I've done two stints of English teaching in Japan... I spent 3 years from 1998-2000 and came back again in 2005 and am still in Japan...
10 years ago I had no cable TV, no internet at home, Skype and VOIP were unknown to me or nonexistent and BOY did I feel the homesickness !
But now, thanks to globalisation and innovations in technology I find more and more international products sold in local stores - I can eat vegemite on toast or get a pack of TimTams whenever I like... I can chat anytime online with family... I listen to my old radio station LIVE over the internet... I read the online newspaper and watch the main news report videos online... and thanks to cable TV (oops...better make this quick...Battlestar Galactica is about to start !!!
), I can watch all the English TV that I like...
Obviously if you miss your family you miss your family... But going home once a year is fine for me.
I try to envelope myself in Japanese lifestyle, food, culture etc when out of the house...but when I get home (to my apartment in Japan), I'm on Australian Sovereign Territory. And I've never really felt homesick this time round.