends and parents. I think that all of a sudden switching your daily routine and the people you see is always hard to do. No matter if it's a summer camp or prison. Obviously if there are things to distract you from these feelings (like at camp) it is much, much easier than if you're just stuck in a cell with nothing other to do than elaborate on and keep thinking about your life you left behind and how much you miss it.

I think that at first returning home and seeing the people you've missed and loved for so long would be a great feeling. However, I think it depends how long you were gone. If it was just a 7 week camp, little things would change, like the food you eat, and maybe even friends you had. But if you're gone for 18 years like Mr. Manette, everything would be different from how you left it. Like Michaela said, the people in your life would have moved on with their own lives. I think that after a while in your new surroundings, you would eventually adjust to how things have changed, and make a new life for yourself, but it would be a very bumpy road to get there.

I agree with Katie that it depends the situation you're in after returning "home". If it is awful conditions and everything has changed for the worse, you would find yourself remembering and hoping for "the good times". This would make it very difficult because you would constantly be wishing things were better, unable to fully adjust to your new situation.

Unknown said...

I think Sonya has the best comprehension of the actual experience questioned here, but really, none of us can imagine what it would actually feel like to be away from our homes, friends, and families for a long period of time. We can try to imagine the difficulties of adjusting, and then re-adjusting, but we really have no idea.
In my opinion, summer camps do not count, though this question is broad enough that I know my interpretation is only one of many. I think of this question more in terms of the book. I think of Mr. Manette's experience in prison, or of the experiences of the countless soldiers throughout history. These people have - willingly or unwillingly - left their lives and entered into completely new worlds. I have no idea what this would feel like, but I do know that their experiences would change them and their perception of the world forever. When re-introduced to their previous lives after such experiences, they no longer feel at "home." They can never go back to being the people they were before or to living the life they used to live. With time and loving support, they can re-accustom themselves once more, but it will never be the same life they left.

christopher.harwick said...

I agree with everyone who says that it would be difficult to be away from everyone that you knew. I mean it can not be easy to leave the place that you are used to spending all of your time.

The best comparison that most people can talk about is a sleep away camp or a vacation to some where that is not familiar. While neither of these situations are actually like leaving there are some similiar aspects to them. For instances the most difficult thing to me would be the change of my routine or sometimes lack of routine. If I have to go do something at a different time that I am used to or that I have never done it will be weird. The main ones being eating or waking up/going to bed. Also you are not with people who can help you cope with the differences that you are experiencing.

I think the return to your old life would a bit different. This is because it feels like you are going in to a new life all over again. Eventually you will remember what it is like, but immediatly after words it is awkward in uncomfortable. To come back to your old life you would need to be eased into it, also it would help to keep some aspects of the " new life" around so everything would not be changing at the same time. But I think the most important thing is the people around, and make sure they are welcoming you back and will take care of you.

Daniel Alberta said...

I think it would be really hard to spend a long time away from home because you just get so used to everybody that you constantly see. If you go away for a while then all of that goes away. i think a difficulty of returning to your old life would be just getting back into your normal routine. It would be difficult because you would have already made a new routine. I would cope with this by just doing things that I used to do. That might get be back to my old life. I agree with George when he said to just do things that you used to like to do.

Robin Smith said...

I have never had to spend more than several weeks away from my family, but when I was in seventh grade I lived in Sweden for six months away from my friends and my home. I did not find it too difficult to return because I just did the same things as I always had (go to school, eat, do sports) and I found it quite easy to get back into a normal daily routine. I think it would be much more difficult to be away from my family for that amount of time, because they are so integrated into my daily life, more than anyone else that I know. I cannot imagine being separated from my family, home and friends for 18 years such as in A Tale of Two Cities, and I think that it would be so strange to come back from that because you would forget what your daily routine was like. I agree with George that you might get used to the place that you were, and it would be good to mesh your new life with your old.

Lupi Linehan said...

The hardest part for me would be making new friends and leaving my old ones. The only way for me to cope with this would be going out and meeting new people and embracing wherever i was and trying to branch out to others. Also visiting would be extremely difficult because I wouldn't want to leave again, I'd just want to stay. As Robin said, it would be really hard to be away from everyone you knew for 18 years like A Tale of Two Cities and I agree that it would very hard to be away from your family, but speaking from personal experience, it's just as hard to be away from your friends for three months and expect that everything will be back just how it was.

Lauren Hoh said...

