Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

As COVID-19 progresses, it has become a statistical fact that East Asia has fared noticeably better than many other world regions. While the likes of Vietnam, Taiwan, and Japan did not experience much of an outbreak at all, and China and South Korea, despite doubts about data and secondary outbreaks, largely kept new infections under control, the same cannot be said in many other world regions. Western Europe received the unglamorous title of the world region with the worst rate of infections for a time, before the US, Brazil, and now India and Russia well on the way to surpass the tolls of the epidemic in former hotspots like Italy and Spain.

COVID-19 has been a difficult time for those who love to travel. As countries enforce lockdown to minimize the risks of citizens contracting the disease from one another, shutting national borders has been a standard procedure. Airports emptied out as airlines canceled flights, and even among supposed visa-free travel zones like the EU, internal checks on supposedly non-existent national border controls have made it difficult for citizens to exercise their right to move, live, and work anywhere within the zone. While the talks of regional "travel bubbles" abound among countries that seem to have suppressed the epidemic, the return of unhindered travel around the world remains far away.

A few days ago, a few hundred Japanese and (mostly) foreigners in Tokyo and Osaka marched through downtown streets to show solidarity with those protesting racism in the US and around the world. The protestors were triggered by news of a Kurdish long-time resident of Tokyo being brutally handled the Tokyo police, for no other reason than arguing back about a suspected traffic violation. No doubt protesting for a noble cause, the few hundred that marchers created little ripple in Japan aside from a few short news articles in the country's few English-language media.

The Chinese Communist Party is found of using the statement, "hurting the feelings of Chinese people" when speaking about actions and words of foreign governments that it finds distasteful. The phrase has often been mocked outside the country as nothing but a propagandistic tool. The mockery stems from the belief that unelected government cannot speak for the "feelings" of a citizenry that did not elect it, and that the Chinese elite, secluded in their own world away from the general public, neither have a clue nor any interest in finding out whether the majority of the populace really see eye-to-eye with government officials on the foreign "offenses."

It seems yesterday that mainstream media was arguing about the supposed danger of "internet addiction" as kids and adults alike are foregoing real-world relationships in favor of spending more time in front of a screen, building virtual communities via video games and social media. psychological issues were highlighted in the discussion, with experts fearing a greater prevalence of cyberbullying on online forums, social isolation through the loss of ability to form real-world emotional bonds with people, and competitive showing off through falsified Instagram shots leading to suicides and mentally scarring a generation.

President Trump was not shy about claiming the credit for giving every American citizen USD 1,200 as part of the stimulus package to "wage a total war" on COVID-19. While the letter, awkwardly sent weeks after the actual USD 1,200 was paid out through bank transfer or personal checks, was clearly intended to boost Trump's upcoming reelection campaign against Joe Biden, the point implicitly made in the letter goes beyond his simply reiterating his supposed care for the American people; it speaks to the financial capacity of the United States as a nation that goes beyond the will of an individual president to bankroll his way back into the White House for another four years.

The Japanese language has a term サービス精神 ("the spirit of service") to denote anyone who has the mentality to be helpful to others, whether the others in question are clients, coworkers, or family members. The idea of being helpful to others is an essential part of the concept of "omotenashi," the idea of predicting and then following through with what others would find most pleasant and comfortable. In the world of business of retail, hospitality, and other service industries, the spirit of service is needed for customers to happily part with their money .