my typical day

122308 tues 10:45am

it’s the emperor’s birthday! yay. it’s funny that it’s observed as a national holiday and yet most people here haven’t even seen a picture of him. i asked chihiro what his name was, and she was like, “haha, you know, i don’t even know!” hahah. (i read in one of my japan books that it’s akihito, and it’s now his 20th year of reign.)

anyways. i’m glad for another day to relax and do some errands and TRY OUT FOOD!! hehe.

i just had a cream taiyaki for breakfast (oh i love it!) and it’ll be yet another three hours til lunch (i’m craving that kaiten sushi), and i’ve already done more laundry, organized some papers and cleaned the apartment... so what’s there for me to dooo?? hahah. journal. (btw, so sad that i’m planning my day around food! haha.)

hmm... let me journal about my typical work day.
i have to be at the school between 11:59 and 9pm. but i usually wake up by 8:30. even without my alarm. and even if i only have 6 hours of sleep. grrr.

i take my time to shower and get ready. i really don’t know which direction my balcony faces, but if i wanted to, i can watch the sunrise AND the sunset, haha. opposite each other across the panoramic view, of course. i mention that cuz it means that when i open up the curtains (the first thing i do every morning) my room is bathed in beautiful sunlight (when it’s a sunny day). so i’m usually very cheerful getting ready, singing along to whatever song my itunes plays.

most of the time, i have in my fridge some pastries that i’d bought from max valu. so i toast one of them and boil some water for green tea (yum:). and i eat and drink. and then i’m ready most of the time before 10am. sometimes, when i’m craving cream taiyaki, i wait to eat and just stick around until 9:55 so that i can stop by the taiyaki shop (probably 3 minutes away by bike) to pick one up cuz it opens at 10, haha.

before i leave my apartment, i make sure everything that can be turned off is turned off AND unplugged: my laptop, the toaster, the water heater, all the lights.

my bike is in the bike parking area outside of my apartment. i unlock the lock, put my bag and lock in the basket, and i’m off. because it’s winter, i’m always dressed in the following: stockings, jeans, socks, uggs; tank top, dress shirt, sweater, down feather coat with hood (and sometimes hat), gloves. (it’s freezing to bike otherwise!) (i change in my teacher’s suit and shoes once i get to school.)

if i don’t stop by the taiyaki shop, i can get to the school in 15 minutes. sometimes i take the bridge if i feel like i want a workout (cuz of the incline). most of the time, i take the way where i have to cross a group of 10 (ten!) railroads. sometimes i have to wait a couple minutes there with a bunch of other bikers and cars cuz a train will cross. once i cross, it’s very bumpy! i really don’t think it’s good for my bike’s tires. i also have to share the tiny road with the other cars, so it’s always an experience.

i park the bike in the bike parking area, and i get to the school by 10:30. chihiro also usually gets to the school by 10:30, but half the time, i’m there first. and i open up the school: turn off the alarm, unlock and turn on the automatic glass doors, unlock the manager’s office, turn on the computer, all the lights, and the heater; and log in for the day. i then change into my teaching clothes. (for the whole week, i wear and re-wear one business skirt suit, which i bring on tuesdays and bring home on saturdays to wash. i just change my dress shirt everyday.)

so i’m usually settled by 11. if i have a class at 12, i concentrate hard to lesson plan for that class. if i don’t, i’m more relaxed as i lesson plan for the day. whatever the case, i’m very prepared for my classes. whatever break i have between classes is used to lesson plan or do paperwork. oh and fooding, haha.

the school is located in a really big open shopping center. it’s like a huge rectangular U with the cars parked in the middle. the geos side is two stories. and there’s a supermarket (max valu) downstairs and next door. and so usually after my first class or 1-ish, i go to max valu and buy some food: usually a tuna rice ball, a pastry i hadn’t tried before, and something chocolatey to snack on for the day.

so i go through my day. i hardly ever interact with either curt or yuriko cuz i’m so busy with my own classes. most of the days have 7 classes. thursday has 4. and most days, my last class ends at 9pm. i have to do some paperwork after, so i’m usually done by 9:30. by then i’m soo hungry, so i go to max valu immediately after and buy something for dinner (they have all sorts of ready-to-eat packages). if i know that i don’t have pastries at my apartment anymore, i usually buy a bargain pack of pastries that haven’t been sold and which they prepared at the end of the day. (5 or 6 pastries for ¥300. a bargain when some pastries cost ¥160 or higher!)

then i eat back at the school while i go online!!!!! something which i look forward to the whole day!!! haha. chihiro also stays for HOURS after 9pm cuz she still has loads of work to do. so we kinda silently keep each other company. i sometimes stay until chihiro calls it a day. by 11pm. ha. (there was a time when we stayed past midnight!) we lock up the school together, and i say, “see you in ten hours!” haha.

and then i bike back home through the very quiet streets, although there are always a few people out. i’m somewhat tired and cold (and hungry if i neglected to eat), but very happy that the day is over. and i’m always always listening to my songs in my shuffle. i wouldn’t be able to go through that night bike ride otherwise! (i sometimes even sing, haha.) there’s this stop light that takes forever to change for me cuz it’s across a major 4-lane road. and if it’s a clear night, i inevitably look up and i gaze at orion’s belt and think happy thoughts and i silently send a message to jordan. :)

right before that light changes for me, i search my shuffle for a really upbeat song (usually lady gaga or taylor swift, haha) so that i have a happy song to get me through biking past the graveyard once i turn the corner to my street. haha.

i get through it. park the bike. i can take the elevator, but i take the stairs to the third floor. most of the time, my heart’s still racing from the graveyard, haha... so i turn on my laptop immediately and play a song before i turn off my shuffle, so that i’ll have NO moment of silence, haha. i eat if i hadn’t yet, wash up, maybe journal, and then go to sleep! usually by 12 or 1.

and that’s my day!!! :D