I really hated it and it took me a long time to admit this, because it felt like failure.
I moved back 2 years later and the upside is that I now appreciate Belgium, my friends and family here way more. Before I was just focused on moving away to what I thought was a better place.
I recognize the text author's struggles. I live in the shit area, and when my parents were visiting, they saw drug addicts. I personally witnessed a shooting once. I have almost no friends. Despite having learnt the language to B2 level, I have zero connection with local culture. But you know what? In my home country nobody's waiting for me either. I know this sounds cheesy, but I think that in some way I'm just different from most other people, and no matter where I go, I'll always feel lonely and disconnected. This sucks, but the flipside is that I can follow the money and comfort of life without feeling like I'm sacrificing anything.
I'd love to temporarily move to the US, but definitely not permanently. I have noticed that almost all people I am on friendly terms with have a story "I grew up poor but now I'm rich", and obviously, citizens of the world's richest country won't be a good match here.