Beautiful country, exhausting daily life
Not looking for advice or how to adapt. I'm leaving soon anyway. I just really need to scream into the void.
To be clear, I'm not trying to talk down about any specific country which is why I'm keeping names out of this. I just need to vent. I'm an international student here and as soon as I graduate, I'll be leaving. But for a supposedly developed country with such a strong global reputation, the lack of basic efficiency has me completely burnt out.
When I first came here as a tourist, I fell in love with this place. It felt so historic and beautiful. But living here day to day has been a complete different experience.
The bureaucracy has been unbelievable. Last year's residence permit renewal took well over a year. This year, I went to my appointment two months ago and the card still hasn't been printed. Meanwhile in the previous country I lived in, every renewal after the first was done digitally in about two minutes. Going from that level of efficiency to waiting months for a card is honestly staggering.
It's not just immigration. Every administrative errand turns into a game of being passed from one person to another and everyone gives different answers.
The nightmare of finding legitimate housing and basic life starts feeling like hard work.
Yesterday, I ordered food delivery like I often do. It's always delivered straight to my door so I was expecting the rider to come up this time as well. Instead he stayed downstairs and just kept ringing the intercom even after I buzzed it open. He was just being extremely rude and demanding I come down which I did. It had been at most 3 minutes since he reached and me going down. He immediately started screaming at me about how very busy he was. I didn't say anything but reported him on the app about his rude behavior and customer support just shrugged it off saying drivers don't have to deliver to the door if they don't want. Never have I ever heard of it not being customary to not get door to door service for food delivery unless there is a valid reason. But anyway paying for a service just to get intimidated and yelled at is insane.
This has also been by far the most racist place I've ever visited. And I've traveled to quite a few countries. The casual discrimination and micro aggressions get exhausting after a while.
Public transport delays and cancellations are a normal part of daily life.
I can go on and on and on. All the other little things really add up. Even the simplest stuff turns into an unnecessary ordeal. I completely understand why people love coming here for a week long trip. I did too. But living here feels like trying to run a marathon through wet cement every single day.
End of rant. Honestly, I can't wait to leave.
Posted Jul 29, 2026, 6:51 AM UTC