The quiet American and a conundrum.

I have a friend called Chris from Colorado. He has been teaching English for eight or nine years. He's had his fill of Poland and wants to return home but it's not so simple... he has a two year old girl called Aniela.

A few years ago he married a Polish girl here in Lodz. They had a child whom Chris's wife, quite shrewdly, ensured was born in the States. They have now separated, the wife has the child and he is renting a dingy little hovel down the road. His job is tedious and repetitive, he earns a pittance, and he finds the Poles rude and boorish. There is nothing to keep him here except little Aniela. He tells me he is frequently depressed and lonely, I see him often as I sympathise - but what can I say to him? What should he do? Stay or go? His soon to be ex-wife is vile to him but Chris still entertains the idea of a reunion purely out of love for the child.

Chris's father is loaded but does not help his son in any way, only telephoning occasionally to ask advice on his investments (Chris studied investment banking). Chris is a quiet American, well-mannered and intelligent. His parents visited once and hated it. They feel his life is meaningless. And yet how could he leave his child? A conundrum indeed.