Being away from friends and family would be very hard and I would feel alone a lot of the time, as well as not having anyone to go to when I am feeling sad or scared. Everyone depends on their family for guidance and help, and without their help, it would be hard to make my way in life.
It would be hard to jump back into my old life if I was away for a very long time in some ways, because so much else has happened that I wouldn't know about and I would have to catch up on all the little things that had happened when I was gone. The big routines like playing sports, school, and day to day activities wouldn't be too hard to get back into because they would just stay the same.
To catch up on what i missed when I was gone, I would try hanging out a lot with friends and they could tell me about what had happened. I could also try and just get back as quick as I could into my daily routine.

I agree with Kelsey that it also depends on how long you are gone that determines how much you have missed and how hard it is to return to your regular life, and whether you have fun activities and people to keep you occupied, or whether you are stuck in a cell like Mr. Manette.

Katie M said...

Sonya makes a great point when she says "...it was great to be back, but also hard. My friends had new friends, and I had to readjust back to a different school, a different food, and a different way of life again." Time doesnt stop when you leave, people keep living their lives and so do you. You make new friends and maybe live differently than when you lived at home.

For me going away is hard. I love to be with my family and friends. I rely so much on my family every day that being without them for a long period of time would be hard for me. I would have to change my way of living, depend on myself or find others to help me. Coming home from a extended period of time is hard for me, Im not always sure how to react to the people i havent seen in a while. After a week or two things start to go back to "normal" and i am back to my old self again.

Ella Kaplan said...

The only experience I had like this is sort of like Michaela's, I moved from California when I was going into 3rd grade. 5 years later I went back to go to a bnai mitzvah of two of my former class mates. I guess you could say it was like going back "home" even though I am convinced my home is here in the upper valley. Any way it was a hard day of that bnai mitzvah because there were faces that i vaguely remember and i got a lot of "hey are you the girl from second grade?" It was awkward and everyone changed including myself. The most challenging thing that I faced that night was I got to see how my life could have been. And that was a lot scarier than I thought. I haven't really been back since.

Even though my experience was different than Sonya's, I completely agree that its hard to go back and see what has changed. I think that if I was put into a prison away from everything I knew, sure I would be sad but I think that it would give me time to reflect off my life. I think that I would miss my family, friends and home but I think the hardest part would be going back. When you leave a place or a person, that place or person is always in you head as you left it and its hard to prepare to go back to see that place or person and how much has changed.

Jennie said...

I think I would have a lot of trouble spending an extended period of time away from my friends, family, and home. I'd have a hard time even if it was one of those three things. I'm a big fan of home. I used to not like being away from home for too long. And not seeing my friends for too long is really difficult. Sometimes I don't notice this until we see each other again. (Like over the summer--I don't always think of the people I'm NOT seeing until I see them again and then I realize how much I've missed them!)
I'd like to think that wherever I am I could find people to be around, even if I can't have my old friends or my family isn't with me. But if I was alone, I think that would be very very hard.

Returning home might be even stranger. Despite the dream of how wonderful coming home is, if you're gone for a REALLY long time, there's always an awkwardness at first. Even if these people are your closest friends, after being apart for a long time, some things can always be different.
And then there's also the scenario when NOTHING is different. Like when my sister is home from college for a break--it's not like I keep thinking how strange it is that she's home. We get used to it really quickly. It is strange to think, though, that the majority of our time she ISN'T at home. But having her home isn't weird at all.

If I was away for a long period of time, I'd probably be nervous about coming home again. It's like going to a whole new place--even the people could be different, you don't know. But I think that worry isn't one that would stick around. If all of you family or your friends are helpful and home is nice and welcoming, it won't be very long until the awkward or nervous feeling goes away.

Jennie said...

I agree with Sonya that it can be hard to readust upon returning. I don't have personal experience with this like she does, but I do remember her being gone. I can only imagine how difficult it was adjusting to how different home had become! And in addition to not having seen friends in so long, the fact that there was a huge culture change must have made that much more difficult.

Sam said...

I've never been away from home, friends, and family much, but when I was a few years ago it was really tough. I was away at camp for two weeks and for the first week I felt really home sick all the time. After that first week was over though, I saw that I was in a fun place with lots of new friends who enjoyed hanging out and playing games. As Brendon said, it's always hard at first, but once you start to think about things beside home it's much easier to feel at ease.

