Long Island Last Sunday I came to the US again from Japan. I won't have a chance to go back to Japan at least for several months. Here in Long Island, the weather is very nice when it's sunny. Today it is so a beautiful day that I'm tempted to forget about work and just go on a hike, but I don't think i can. Why the life is full of duties? But I'm starting to feel a bit differently talking with people here. People here seem to be more optimistic compared to Japanese people, somehow. I'm curious about why, but have no answer. Talking with optimistic, encouraging people make me feel a lot better even if the amount of work is the same. One reason why Japanese people are pessimistic may be that we lost in the war. American or European industry have been always ahead of us, so we had an inferiority complex to them. The positive side of the feeling is that we worked very hard to catch up with US or other countries. The negative side is that we still constantly feel that what we are is not what we should be. It is quite stressful feeling in this way. I did not realize that feeling until I came to the states.