Letter from Javier to Yasushi

Dear Dr. Yasushi Ota,

First of all, I would like to extend my gratitude to you for the kind gesture that you have extended to us UP students, particularly to me. Personally, I’m very thankful to have obtained a copy of the book Orientalism. I haven’t been able to actually begin reading the book yet (since Dr. Takenouchi and the other professors keep us very busy). Either way, I look forward to when I will be able to do so, hopefully during the upcoming breaks.

It is actually fortuitous that I was able to choose to receive the copy of Orientalism since I was able to already acquire a copy of the books for the course. I’m quite happy with the book because I enjoy learning about many different ideas and perspectives between fields. Although mathematics will always be that which interests me the most, I truly believe that an individual must acquire suitable amounts of knowledge and understanding in as many studies and disciplines as possible. That way one can achieve a full integration of knowledge.

I feel that we are very lucky that people like you, would take an interest in helping enrich students in our small corner of the world. Indeed I have questioned to myself several times why an individual as accomplished as Dr. Takenouchi would be teaching in a university like UP. I’m sure that many of my classmates, myself included, consider ourselves to be very lucky to have someone like Dr. Takenouchi and all of his friends from Japan to continue to contribute to the student of UP.

Once again, thank you for sharing with us your love for knowledge.

Many thanks,
Javier Luis P. Gomez