A little break from all the post about my trip to the US. I have come to enjoy reading some of the good books since I went to the US. The books there are much cheaper and reading is actually quite a common past time for many Americans. I choose to read the book titled 'Memoirs of a Geisha' because I prefer non fiction books. But reading books on topics like finance is too dry for me. This seems like a good book to start with since it is a real story about the life of a geisha in olden day Japan. After travelling around Tokyo for almost a week, I have come to see much of Japanese culture that I didn't know of or only heard about from people. That also made me interested in reading about the life of a Japanese women as a Geisha. A Geisha is an unique work of art. This is because they are the epitome of art and also an expression of creative work. From the very kimono they are wearing to the dances they put up and also the music they play. It seems like these Geisha are multi talented. These skills are acquired throughout their course of becoming a geisha. They go through intensive training in their younger days and are always apprentice to a older geisha before they can become geisha themselves. Much like a apprentice learning kung fu from a master. After becoming a geisha, their main role is in entertaining man and be paid for their company. This is their job! The main character of this story is called Sayuri and through the course of her life, she eventually became one of the most famous Geisha in Japan. This doesn't mean that she had a easy life. This is because many geisha are actually forced into the trade. They are sold into the trade as a child by their parents. The reasons Sayuri became a geisha too. Her life was a turbulent one with many obstacles laid out in her path. As a child she had no direction in life as she was taken into the okiya in Gion, which is the place where geishas stayed. She was unfortunate to have moved into this particular okiya because of a geisha named hatsumoto. Hatsumoto was one of the more popular geishas around Gion and did whatever she could to maintain her status. She had always tried ways and means to obstruct Sayuri from becoming a geisha.

It is hard to imagine how jealousy drives people crazy. Sayuri's life was turn upside down by the mere presence of Hatsumoto. At times, sayuri found it almost impossible to continue living there. Throughout her young life, she only know sadness and evil. From the death of her parents, the ill treatment she received in the okiya, the endless hard labour and also the bad living condition. She almost give up on her life one day when she met a person who would eventually turn her life around. This is because this man gave her hope to continue living by showing her that there is still kindness in this world. This man would be here guiding star in life and from that point on things started to change as she decided to take fate into her own hands and take control of the ship that is sailing her through the vast ocean. A person without direction is just like a powerless ship on the rocky ocean. This is the end of the miserable life but the start of a life of purpose and determination.