Keith Watanabe * NET 2.0

Shoko is probably one of my dearest friends at work. She's not the typical gold digging wench trying to get a free ride off of some senior manager. Nor is she this ubergenius, techno geek that spends all day sitting in front of her computer. Rather she's just a normal person (albeit an extraordinarily cute person :) who is very honest, sincere and treats people with decency. I've worked with so many that are unwilling to help and who would take advantage of you just for a few extra crumbs. But in her case, she's just a really down-to-earth person, whom I hope one day can realize her dreams and elevate herself above the rest. Today we were talking about her thinking of studying abroad and perhaps entering higher education. I revealed to her what I was going to do with Miho (particularly the free stay part), which she surprised her, especially considering that Miho and I have just met. But I think she was becoming a little serious since there's many questions over her career and life's purpose. Since I started talking about going for an MBA, I think it kinda excited her about the prospects of higher education as well as studying abroad. I've known many Japanese who study in LA and they've gone on to do quite well for themselves, even naturalizing themselves in America. They seem to be satisfied because they were able to do what few of their peers could do, which is really learn English and live in a foreign country. For someone like Shoko, she's got age on her side and she's at the point where only a small nudge can really help her progress. I think a good 1-1 1/2 years studying in LA would boost her English quite well. Her skills are decent so there's a lot of potential for her. Yet outside of that, the thing that really touched me was that she said she would miss me. I think that says a lot about the quality of a person she is. I hope that I was able to win over as many hearts as possible while I was in Japan and at my job. That to me means more than any bonus that a job can give.