The value of...

The lady whom I didn't quite like talked to me today.

I don't quite like her because in my first encounter with her, she wasn't nice. Then, I had tried to push the chair back a little little bit (she was sitting behind me) and she was cross. She insisted the chair hit her legs... Not likely because it is not like she is that very tall and hence has that very long legs.

Anyway, she asked me with a totally bizarrely-questioning expression as I sat next to her and whipped out my textbook (I have a test on Sat).

"You mean you are learning Japanese for leisure?"

I said yeah.

I thought that answer was telling enough to stop the conversation but she continued,

"So why did you learn Japanese?"

I couldn't stand it; I said "Because I wanted to work in Japan."

She was like...oh...oki.

And she started telling me how she was also learning Japanese for a while because of work but had stopped it because "since the past two years, the Japanese economy has been getting worse."

And she said the trend had occurred for the past twn so years. And now...blar blar blar

I was a bit fed up. Maybe she was being frank. But the way the conversation was structured sounded like she thought I was stiupid to be learning Japanese.

Ok fine. Maybe I read too much into it. Maybe I am just imagining that she is trying to impose her opinions on the things I am doing.

And I told her...Japan has a few good authors. And the movies are funny. The songs are nice.

I wanted to tell her...I would love to be able to read Norwegian Wood in its original written language. But no, I didn't.

...

Sometimes we do things incomprehensible to others.

But that is primarily because we have a different value system, isn't it?

I am in a small country devoid of natural resources. Pragmatism has been one of the core values instilled unconsciously into my generation.

We measure too many things by its actual value. I am gulity of that.

But I guess it doesn't have to be the value ruling my existence all my life.

If we were always-and only-chasing fads, then I am not sure if my life will mean anything to me in the end.

Then my live is going to be only about work and work and work, since then that will bring me a lot a lot of money, a means which is most pragmatic.

But when I leave the world then, maybe I will be so rich that the only thing I have is money.