When I was in Japan, the train system was so punctual; they ran every 3 minutes. They apologized seriously if one of their trains didn’t come to the station on time. The announcement said ‘We are so sorry but our next train left the previous station 2 minutes later than our schedule.’ And most of the people complained, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s not my day!’ …I was one of them.
I moved to American Samoa 4 years ago. Everything on the Island was so----- slo-----w; the fastest speed limit on the highway was 25 mph; when they said ‘a week from today’ they meant ‘one day if you were lucky’; I couldn’t tell that people were walking or standing still. It was a tough training for surviving in the slow environment.
Then I moved to Hawaii at the end of last year. This is the world of normal speed. If people say a week from today, it means a week from today. I can tell people are walking or running, highways are real highways. To be honest, I felt 'Goodness, it is too fast!' for a while.
I met a Japanese couple today and they were complaining about the train system nowadays in Japan; it was becoming less on time, stressing them out. They expected me to agree but I simply couldn’t. Oh well, I guess the survival training in American Samoa made me more tolerant for train delays. Phew!
August 21, 2008
August 15, 2008
Penguins
I accomplished today’s goal earlier than planned, I took a walk on the beach instead of going little bit further. It was a cloudy day, not so many people were there around dusk.
I walked for a while and then, swam. The ocean was a mirror of the sky, I imagined my bed was the ocean (waterbed indeed!) and my blanket was the sky while I was floating on my back. Ah our planet earth is so beautiful. Is this a luxury life or what?! Thanks to the universe!
The color of the night sky came down to the ocean and I was getting cold, I dried myself up and walked through a property of the Hilton hotel.
Penguins! I saw penguins. There were penguins in Hilton village, here in Hawaii. I felt sorry for them. I wished they could fly…
I’ve seen how they swim in some TV shows, they swim like a bullet. Well, they don’t have to be able to fly, they can swim. I can’t tell penguins ‘you are in the birds family, so you have to fly!’
Anyway, there was no cage or fence or anything around the penguins, it was outside, although they were just there. The beach was 100 steps away from their place. They have no idea how close the ocean is…
I pictured them marching to the beach, diving into the ocean one by one… free at last! I saw that one of the penguins was me. Quack! (oops is it a duck?)
I walked for a while and then, swam. The ocean was a mirror of the sky, I imagined my bed was the ocean (waterbed indeed!) and my blanket was the sky while I was floating on my back. Ah our planet earth is so beautiful. Is this a luxury life or what?! Thanks to the universe!
The color of the night sky came down to the ocean and I was getting cold, I dried myself up and walked through a property of the Hilton hotel.
Penguins! I saw penguins. There were penguins in Hilton village, here in Hawaii. I felt sorry for them. I wished they could fly…
I’ve seen how they swim in some TV shows, they swim like a bullet. Well, they don’t have to be able to fly, they can swim. I can’t tell penguins ‘you are in the birds family, so you have to fly!’
Anyway, there was no cage or fence or anything around the penguins, it was outside, although they were just there. The beach was 100 steps away from their place. They have no idea how close the ocean is…
I pictured them marching to the beach, diving into the ocean one by one… free at last! I saw that one of the penguins was me. Quack! (oops is it a duck?)
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