I'm not homesick, because I'm not a sentimental person. But from a practicality standpoint, this country sucks. I'm in the suburbs on the East coast and everything is a 30 minute drive away. I don't drive. Where I came from in Europe, everything could be reach by walking or cycling or taking a train or bus. Here, nothing is reachable unless you're willing to spend half of your day in a massive, expensive, gas-guzzling death machine. The neighbours out here are all boomers who do nothing but mow their lawns and watch CNN or Newsmax all day. I've never felt this level of capitalist alienation before, and I've always been an introvert. It's not only inconvenient here, but gaslighting because everyone else seems not to question this boring concrete hellscape. There is nothing to do or see; only hundreds of fast food restaurants and gas stations. There's a PSL branch downtown, but that's an hour away by bus and the bus stop is a 45 minute walk (I'm not exaggerating). I thought the capitalist society I moved from was bad, but this is so much worse. And this is the bastion of freedom and liberty I've heard so much about? I guess I'm free to eat cheetos and watch Fox but other than that it isn't very liberating. My partner is a yank and really doesn't notice or mind, but I feel like I'll go crazy here. It's just miles and miles of asphalt and paranoid gun owners. I hate it and don't really know what to do. The food in the US costs at least two or three times as much as where I immigrated from, and tastes like garbage (I'm talking about the 'fresh' stuff). Utility bills are also much higher. On every street is a church blasting some religious doctrine at me (Easter was a cringe-fest). How do the rest of you cope???

  • mrbigcheese [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    I really feel this lately with how expensive everything has gotten, and looking at what cost of living is back in my home country im kinda like... maybe i should just fuck out of here lmao

    • GarfieldYaoi [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      I began noticing that ever since 2018, this isn't to one-up you, but to confirm this isn't just an unfortunate consequence of COVID. I even sarcastically said to myself "why ban something when you can just make it a luxury for the rich?" and that's generally the idea they have for us.

      America really is the anti-fun country.

      • mrbigcheese [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        i saw a tiktok yesterday from Germany where apparently you can buy a 6 case of 1.5L sparkling waters for like $3?? that shit would be $30 in the US, like how are we even paying exuberant prices for water… nothing makes sense in this cursed country