Last month I had a conversation with Abby which really got me thinking. She was telling me about how she's reluctant to go to Korea (she got a scholarship to do masters there next year) because there are so many rules there and that she won't feel free.
She was saying that she feels so free in Vietnam. She can do whatever she wants and people won't bother her. In developed countries, there are so many rules: stand in line, keep quiet, dress like this, don't spit, etc.
I found it quite interesting to see how from a Western perspective, developed democratic countries are the most free and that people in socialist countries lack freedom because they can't say whatever they want if it would upset the government. On the other hand, she lives in a country with a one party government and she feels more free because she doesn't need to abide by so many rules all the time. It shows that everything is relative, even concepts one would think universal such as freedom.
