buffy summed it up best when challenged... "no friends, no family... who do you have?"

"ME".

In your darkest hour, your weakest moment, when no one's around to pull you up from the depths... truly, at the end of the day, the only person you can truly rely on... is yourself... No one else. No one understands your plight, your woes, the obstacles you face day to day, more than yourself.

My life here has affected people back home. Lifestyles have been changed, just so I could realise what I would hope would be a dream that'd have it's returns. So is it too extreme to be too devoted to my work at the cost of losing friends? No... because ultimately, it isn't the friends that are making the sacrifice for me to do what I do.