Price of freedom
22/10/06
Jenny’s life was once fast paced and exciting; a glamorous selection of fine dining, fancy hotels and fashion.
Now, sipping cappuccino from a paper cup in the university coffee shop, she admits that change has not been easy. “I was up and now I am down,” she says despondently.
Jenny’s snap decision to cast aside her high earning and respected position at Shell came as a shock to many. But being well off, it seems, can have its drawbacks. When asked why she left, Jenny hesitates, searching for the right word, “I was weary,” she uttered. She then talks frankly about societal expectations in South Korea and how, as a single twenty nine year old woman she was feeling pressure to marry. “Marriage is not for me right now,” she says, “Besides I am an adventurous person, I needed something new.”
In her early twenties Jenny had come to Britain as a backpacker. It was her first experience overseas. She laughingly remarks that the people were, “very tall and scary.” More seriously she adds, “I spent my whole time in the UK getting used to foreigners.” Now, she simply states, “I feel at home.”
As the café begins filling up with coffee seeking students, Jenny smiles and gestures around, “ Britain is a place where people respect the individual. You can wear what you want.” She talks about the, “conformity” of South Korea and how people stick to an unwritten dress code; deviate from that and, “People look at you strange.”
People’s freedom to wear what they like reminds Jenny of her passion for shopping, “I saw a great boutique the other day” she says wistfully, “But, I just can’t.” She might well be eager to express herself freely, but it seems her purse is not.
