As an American-born ex-pat living in Europe for 25+ years, I really enjoyed this. I don’t know if I will ever go back to the US. I’d like to in many ways, but I have changed a lot over my many years abroad. I understand very much feeling like you don’t fit in.

I would only say that there are many different places in the US with just as many different cultures. The culture in Houston is as different to the culture of Minneapolis (both places I lived) as it is to the culture of Vienna, Austria (where I now live). Maybe part of your situation is you just had bad luck in where you lived in the US, combined with your depression.

That being said, here in the EU issues like guns, healthcare, higher eductation, living wages, and political corruption (to name a few) are at least an order of magnitude better than in the US. I sometimes doubt we (the US) will fix these issues in my lifetime, but I never give up hope!