20/06/07
JPN
Today I visited a town called Gerona (in Catalan, but in Spainish it's written Girona), which is about an hour away from Barcelona by train.
From Gerona station, I walked towards the old part of the city.
I walked across the river and soon I came across this large ancient wall.
I walked on top of the wall towards the cathedral.
I liked the contrast between the ancient ruins and the scenery of people's laundries being air-dried on the roof of the houses.
There was a pretty garden near the cathedral.
I sat on a bench and decided to read few chapters in the Magic Mountain.
When I looked up the sky, the sparrows were flying in great number, almost covering half of the sky.
Evidently, this place was home for them during summer.
I wondered where they will go during winter.
I visited the cathedral.
I paid some money and borrowed an audio guide, which helped me to understand the history of this cathedral and the city.
Walking around Gerona, I got a strange feeling.
There are so many steps and the streets are so narrow, it made me feel as if I was in a maze.
It was like being stuck in one of Escher's paintings.
It was much quieter than Barcelona.
I thought, it was certainly nice to have come here, it is my type of town.
Which way do you choose?
After seeing much of the town I went back to the garden near the cathedral.
Here, I've finished reading the Magic Mountain, after which I sunk into a deep contemplation.
The book was difficult to understand.
Hans Castorp had his life all set before him.
He had a job waiting for him as an architect for ship building.
Hans Castorp, at the age of 24, pays a visit to his cousin, Joachim, at a sanatorium in Switzerland, with a view to stay for three weeks.
But, a combination of events causes him to stay for seven years.
If time does follow the logic presented by Thomas Mann, what is to occur in my life henceforth will be a rapid one.
Because time is not only a human artefact following a rigid rule,
but it is an experience based on people's perception.
For that reason, time will pass quickly under the condition of routine.
I will start my job in Tokyo.
Is this job what I really want to do?
Will it give me the role in life which I want to be associated with?
Starting work before answering such important questions, I will risk my life to fall into a routine.
A routine that hovers around my work and the responsibilities that stems from it.
Perhaps one can regard these periods as being lost and wasted,
just in the same way as one may think Hans Castorp's seven years in a sanatorium was a time lost.
But didn't Hans Castorp found his way in the end, departing the place with a clear destination?
I shall leave two questions.
Can a man grow by himself?
Can life be defined without knowing what is in it?
I shall postpone to answer these question for seven years,
during which I shall cast myself in a sanatorium, harbouring these thoughts somewhere in my mind,
hoping at the end, I shall know my role in this world.
Until then, I have no fear to remain as "life's delicate child".