I remember very vividly how excited I was to get home when two weeks of camp were over. It felt good to finally leave and be able to go back home. When I got home, I couldn't stop thinking about camp at first. I didn't miss it that much but it was on my mind a lot. Then, after a week or so my memories started to fade and I was back to the old routine of my old life. It's a good thing I wasn't away from home too long or I might have forgotten my old routine. For me, it's most important that I help myself with the return to back to my old life. Other people can help the most by acting normally and not treating me like anything special.

Meghan Licciardi said...

Having never spent more then two weeks away from home, I am unsure of what it would actually be like. I do know that being somewhere alone, and unfamiliar would be hard. I know that I rely on both my friends and family a lot. And it would be horrible to miss so much of what was going on in there lives, especially if everyone else was still together, in the same place. I see my family and friends nearly every day. We fill each other in on so many aspect of our lives. I don't know what I would do if i couldn't recap my day. Which may seem silly, but after a while of not having anyone to talk to would be terrible. I would feel alone. And depending on the situation of separation, I may be scared, and that would make me want the comfort of failure people even more.
Coming back would be difficult as well. You would have missed so much in there lives, and they would have missed so much in yours. And sometimes though you try to explain something, it takes someone being there to understand it. So you can come back from most situations, and make it work. But there would still be a whole from the time where you were gone. Not to mention the people you are coming back to would have moved on while you were gone. Time didn't stop because you left. Picking up in the middle of that could be difficult.

Emily Lohr said...

Everybody handles time away from their family differently. Personally, I do well when I'm away from my family. Being independent is all part of growing up. As many people have said, they've only gone away for a couple weeks at a summer camp. One summer I stayed at camp for a month. Of course there are times when I miss my family, but for the most part I'm too busy having fun to miss them. I used to live in Maryland and it's fun to go back and see my old friends and how much they've changed, but I don't think I would like moving back there just because of how much everyone HAS changed. One of my friends moved back to the town she grew up in and she had trouble adjusting because everyone is so different. Going to college and coming back is different. When I go away to college, I will miss my friends and family, but it's not like I'll never see them again. I'll be seeing them every few months or so. The most difficult challenge I'd face is probably seeing my friends. It could go either way, they could be the same friends I know and love or they could've changed drastically into a new person; one who I am not familiar with. That would be my biggest fear because I know my family will always be the same; they'll always love me because we're family. Since that's all short term talk I should probably answer the question. I agree with Jennie that there would be a certain awkwardness to returning home after a really long time. If I hadn't spoken to my family the entire time I was gone (for some reason) then that could be weird because we would've become distant. But I doubt that would happen. There are so many different situations that could occur, but I'm not going to go into it.

Sarah McAndrew said...

I have never really spent a long time away from home, so I guess I would have to say summer vacation is the next closest thing. Except for a few times where I hang out with a couple friends, I usually stay up in Chelsea which is in the middle of nowhere.... By the time the new school year comes around it feels really good to see everyone. There's this excited buzz about catching up with people you havent seen in a couple months. This usually lasts only the first few weeks of school but still, its kind of a relief to be back to the day to day activites of being surrounded by your peers and what you know. Its a routine, every year you have summer, then school.... everyone always looks forward to summer but by the end, I know that I personally look forward to school. It will all change once we graduate, but then a new routine will take its place. I imagine that staying away from what you know and who you love for a long time would feel weird, I know I would miss my family and freinds very much. So like summer vacation, it's a relief to get back to the way things used to be. I would also have to agree with Emily that going away from what you know is part of growing up, the only way to try new things is to break routine. I wouldn't have to coupe with anything! just being back with your family is enough, why does everything have to be so melodramatic. Friends and family can drift apart, its true.. but its not that hard to pick up the phone and call someone every now and then.

Jeff said...

Well, I agree with a little of what brendon said. I know how it feels, as Im sure a lot of you do, to be away from my family for an extended period of time. This summer I spent two months in Spain. I think the only difference is that I was with people that I knew, and who I could trust. I didn't go to Spain with no money and no one that I knew. Nothing besides the culture was new to me. (the language a little but I got better at it). And at camp, at first we have to make friends but after that we are with people we like. We don't know what it is like to go away by ourselves and live a solitary life. If you are not with anyone, like Dr. Mannete is, then I dont think you could cope with it. I think you would go crazy. I thiink you would want to go crazy to forget everything.

