Cause and effect

Solee Kim

ESL 100

Cause and Effect Essay 2 

A Changed Life

                   My mother has always regretted the life that she chose, but  my family and she are thankful for her choice at the same time. Between 1980 and 2000, Koreans experienced one of the most important periods in its history. Koreans tried to stage a coup to change the regime. It is called the 5.18 democratic movement, and it was the big reason why Korea’s economy was able to develop so quickly as a leading industrialized country. Consequently, a lot of jobs disappeared due to the rapid technological development in Korea. Many people had to change their jobs for the future, and my parents were part of that new generation. As a result, my mother decided to move to the suburbs from the capital to start a new business with my father. 

                The changed environment was one of the biggest effects on my family, especially my mother because of the difference between the suburb and the city. There was a huge gap at that time between life in the city and suburb. Living in the suburbs after living in the city in Korea at that time was like time travel to the past. The suburb lacked infrastructure compared to the city. My mother had to go to the city for a better hospital, and going to the other towns was not easy. In addition, the suburb has a different social community, even people’s personalities were different. Many people liked to gossip, spread rumors and had too much interest in others because of the small community. There were no secrets in my mother’s new neighborhood. People treated my mother like a stranger and intruder, and they were envious of my parents who were young business owners who built their building for business and house as soon as they came to town. My mother had a hard time adapting to the new changed environment and putting up with people’s eyes.

                 In addition, my mother felt lonely because she was away from her hometown. People who my mother loved lived in Seoul, the capital. Going and meeting her friend and family was not easy because of her busy business and inconvenient transportation at that time. Moreover, my mother had to take care of my father’s mother and brother for a long time after she moved to the countryside. They were unfriendly to my mother and my siblings even though my mother was kind to them. Even though it was a stressful time for my mom because of her in-laws, there was no one who my mom could rely on. My mother still would talk about her hard times living with her in-laws. Nevertheless, we don’t live with my mother’s in-laws anymore. 

               On the other hand, there were positive things after moving to the suburb like hobbies that could be enjoyed outside the city. My mother said that the only good thing in her life was the natural environment, especially fresh air and relaxed atmosphere. There were two positives that could be felt only in the small population compared to the city. It was easy to have her free time with family. Likewise, my family was able to spend a lot of time together because our house and my parents’ work were in the same building. We could take more care of each other. 

                In retrospect, everything and every moment in the past was only days soaked with my mother’s tears. My sisters and I are always thankful to our mother, her effort and her sacrifice just for family. She led both sides of the family, not only the parents of my mother's side but also my father's side even though they have many daughters and sons. My mother is the strongest woman I have ever met. Now my sisters and I can see a mother's happy moments a lot.