～ The Graduation ～
Written on: December 19th, 2006.
Edited on: December 22nd, 2006, February 9th, 2008, January 16th, 2010.
Word count: 767 words.
~ The Graduation ~
It came to me as a shock.
Months ago, when I asked him about that thing, I didn't expect THAT to be his answer. It was very unlikely for him to even TRYING to THINK about doing it. It was like you seeing me cleaning my room on Sunday.
I asked lots of people before him, though. A whole lot of them. Most of them are my classmates, some seniors, and a few juniors. The answers could be divided into three kinds. You may be asking why I have time (or more accurately, why I waste my time) doing this laborious, useless thing, but for me, these answers could give me some ideas about how I should spend the rest of my life.
Can't believe I said those words. I should start cleaning my room before thinking about my future.
The first kind of answer is the clear, objective kind of answer.
"I will look for a job as a translator. Most preferably for books. But interpreter is kind of challenging too, so there's some possibility I'll try it." Good. Well done.
"My part-time job as hair-stylist is going pretty good, and the salary is not bad, so I think I'll continue it for a while. I think I'm going to learn more about hair-styling, because I really enjoy it." This wasn't bad either.
"I'm going to continue my father's business." What's that? "A Chinese restaurant." That's great, can I go there some time?
"I'm going to take a trip all around the world." For a rich kid like him, money isn't a problem, so maybe he can take trips for all his life.
Of course, comparing to the first kind, the second kind of answer was kind of vague.
"What will I do after graduating? Hm... well, I haven't thought about it yet... hm..." This 'hm' continued for about twenty minutes, so I said I'm going to leave you to think for a while, take your time, okay?
"I'll find a job." As what? "I don't know."
"Actually I want to continued studying... maybe I will enroll to graduate school... but what major should I take? I don't even have any idea for the research theme..." Good. A scholarly type.
The third kind of answer was the miscellaneous, aka the unexpected, the impossible and the likes.
"I want to marry a rich guy." Yeah, good luck with that (I thought I've heard some Mandarin movie with that kind of title). But she said it humorously, though, that I came to the conclusion that she was hiding her true intention.
"Rob a bank and live as a fugitive." When he said this, he was busy writing his paper (which deadline was a month from now), and obviously he didn't care for me less. Thanks for your imaginative answer, though, fella.
"Find a girl to marry, have some children from her, and make a happy little family." Sounds beautiful. Er. WHAT?
Maybe this wasn't too shocking, because such a lovely future was everybody's dream, right? Well, maybe not everybody. Some people don't want to be married, and some people hated kids. And I've always thought that he was one of them. Not like the girl who said she wanted to marry a rich guy. She DOES like money and glamour. But him?
He was the kind of guy who flinched when my brother said to him that he could hold my one month old nephew. The kind of guy who looked weary when he passed a playground full of toddlers. The kind of guy who didn't like to go on a date on Saturday night (or Friday night, or Sunday night, or, er, well, nights). The kind of guy who looked cool and popular enough to have many admirers, but never took advantage of that.
When I confronted him about this, he just smiled and said solemnly, "There's some things in this life that came as a shock, isn't it?"
It was. Even now after I asked the question to those people, I still haven't got any idea of how I should do with my own life after graduating, and that fact made me a little shocked (I started to clean my room on Sundays, though. At least although I didn't know what would happen in the future, I have a nice little apartment to go home to). And what even more shocking was when I saw him hand in hand with the girl who said she would marry a rich guy one night at the park, eyes wet from tears.
It was the night before the graduation.
~ * ~
Notes: I didn't think I could write this by an hour! Or maybe an hour and a half, I don't know. Or maybe two hours? I didn't keep my eyes on the clock. This piece was actually meant to be written in Japanese, but I've given up (at least for now). Next time I'll try to write in Japanese! These days (and long before) I've been reading stories by Murakami Haruki, mostly on its English-translated version. I think somehow my writing style is affected by it. I wasn't so sure whether it was affected by Murakami Haruki's style or the translator's style. It's not a good thing, though. But I hope as I write and write and write more stories, I will develop my own writing style. Oh, and by the way, please excuse my bad grammar. :P Still have to learn a lot about that.
