footsteps in my daily life
I took K-san to several places in the town since he needed to buy some daily necessaries as well as some engineering gadgets such as soldering iron and so on. It was kind of fun for me to take a look around those shops that sell tools and machines required for engineering since I was totally unfamiliar with them and didn't even know how to call them in English.
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Later on I went to see a movie with J-san and A-san. After watching the movie, we went to a Mexican restaurant in the town. J-san told us a story of a tribe in Brazil that still preserves a primitive life-style. It seems that those people living in an uncivilized society teach us lots of things that we forgot or lost... According to J-san, the tribe in Brazil put ashes of a cremated body into foods and eat them in the belief that they can unite themselves with a dead person. This reminded me of Christian practice to receive the Eucharist at the Mass...
Today was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. It seems that people gathered here and there around the nation to commemorate his birthday and his achievement in civil rights movement. Some TV programs also portrayed his life dedicated to the realization of peace and justice. I watched on CNN the film of his well-known speech, "I have a dream", which was addressed at D.C. in 1963. Although I've listened to the tape-recorded speech, I've never watched him actually giving the speech. The speech was filled with vigor, passion, and high ideals, and I was so impressed by it that I had goose bumps.
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The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)
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I played tennis with T-san and C-san. Also I played ping-pong with C-san.
I went to an office on campus to turn in the graduation application. Later on I went to the Rec Center with J-san to work out. There were lots of people at the Rec Center today! I used to do various kinds of exercises at a time, but I focused only on bicpes, triceps and shoulders today. I've learned that it's more effective to train a few parts of body each day rather than many different parts at a time. Next time I will focus mainly on chest and back!
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After working out, I went to a restaurant with J-san to have dinner. He mentioned ethical issues of anthropological studies: whether we can intervene into the ways uncivilized people live based on our modern principles. What we believe is wrong in the light of human rights is sometimes practiced without any questions in an uncivilized society. Do we have right to intrude our own ways of living upon them? It's difficult to keep balance between respecting their culture and executing justice... If it's allowed to ignore inhumane customs found in an uncivilized tribe to respect their culture, then we will not be allowed to intervene into a modern society that embraces inhumane customs against human rights... So, if the customs in an uncivilized society are severely unethical, we should have right to step in their culture to protect human rights even though this may change their ways of living...
I took K-san to WALMART. Afterwards I took another K-san to Best Buy: the CD player he bought only a few days ago messed up all of a sudden, so he needed to replace it to another one. On my impression, people in the US are more likely to return or switch products they bought easily than people in Japan. I think it's a good system from a customer's point of view though...
I played badminton with T-san. Later on I worked out with J-san: today we concentrated on chest, back, and shoulder! As I heard from some of my friends, it seems to be more effective to focus only on one or two parts rather than on every part at a time in weight training. After training, I had dinner with J-san at his house: beef stew was very delicious. I had two extra bowls of stew!
I attended the LSA meeting. On the way to the meeting, I heard from C-san a good news of her: Congratulations on your marriage!!! I'm sure God's grace will always be there with you, C-san!!!
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Later on after dinner, I went to the Rec-Center with T-san to play badminton. People in the badminton club practice every Fridays, so T-san and I joined them. I was under the impression that badminton is easier than tennis, but badminton seems more difficult for me now... It requires quick motion as well as stamina...
I talked to K-san and M-san for hours until late at night. We talked about lots of things from computers to dreams in the future... Also, some stupid things too... Everyone has his/her own vision of the future, and is struggling to achieve one goal after another... I want to believe the proverb that where there's a will, there's a way. We sometimes have to get over inner obstacles of our own in addition to external obstacles. The following saying by Michelangelo Buonarroti has also inspired me a lot: The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark... I deeply wish that each one of us can realize our dreams in the presence of God...