Yesterday, I went out for
a drink with Sarah and Eric (for the foodies among you: Sarah had an
apple juice, Eric and I had a magnificent Mojito). We chatted about
the series we are currently watching. Sarah and I are watching HBO´s
Girls. I told Sarah I always have liked TV series in which I find
parallels with my life, like with Seinfeld. I like “Girls”
because it reminds me of the problems my friends and I used to have
ten years ago, when after finishing university, we all faced our
quarter life crisis. I think Girls is the sitcom version of “Realitybites” for people born after the Seoul Olympic Games.
I had my quarter life
crisis around 2005. Back then my friends and I thought becoming an adult
was mainly linked to having a decent job. The rest would happen
automatically with the paychecks: wearing adult clothes, drinking
adult wine, visiting adult restaurants and having adult conversation
topics. After my first paycheck I wanted to become an adult: I wanted
to stop using sneakers and old t-shirts, start drinking €5 wine
bottles, having enough money to order a second drink and dessert each
time I went to have dinner...and talk about how business was going in
the offices with my friends.
Today I saw Girls´ most
recent episode. Hanna, the main character, got her first decent job
as an advertisement writer and she loved it; however, during her
second day of work she realises, if she stays on that company, she
will slowly give up on her dream to become a writer and become a
simple office worker. She decides to quit her job and pursue her true
desire, but after some seconds, she makes up her mind and decides not
to quit. I then started to look for the parallels between Hanna and
me...
I worked eight years, that
means I received 96 paychecks. However, I still use old t-shirts,
drink €4 wine bottles, I sometimes order water while having dinner
ans check my wallet before ordering dessert and the last conversation
I had today was with Hannes about our plans to get wasted this
weekend.
I may not have a job, I
may not be an adult (based on social behavior), but I am pursuing my
dream. Hanna´s dream is to be a respected writer, mine is to cook.
I don´t care if you bite
reality, here I come!
