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| Two months after graduation, I'm feeling more alive than ever, now that I've entered the real world. What with work, starting to learn golf (I'm going to eventually beat my dad and grandfather at it!), and other stuff, I've yet to feel the drag of "real world humdrum." I wonder how long this will last. Of course, since working is only temporary and I'm planning to apply for med school, I've still got a lot more to look forward to!
PS: I've yet to get the hang of golfing; my right hand always ends up calloused and blistered...
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| About three days ago, I was on my way up to my room at the International House when the elevator died, trapping me for 40 minutes. Fortunately, another resident was trapped too, so I decided to pass the time talking to her. She was an international student from Korea, here to study at the optometry school. It was her first time in the US, and among other things, I asked her for her impressions of America. Her answer? Americans are friendlier than people back home in Korea. Not a huge surprise, but it was still a revelation in the culture differences. I've often noticed and become irritated at the superficially unfriendly natures of people whenever I return to Korea, and yet I can understand where the culture comes from. Partly, it's due to the extremely crowded Seoul environment, where, seeing as we can't greet everyone, we choose to instead ignore everyone, taking the easier path of inaction. People simply become background props, similar to trees, cars, and other mundane objects. Perhaps if the Korean student had gone to New York City, her impressions of the locals would have been similar to those in Korea?
I haven't felt like writing in a long time. It's strange, but it almost seems to bore me nowadays. Or rather, it's likely that I'd rather be doing something else.
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| Wow. So, after having ignored Xanga for a looong time, I came back on out of boredom just to see what my xanga friends have been posting recently. Interesting to see how people haven't changed at all over time through their posts. All the same styles, all the same subjects...
Time to ignore/forget about xanga again. Perhaps the next time I shall be back is in August or so. Maybe. The future is unpredictable.
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| "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I
reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind
me."
Philosophies are limited by the people who compose them. It's easy to think that we've seen enough of the world to devise an over-arching theme that governs human nature, but we also (mostly subconsciously) accept the fact that our philosophies must change as we live more and see more. Existing philosophies with a historical basis only remain in stasis because their creators have died; as a result, we are left with partial ideas that can only be used for extrapolation and speculation. We cannot accept any philosophy at face value because there is no perfect basis for any such set of ideas. That said, I used to delve in contemplation of human nature (as do many other adolescents) quite a bit, but I've come to the somewhat obvious realization that in the end, what actually is always supercedes what should be. Theories are all limited by experiences, and therefore, they inherently can only predict human nature speculatively at best. My naive notion that all people would work towards the ideal of a utopian society (regardless of whether it is achievable) was too idealistic and misguided in the end. Adulthood and college life seem to introduce a solid dose of realism into its formerly dreaming participants, and this hinders the perspective of childlike innocence and idealism that we all sometimes need.
In the end, a philospher is an artist: always striving for perfection, yet never a chance of achieving it. Perhaps all art is a form of arrogance in the end, assuming that mankind has what it takes to achieve what is meant only for God. Or perhaps it is an inner desire, a longing to reach towards that which we belong to, even though we have been temporarily banished.
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| It seems that after a couple of years in college, everyone starts to become increasingly isolated to the outside world and stuck in his or her own little sphere of close friends. I see acquaintances daily throughout Berkeley, but in contrast to earlier years, it almost seems as if they don't really care if they see me; I'm just a forgotten shadow in their memories after the terse greetings the second we pass out of sight. I can sense that this is what "they" call the grown-up world: All the people I've met in my first two years of college are forging their individual paths, and divergence is now the norm.
It's an easy world to get lonely in. Not that I'm really lonely right now; my apartment mates and a couple other good friends who visit almost daily prevent me from having much alone time. I can't help, though, but regret that many other doors seem to have closed. I just enjoy cheering random people up with a surprise greeting (despite my introverted personality and tendency to keep to myself), but it becomes less effective and seemingly almost burdensome nowadays, what with the lack of responses I get.
A proliferation of a growing ego also seems to be the culprit; I hate to say this, but in college, people seem to eventually become more confident in themselves to the point of developing arrogance. It's a tough subject to talk about, especially since I can't deny that I'm also affected by all of this. As we become busier forging the beginnings of our future careers, it becomes easier than ever to write off any unpleasing people as "not worth my time or effort." This is not a good attitude to take, but it is there, subconsciously affecting all of our actions.
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