In Luang Prabang, there were small groups of Japanese tourists. The young man belonged nowhere despite Japanese, because he was a really doer―university classes, the part time job and he has been traveling all over the world. He knew he could move faster alone than in a group. He was appealing―short blond hair with fair skin, so unique, like a fashion model.
As he and I were strolled about the town, he said, “Why don’t we go to a sauna?” “Oh, that’s a good idea, where is it?” I said. “When browsing the internet on my phone, I found it. We just follow MAPS.ME.( GPS app).” I depended on its app too much―without it, I would be unable to travel abroad alone.
We were virtually right up to Lao Red Cross Sauna & Massage, but there was no such place that we roamed the street looking around. I recalled a decade ago I took long trips on my DragStar. Anytime I lost my way, I stopped and unfolded a map―what an arduous process. Sometimes I did not know where I was, while that was funny as it was.
The following day, we took a bus from Luang Prabang to Vientiane. Unfortunately, I was forced to hold my knees close to my chest because of a big bump on the floor in front of my seat, and in no position to stretch my legs. For ten hours, that was a harrowing ordeal for me. From time to time I hinted at this thing: “I can’t bear,” I mumbled in a fidget. “That’s unlucky,” he said, not paying me any mind while playing his smartphone or reading a book. If I were him, I would say: “Shall we swap seats?” That was odd. I thought seniority-based hierarchy was deeply rooted in Japan. I really envied him for not being a slave to such a custom.
In Vientiane, I collapsed clothed onto my bunk in our hostel. After a while I heard his voice from the upper one. “I will sent the photos of the elephant tour via AirDrop.” AirDrop? I had heard of it, but I had never used. Would he make fun of me for betraying my ignorance?
It occurred to me that most people in their seventies and beyond lived in no information technology. if he had been sensitive to the internet bubble( in the late 1990s), going to a computer class after retirement, if he tries to learn from young people who is into SNS, what will benefit him? He would enjoy communicating with his grandson on WhatsApp, posting pictures of his hobbies on Instagram and getting some information on Twitter. I only had to revealed my stupidity to enhance my life―he demonstrated how to use it and get done that quickly.
“By the way, tomorrow morning, you are going for a run, aren’t you?” he went on, “Could I come along with you?” I preferred to run alone at my own pace, but I could not help accepting his request, feeling hie zest. “I don’t mind, but you are too young. I wouldn’t be able to keep up with you.” I said, though I knew this was not likely―jogging was my daily routine.
“Let me make a suggestion. At first we will go to Patou Xay(the arch of Vientiane), then to Pha That Luang( the golden stupa) that was our goal. Jogging, simultaneously sightseeing, taking photos, therefore we can save us the trouble of going again.”
That was good idea, though he progressed at his own pace more agile than I, and while I admired his ability of gathering information. I assumed that young people today could reach a correct answer in the best way he shared it by using WhatsApp and Facebook, or read blogs and“googled” thoroughly.
His running form was not good at all, but he summoned a considerable energy that made up for what he lacked. I was glad that he tried to keep up his spirits, and while he seemed to force himself to continue to run, as if to get approval from me. From Pha That Luang to our hostel, however, he shuffled his feet and I said, “You should get some rest.” “It’s okey,” he started to accelerate even more and thereby had muscle pains—only then did I think experience won over age.
After running, we got on the Tuk-Tuk to go to Buddha Park. We talked about the fees for getting cash from ATMs. He had researched credit cards and made a list of them, which took me aback and brought home to me his continuous effort. Having been exposed to the internet since childhood, he could have got financial knowledge no one taught in compulsory education.
When I was around his age, if I wanted to know something, I would had called or e-mailed my friends, or gone to libraries or bookstores. If I were to gain certain knowledge from my superior, I had to wait for him out of courtesy until his task was done. Those meant that I stole one’s time, and vice versa.
Now that we can study anything to some extent by YouTube, one-clicking on Kindle Store and “googling,” I wondered if he needed to go to the university, where he could get a chance to join a Japanese large company when he would be a new graduate. He is now seeing more than a possible world I had inhabited.
We got to Nong Khai by bus from Vientiane and took a sleeper-train(from Nong Khai to Bangkok) to cross the border between Laos and Thailand. It took a long time, but I preferred to travel by train rather than by plane. Not just because it is cheap, but because it give me sufficient time for writing articles and reading books, and looking out the window, I come up with what I want to do in my life. The latter, however, requires some procedures: inspections, boarding, baggage claim and customs. In the mean time, I can not use my time effectively.
In Hua Lamphong, Bangkok Train Station, he scuttled between ATMs. The fee, he really wanted to avoid. For just two dollars. It was not until half an hour later that he gave up on it. I was a little irritated at what a wasteful time this was. It is like a housewife does store hopping, being so stingy with her money. Time is more important than money―by knowing what not to do, something else can be gained. With thirty minutes, he should glean fresh information on smartphone to cultivate himself. He lost two dollars, or rather if the process is sound, more money are likely to follow.
Frustrated at the fee, he walked towards the bus terminal, where we would part. “I’m going to Brazil for two weeks in October, my professor take us,” he muttered. “And so I need a lot of money. I’m considering renting out my room in Japan, by using Airbnb. It is a good way to make foreign friends.” “That’s awesome. You are a businessman,” I said. “It is good for you to be interested in ‘money.’ If I were you, I would do an internship overseas and learn about business. The larger the Japanese company, where seniority is valued, the slower it moves. You can take action faster than them.”
