one of the most poignant thing i've ever heard on the internet was "Yeah, I only started to feel suicidal once I escaped from North Korea and started living in South Korea"
10
18
198
Conversation
the context being, north korea was really hard and terrible but there was family, friends, neighbors, everyone was in it together; in their new life in south korea, everyone was isolated from each other and they felt intense pressure to work very hard, alone
Replying to
Absolute conditions matter less than relative conditions. If your neighbor is doing better than you it might make you sadder than if you were much poorer but the neighbor was in the same boat.
1
8
Replying to
Asian culture is strictly about family and community. Moving to a life where independencey is most important is difficult. A lot of my cousins who moved from the Philippines to Canada have difficulty moving on from the Philippines even though their life here is wayyyy better.
2
Replying to
I heard of a man whose 18-year-old son came to join him in Canada from communist Yugoslavia and then became very depressed: too many choices and opportunities overwhelmed the young man.
4
Replying to
wouldn't it be the same if a person who lived in South whole life moves to North?
Replying to
That's why you'll continue to meet people as you age longing for their youth because there was more "belonging" with family and friends. People were considered "neighborly". Pretty make any elderly person you talk to who grew up between the 40s to 1980s.
1
2
Show more replies