Issue 01 - escapism
"What are we running away from?"
So why would we move to a country where every household has a tosti machine instead of a rice cooker? The process of answering this will take form in various topics of this newsletter.
Will all our problems disappear? No. They warn the grass will always be greener on the other side. But of course we had to go and see for ourselves.
🔮[C]🔮 My escapism
Teen me would not have known Rotterdam, Netherlands would be the place to start my ✨quarter life crisis✨. Being an ABC (American Born Chinese) was culturally confusing enough. But coming to a place where English is just about nobody’s first language and still finding comfort in each other’s company has already become my first humbling lesson in exploring my identity. For every one of five people I meet, race is always the first question I must answer, so that’s out of the way now.
But say we’ve just met, my shortest and sweetest answer is usually this; “Imagine you step out your front door. You have a bus stop, tram stop, metro station, (all typical in metropolitan cities around the world) and protected bike lanes like the yellow brick road (except in the Netherlands it’s a red paved road) leading you all the way to your destination. So many options. This is a typical “Future of Transportation” type social media video, describing the Netherlands as a prime case study.
Coming from California, my only concern would be how I can find a parking spot after successfully dodging Tesla turtle shells and road-ragers the whole trip. Getting from point A to B is a Mario Kart race. Here, I’m so unconcerned with cars as a main mode of transportation, I rarely even see where they park in the city. This is reason alone giga-boosts my standard of living.
Besides transportation, I surely did not escape my home for Dutch food. I miss my mom’s cooking and the plethora of Asian restaurants down the street dearly. So far, I have bought two malfunctioning rice cookers within the year and my first 10 kilo (22 pounds) bag of short grain rice. Making a dent in this bag of gold requires a call to action to meet all fellow escapists who find themselves in the same Land of Broodjes (bread). Chasing community over rice has been a joy we’ll be sure to write more about in the future.
💫[Z]💫 My escapism
Since 2 years I moved to the Netherlands. The Life in the Netherlands, Is it the ‘life’ I have been eager to have since when I was in middle school? In 2016, I decided to leave my country or perhaps I ran out as if I was being chased away. I left my comfort zone. My family, my friends, the city I grew up with.
During MA study, I had a conversation with my colleagues and expressed my dissatisfaction towards South Korean society when I started writing about my thesis. One colleague asked me “So, the reason why you are in the Netherlands right now, is it an escape from your reality? or your homeland?”
In Korea, I didn’t like the system of the university entrance exam and the environment where Korean people compared themselves to others. As a consequence, to escape that environment, I decided to start university life in another country, Japan.
After living in Japan for five years, another dilemma took place in my mind. The discrimination (xenophobic) against Koreans and the low level of women's human rights made me easily make my mind move to another country. (More importantly to pursue my studies.📕) I have continued to escape from reality for my own reasons.
Others used to say that to me. “You’re not satisfied with the current situation, so you’re moving around somewhere else?” Or, I also heard harsh comments on my decision like, “Do you think you would live better if you went to another country?”
Yes, I escaped. I don't regret my choice. And I know I am in a privileged situation. I could have chosen my environment where I want to be. There are people who want to run away from their own country, but they can’t due to various circumstances.
Koreans use the term, ‘You will not find the new paradise, even if you escape from somewhere. The power of experiences, whether failure or success, make me develop further. Unfortunately, I still don’t have a clear answer to the question that my colleague asked about escapism. To others, I may be seen as someone who escapes from the ‘Reality’. However, I found my own happiness here.
While we’ve escaped some form of our past, we look forward to meeting and creating new environments, and are happy to collaborate with those we meet along the way.
Until our next topic,
See you around, C and Z
[Next newsletter we aim to publish in two weeks ;)]
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This is a thought-provoking piece:)