Into the World:
The Random Thoughts in My Mind

Doing sales to potential clients has never been my strong suit. Fresh out of undergrad, I used to work in sales for the Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten, where I truly struggled with the high-pressure tactics and the rigorous performance evaluation based on KPIs. It was no wonder that I left Rakuten less than a year after I happily joined the firm, directionless and somewhat traumatized by the experience doing sales for the firm. Ever seen then, all of my jobs have been "back office," handling operations and content creation with no direct interaction with end clients.

虽说我常常以“三种语言同样流利”自居，中文绝对不能说是我的强项。自从五岁离开中国后，我的中文教育大部分都是通过阅读不同教材自学，加上在家里随便讲讲。除了几个月在台湾的工作，以及大学假期在北京和上海的实习，我从不成在完全说中文的环境里长久居住。

The French-style village on the southern shores of Chiba prefecture tried its best to look out of place. Even though traditional Japanese wooden houses are visible from its backyard, its colorful houses, uniformed staff, as well as pools and baths interspersed with European decor attract plenty of Instagrammers seeking to create a sense of a Frech holiday just a few hours drive outside Tokyo. The fact that the little French-style resort established in 1980 is booked full on the weekends despite lack of public transportation show that the average Japanese citizen's desire to go abroad remains strong.

With a population of slightly under 1 million, Chiba city ought not to be a major market for public events. Yet, the city has no shortage of public spectacles that are accessible to the masses. The city has professional basketball, baseball, and soccer teams, each with its own dedicated facilities. It also has large convention centers, community halls, and other event spaces that can accommodate thousands of people at once, enabling it to be the host of concerts by popular musicians, product exhibitions by various industries, and other ad hoc gatherings such as fireworks and traditional festivals.

Two days ago, I officially entered the 34th year of my existence. As it was a weekday, there was little in terms of celebrations, with the day marked by work as usual, and the night marked by preparations for the next day. Thankfully, as a married man living with my wife, I was not alone for my birthday. Despite her usual working-until-late schedule, she celebrated the occasion with me with some late-night food and watching YouTube videos. Given the circumstances of my life in Chiba, the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, and another workday the day after, I could not have asked for a better low-key celebration.

Jobs tend to be very hands-on. Employees are required to actively work on various projects, and the success of the projects is based on the output that is delivered to the clients. Creating the output requires employees to get their hands dirty, chipping away at a list of tasks for completing the project, and communicating with team members to coordinate the splitting up of tasks. No one gets to simply sit around and read without producing anything. Passiveness at work is, to put simply, not a job description of any productive employee.

As the war in Ukraine continues, Western states are now taking even more measures against ordinary Russian citizens. It has been several months since major Western firms pulled out of the Russian market, leaving ordinary Russians with fewer choices in their supermarkets and fewer ways to move their money across international borders. Now, news has emerged that multiple EU states have prohibited the granting of new visas to Russian citizens for the purpose of travel and studying abroad, making it ever more difficult for those wanting to leave Russia to do so legally.