I think that it really depends on the situation that you are in. Now, in our present time period, we can call people or email them or text them. We can communicate with people in seconds. In other generations, you could go without talking with someone for a year or two. A letter would take a month to get the recipient and a month for them to write back. We have it easy now. Sarah, that was directed at you in a nice way.

I know that some people can go away now at our age, but as you get older and start to have better relationships with people it would be harder to go away from them. As youngins, we want to get away. But we aren't really leaving anything behind. No one counts on us to provide things like food or money. That is all provided for us. Parents leaving is a lot more serious because once they are gone we loose a lot of things. Dr. Mannete left Lucie with a mom, who later died. They she had nothing.

Making a long story short, I think it all depends on the situation where you are going to or what you are leaving behind.

Burton said...

I think that if I had to leave for a week or two I would be okay with it and i wouldn't be to worried about being alone. To be honest I don't really even think i would care about what is going on back home, but I'm sure that would all change if I was going away for months at a time. The same is true about friends, if i was gone all summer than the first day of school would be great because i would get to see them all again, but these days with video chat, and texting its hard not to stay in contact with your friends. Now returning home is a bit different because everyone misses their own bed or room, and staying away from it all makes it that much better to go back to. Some of the toughest things that i would encounter while away for long periods of time is probably just being lonely. Its hard at times to meet new people, and make new friends, but part of going away is meeting new people.


In response to what Jennie said, i agree that if your gone for long periods of time than you will feel awkward about coming back. First off because coming home after being gone for so long means that who ever your coming back to has been going on living without you for as long as you have been gone, and you might throw off their flow. Also coming home usually means to travel, and when you get back home you are always granted with hugs and millions of questions. This is bad because you are tired and sleepy from the day or travel, and so your chance to reconnect with your family and friends can start off in a bad direction.

Megan Pattison said...

I completly agree with what Emily said about going away to college and coming back to find friends different or the same. I think leaving my friends and family for an extended period would be very difficult at first, but then it would slowly get easier. I would have a tough time if I could't contact them in anyway. I think the way you cope with the distance, is by finding temporary replacements for your loved ones. You make new friends, and suddenly they can temporarily fill the void.

I think I would be alright going away from my family for an extended period of time. I think while I was gone, I would have to adjust and meet new people, and once I did I would then be able to begin to live my life more normally. I think people could help me cope by being upbeat and letting me into their lives, so I would be able to create a new one for myself.

That being said, I think the hardest part about leaving for an extended period of time, would be returning. When you come back, you'd have to face the changes that have been made in the people you consider yourself close too. I think it'd be hard to go back to your "old life" to find that nothing about it was familiar. Like in the book, Lucie's father has a hard time returning from prison, because he's changed severely, and so have things around him.

lynda said...

I know that I personally would be able to cope with being seperated from my family for an extended period of time. However, if i were to put myself in another person's shoes, maybe like a 5 yr olds, I might find the thought of being away from my family unbearable. It is because there is such a strong connection between all family members, and a lot of love. Being seperated would almost be like severing a love tie, because as a 5 year old you associate your parents with love via tucking you in at night, etc. I think a person could cope by talking to other kids his/her age, and telling each other how they feel

I agree with Emily in how she says that people deal with this sort of thing differently, it truely depends on the individual. I would be fine without my family, and like Emily said, being independent is one of the major steps of growing up

Kiana said...

I’ve gone to camp many times; the longest was for a month. I was younger then, and in the beginning I did miss home some, but once I got into the new routine at camp and had friends there it wasn’t as bad. I kept in touch with my family and friends while I was there and when I came back home I didn’t feel like I had missed that much. Now that I’m older I don’t mind going away, I actually enjoy it. It allows me to be independent and experience things on my own. I am still able to talk to my friends and family so I hear about anything that’s really important at home. When I do come home, I don’t feel like everything has changed and I’m able to get right back into my life. The most difficult challenge would be if something drastic happened while I was gone, like someone close to me got really sick or died. It would be hard to come home to that because so much would’ve changed and I’d have to adjust to that. It would also be hard if I left and didn’t talk to anyone from home while I was gone. I wouldn’t know what had happened while I was gone and it could be weird and awkward to come home not knowing what’s changed.

I agree with Emily. The hardest thing would be if my friends weren’t the same as when I left. It would be hard to come home expecting your friends to be the same and then finding out they aren’t. The idea of seeing my best friend as someone completely different is scary and I don’t know what I would do if that happened because I would expect and want to see the person I used to know.

Good Tidings said...

