It's impossible to make your eyes twinkle if you aren't feeling twinkly yourself
Of course not. You can't have a family hanging over you like a bunch of old dead goats. No offense.
Homesickness is a bit like seasickness. You don't know how awful it is unti you get it, and when you do, it hits you right in the top of the stomach and you want to die.
Though my father was Norwegian, he always wrote his diaries in perfect English.
You can write about anything for children as long as you've got humour.
And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.