I think it must be awful to be living in China or other countries knowing you have no family or friends and no support back home.

Trying to survive in China on a teaching salary with nothing back home, fuck that!

A good post, and one which requires further discussion.

A poster on here recently posted they had friends who helped make the transition back smooth, smoother than a bloke returning alone with limited funds.

Yes, there are many blokes as you describe. It's a form of "social suicide", especially if they adopt the lazy habits of their chinese hosts, such as drinking, smoking, afternoon sleeping.....noone will want to host a smoker who likes to drink and sleep back in say, the UK. Even tolerance of "friends" can wear thin after a while, even if you are polite and well behaved.