I'm in a similar position to Patrick, so I feel semi-qualified to answer -- not in his place, but as someone who's gone through the same thing.
I lived way out in the sticks, in a village with one convenience store, no train station, one bus stop, and a grocery store 30 minutes down the mountain.
Life there was simple and great; I enjoyed my job, the stress was low, rent was low.
I moved to Tokyo in search of better opportunities, which I found. Stress was high and I reacted by eating too much; as a result, I'm about 40 kg heavier than I was in my old location. Additionally, the stress has taken its toll on my sleep quality, my finances, and my health in general. Among other things, people remark that I lose my temper far more easily now than before and also that I seem much more moody than before; I'm also on antidepressants now.
Despite all of that, Tokyo is a wonderful city and I love it a lot. The job, stress (and related health issues), and finances completely aside, Tokyo is an amazing place to live. If you think of any given locale as having X number of doors in any given category (food, shopping, opportunities to meet people, business opportunities, etc.), then my old location had perhaps 5. Tokyo offers literally millions upon millions. It's a megacity and perhaps quite unique in its density and variety of neighborhoods, all of which contribute to an opportunity to live a really interesting, varied, and international life in one place.
While I could transfer my dislike for my current environment at work to Tokyo itself, I think it would be unfair to do so; as unfair as it would be to transfer my like for the life/work I had in my old location to the location itself.
I lived way out in the sticks, in a village with one convenience store, no train station, one bus stop, and a grocery store 30 minutes down the mountain.
Life there was simple and great; I enjoyed my job, the stress was low, rent was low.
I moved to Tokyo in search of better opportunities, which I found. Stress was high and I reacted by eating too much; as a result, I'm about 40 kg heavier than I was in my old location. Additionally, the stress has taken its toll on my sleep quality, my finances, and my health in general. Among other things, people remark that I lose my temper far more easily now than before and also that I seem much more moody than before; I'm also on antidepressants now.
Despite all of that, Tokyo is a wonderful city and I love it a lot. The job, stress (and related health issues), and finances completely aside, Tokyo is an amazing place to live. If you think of any given locale as having X number of doors in any given category (food, shopping, opportunities to meet people, business opportunities, etc.), then my old location had perhaps 5. Tokyo offers literally millions upon millions. It's a megacity and perhaps quite unique in its density and variety of neighborhoods, all of which contribute to an opportunity to live a really interesting, varied, and international life in one place.
While I could transfer my dislike for my current environment at work to Tokyo itself, I think it would be unfair to do so; as unfair as it would be to transfer my like for the life/work I had in my old location to the location itself.