The concept of leaving home for a long time is not a pleasant one, but I think I could adapt to it. Having been away from home for a few weeks has never been a problem for me, and has often been a good feeling. The real issue for me would not be the attachments to an old place-those can be preserved in memories and keeping in contact with loved ones when possible-but instead with the new environment. If the new way of life is a harsh one, it would be much more difficult. Conversely, if the new way of life turned out to be much blander and more boring, it would be all the more difficult because of the memories of the old life.
Its much easier to be away from home if you know that you are returning soon-even a few weeks is no problem if you keep yourself occupied. But over months or years, it would magnify the difficulty to return to your past life.

I found Sonya's comments about what its like to return home after a life changing experience very true. I've had a similar experience over just a few weeks away from home which changed my life, but it was almost impossible to talk to people for a little bit afterwards, because they don't understand the change that your experience has wrought in you.

Bryce said...

Being away from your family and home is hard. The only time I have really been away from all of these is when I go away to camp. Camps is always fun, but you do miss your family and friends and you really want to sleep in your own bed. Once you get back its kind of hard to re-adjust. You have to get back into it.

Camp is very different compared to something like Dr. Manette had to deal with, coming back after years in jail. You can tell by the way he acts, that it is extremely difficult to return to your old life after years away. It takes a couple of days to re-adjust for only being away for a week or so! It would be so hard to return to the life that you barely remember. I would honestly not no what to do. I would try to go back to what I did before and it would probably end up being okay. I agree with Katie that it really depends on what the situation is that you are returning from.

Alex Krass said...

Being away from family and friends for a long period of time would be especially hard in the times we live in now. Everyone is very technology oriented and are always in touch with people. If you did not communicate with anyone at all it would be very hard to adjust to your old way of life and it would take awhile to get used to the way you were living. I would deal with this struggle by starting to communicate and return to normal life just within my family. That way there are limited people you need to wrry about and teh stress level is much lower. Once I got used to family lief I would ease my way into my normal life again. I agree with Bryce and how she said being away at camp is diffrent because you can still communicate with people.

Erin Donohue said...

Personally, I find it nice to get away from my 'busy' life every once in a while. In the summer I am at a camp in Fairlee, VT that is very remote but beautiful. Because it is a biking camp, we do little else than ride, play ultimate, sleep, learn mechanics and occasionally watch several movies throughout the week. We are nestled away in the foothills of Vermont - in our own world. My first year when I spent 1 week away from home (for the first time!) was hard, but I realized that if I participated and enjoyed what I was there to do, I would have fun and make good friends that could possibly last a lifetime. (Brendon mentioned that in his own post). That made a big difference, and I knew that I wasn't the only one who was possibly felt homesick that week.

The feeling that I always am overcome with once I leave camp is my re-entrance into my busy life; it's kind of like a slap in the face. Because I have adopted to a new daily schedule that revolves around riding, I have to remind myself that I can't just devote my whole day to riding (as much as I would like!). My parents know that it is a 'downer' for me to come home after a wonderful week of camp; they are also understanding and allow me to slowly come back to what life is like back at home when you have responsibilities other than cleaning mud of your bike...

In Dr.Manette's case, I do not think that I could spend 18yrs kept away in a VERY remote location; I'm not sure how anyone could help me cope after such a long time because I would loose a sense of trust in everyone.

Chris W said...

Spending time away from friends, family, and home wouldn't be too bad and can be pretty....exciting...although I think Alex makes a good point in that we live in a technologically advanced era...
Returning to an old life style probably wouldn't be difficult either. It's not like a lot of the things someone would do when they are away would change, and they've lived in that style before so they should be able to get back to it...
The most difficult challenges would be figuring out what to do...it's hard to gain experience when you don't know what you're doing...I think that once you figure out what you're doing, other things become clearer...I would just deal with it by getting familiar with where I am and what's around me...

Nathaniel brown said...

Spending a couple weeks away from your home and family is really not that difficult. However, I have never been away from home for more than two weeks. I agree with many of you in that modern technologies makes communication over long distances much easier, and so the effects of travel less severe. However, I once spent two weeks at a friends camp without electricity or telephone and did not miss my parents in the slightest, but then I was with my friends.
I think the most difficult thing to reacclimatize from is social isolation. M. Mannett had no one to interact with for 18 years. After which he had to relearn all his previous social skills. It is very rare for people to be so isolated today, and I think we do not fully comprehend the effect it has. I do not think I could go one month without seeing anotherperson.