Edited on: December 22nd, 2006, February 9th, 2008, January 16th, 2010.
Word count: 767 words.
~ The Graduation ~
It came to me as a shock.
Months ago, when I asked him about that thing, I didn't expect THAT to be his answer. It was very unlikely for him to even TRYING to THINK about doing it. It was like you seeing me cleaning my room on Sunday.
I asked lots of people before him, though. A whole lot of them. Most of them are my classmates, some seniors, and a few juniors. The answers could be divided into three kinds. You may be asking why I have time (or more accurately, why I waste my time) doing this laborious, useless thing, but for me, these answers could give me some ideas about how I should spend the rest of my life.
Can't believe I said those words. I should start cleaning my room before thinking about my future.
The first kind of answer is the clear, objective kind of answer.
"I will look for a job as a translator. Most preferably for books. But interpreter is kind of challenging too, so there's some possibility I'll try it." Good. Well done.
"My part-time job as hair-stylist is going pretty good, and the salary is not bad, so I think I'll continue it for a while. I think I'm going to learn more about hair-styling, because I really enjoy it." This wasn't bad either.
"I'm going to continue my father's business." What's that? "A Chinese restaurant." That's great, can I go there some time?
"I'm going to take a trip all around the world." For a rich kid like him, money isn't a problem, so maybe he can take trips for all his life.
Of course, comparing to the first kind, the second kind of answer was kind of vague.
"What will I do after graduating? Hm... well, I haven't thought about it yet... hm..." This 'hm' continued for about twenty minutes, so I said I'm going to leave you to think for a while, take your time, okay?
"I'll find a job." As what? "I don't know."
"Actually I want to continued studying... maybe I will enroll to graduate school... but what major should I take? I don't even have any idea for the research theme..." Good. A scholarly type.
The third kind of answer was the miscellaneous, aka the unexpected, the impossible and the likes.
"I want to marry a rich guy." Yeah, good luck with that (I thought I've heard some Mandarin movie with that kind of title). But she said it humorously, though, that I came to the conclusion that she was hiding her true intention.
"Rob a bank and live as a fugitive." When he said this, he was busy writing his paper (which deadline was a month from now), and obviously he didn't care for me less. Thanks for your imaginative answer, though, fella.
"Find a girl to marry, have some children from her, and make a happy little family." Sounds beautiful. Er. WHAT?
Maybe this wasn't too shocking, because such a lovely future was everybody's dream, right? Well, maybe not everybody. Some people don't want to be married, and some people hated kids. And I've always thought that he was one of them. Not like the girl who said she wanted to marry a rich guy. She DOES like money and glamour. But him?
He was the kind of guy who flinched when my brother said to him that he could hold my one month old nephew. The kind of guy who looked weary when he passed a playground full of toddlers. The kind of guy who didn't like to go on a date on Saturday night (or Friday night, or Sunday night, or, er, well, nights). The kind of guy who looked cool and popular enough to have many admirers, but never took advantage of that.
When I confronted him about this, he just smiled and said solemnly, "There's some things in this life that came as a shock, isn't it?"
It was. Even now after I asked the question to those people, I still haven't got any idea of how I should do with my own life after graduating, and that fact made me a little shocked (I started to clean my room on Sundays, though. At least although I didn't know what would happen in the future, I have a nice little apartment to go home to). And what even more shocking was when I saw him hand in hand with the girl who said she would marry a rich guy one night at the park, eyes wet from tears.
It was the night before the graduation.
~ * ~
Notes: I didn't think I could write this by an hour! Or maybe an hour and a half, I don't know. Or maybe two hours? I didn't keep my eyes on the clock. This piece was actually meant to be written in Japanese, but I've given up (at least for now). Next time I'll try to write in Japanese! These days (and long before) I've been reading stories by Murakami Haruki, mostly on its English-translated version. I think somehow my writing style is affected by it. I wasn't so sure whether it was affected by Murakami Haruki's style or the translator's style. It's not a good thing, though. But I hope as I write and write and write more stories, I will develop my own writing style. Oh, and by the way, please excuse my bad grammar. :P Still have to learn a lot about that.