Loneliness is defined as an unpleasant feeling in which a person experiences a strong sense of emptiness and solitude resulting from inadequate levels of social relationships. Loneliness has also been described as social pain - a psychological mechanism meant to alert an individual of isolation and motivate her/him to seek social connections.
Well folks, I experienced that psychological mechanism and it did motivate me to seek social connections - I signed up for more German classes, attended Billy's football social events, organized a potluck, joined a book club and a basketball team and a Bible study, and refused to turn down an invitation for any reason.
My blog has focused on the glamour of living outside of the United States - the travel, the food, the culture; however it seems I forgot to touch on getting yelled at frequently, having my intelligence questioned often, being stereotyped and judged, sitting at lunch alone, or if I get invited, with a group that never speaks a word to me, and finally, this past weekend, being told by one of my husband's teammates that I shouldn't have come to Germany if I do not speak the language (he said a lot more, but this is when I decided to block everything he was saying out for fear I would retaliate). There is nothing glamorous about that, and nothing that can keep me from feeling like I have been punched in the gut each time I think of it.
You see, we forget, we all forget, that just because we speak different languages, participate in different customs, dress in different clothing, and act in different ways, that we are still human. It is so easy to pick out each others’ faults, but what about our strengths?
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