I was a table tennis champion in junior high and a top-class student in high school. Though I ran for student vice president and failed, I fell in love for the first time and found my first girlfriend. She was perfect as a life partner - cute, sweet, and possessed a creative mind as a member of the literature club. However, my romance didn't work out. I wasn't a cheater, but at the time, my hunger for knowledge caused me to neglect her. My obsession with learning overshadowed my romance, and my loving feelings gradually faded away. Once they did, I realized how much I truly loved her. I never thought my feelings toward her would change, but they eventually did. Since then, I've carried this heavy burden and began to doubt myself. I believed I would never love anybody again because my commitment had proven so weak and breakable, and I feared I might hurt someone else again. I didn't trust myself anymore. I was so young and stupid to let her go, and because of this, I was left with indelible scars on my heart for the rest of my life.
In college, I became an active member of student organizations while belonging to the art club as an extracurricular activity. During college, I immersed myself in literature—reading Japanese(Tohson Shimazaki, many more), German (Goethe, Thomas Mann, Herman Hesse, many more), and English literature (Emily Brontë, Louisa May Alcott, many more). After classes, I spent countless hours at a famous café where local symphony orchestra players hung out, in their record listening room. I would read and request records, extensively listening to my favorite classical composers (Beethoven, Mozart, Mendelssohn, many more).
I visited Europe for the first time while still in college, traveling with a handful of students and our German language teacher who was returning to his German wife during summer break. We explored many cities in Germany, Paris in France, London in England, and Amsterdam in Holland. I eventually became chair of our university's biggest annual student festival—a 5-day event with a major budget. After graduating from 4-year college in Japan, I sang Beethoven's 9th Symphony in amateur chorus.
When I came to the USA, I studied cosmetology and computer science at community college in Pasadena and became a licensed cosmetologist. I also earned MCSE, A+, and Network+ certifications, and self-taught myself web development and Photoshop. I learned to play pool for the first time and became a champion, beating many experienced Mexican pool players in bars. I took salsa dance lessons once a week for one year, but without a partner, the dream of being a salsa dancer never really took off. I became a passionate movie buff, watching countless Hollywood films and building a small collection of over 1,200 DVDs in my apartment, as movie watching served as both my hobby and a great tool for learning casual English without spending a lot of money.
I also watched every presidential election, learning American democracy by following candidates' movements and stump speeches. I studied how politicians manipulate and are manipulated by big network media and social media. My interest has always been in how democracy works, because when I was in Japan, I had serious doubts about so-called Japanese democracy. I observed that political parties barely engaged in meaningful policy discussions in public forums outside of parliament. Election campaigns in Japan seemed particularly bizarre to me - candidates would drive around cities and rural areas in vans with massive megaphones mounted on top, blasting their messages during campaign season. That's what they called campaigning, but it seemed obvious that nobody wanted to listen to that noise. I dreaded election time because it created nothing but cacophony. The core democratic principle of checks and balances didn't seem to function as expected in Japan, and I was concerned about one conservative party maintaining control for so many years after World War II. Although the Japanese constitution was based on the American constitution, it didn't work as promised on paper.
Now, having lived in the USA for a long time, I can conclude that the more I learned about American democracy, the more flaws I discovered here as well. This was not what I had expected because I believed American democracy was superior to systems anywhere else in the world. However, American history has not always been bright. Native Americans would likely tell a very different story. Hypocrisy exists everywhere. I learned that politics is dirty, truth is rare in politics, and corporations with vast financial resources influence election results in their favor by using interest groups, lobbying groups, advocacy groups, and various forms of political funding and campaign donations, essentially buying votes through these multiple channels.
In America, things seem to be getting worse year after year. Young and old alike are becoming obsessed with looking good on camera and focusing on material possessions and style, but they're hollow inside. Look at the President of the United States, Donald Trump! - a perfect example of this phenomenon. Here's someone who dodged the draft yet pretends to be a patriot before cameras and massive audiences. A womanizer and home wrecker who acts like a devout Christian to win over American voters. A man whose businesses have gone bankrupt multiple times, yet presents himself as a successful businessman while the world watches. It's like watching a badly scripted reality TV show. Young people follow these superficial trends without substance. People get caught up fighting over petty issues while seemingly ignoring major global concerns like Russia invading neighboring peaceful countries with no ending. I wonder where America is heading in the next century. Is America's era soon to be the past? I wonder.... (This section grows beyond my original scope, so I moved it to the right place here! under the title, "Reflections on Today's America" if you are interested in.)