Morning Routine

I wake up with curtain-filtered sunlight in my face. My hand pats around on the tatami mat next to my face until my phone is located. A push of a button reveals that the sun is still lying to me about the need to be doing things, so the phone is turned off again. I roll over, kicking the last bit of blanket off my feet. Getting up and turning the air con back on is briefly contemplated before my brain shuts off again.

An hour or so later, the wake up alarm on my phone goes off, and I obediently, roll up onto my feet. I pad out of one room, and onto the wooden floored 'Western Style' room. This is the room with the almighty air con, which is promptly turned on and up. A visit to the bathroom is the next stop, then to the fridge for bread and jam. I go through the increasingly familiar routine of turning the hood on, flicking on the gas, and pouring a bit of water into the grill drawer thingy. Within a few minutes, my toast is toasted and jam is then applied. I pour myself a glass of juice, grapefruit this week, and head back into the now cool room. My plate and cup are set in the middle of the desk, in between a pile of papers and a pile of electronics. I turn around and slide the door to the kitchen closed, to keep the cool air contained to the room I'm currently occupying.

While I eat my breakfast, I peruse the internet on my phone. Smartphones are awesome. I can hold the internet in one hand. And that's not even all it does! Technology is great sometimes. Eventually, another alarm goes off, reminding me that at some point I have to get dressed and leave the house. I laid out my skirt and shirt combo yesterday, so getting dressed takes approximately no time at all. The next task is to fold the futon and blankets, and put them along with the pillows away in the closet. Once that's done, dishes are dropped in the sink to be washed later as I'm feeling a bit lazy today. Then it's into the bathroom for teeth brushing and face washing. And when I say bathroom, I mean a little room with a bath tub, a moveable shower head, a little sink, and some tile to stand on in front of the sink. All behind it's own door, so quite literally a room for bathing in. The toilet is in a separate little room next to the bathroom, behind it's own door.

I have some time for reading before I need to head off, so I do so until the leave the house alarm chimes. I grab my bags, turn off the air con, and head to the door. My walking shoes are slipped on as I step down into the little entrance way directly in front of the door. I unlock both locks, before squeezing out the door, turning around, and locking it again. My bike key is slipped off the keychain as I walk to my bike. My bike is inherited from Sarah, my predecessor. Originally I didn't like it much, as it is bright pink, but I soon grew to love that obnoxious color, as it is easy to spot wherever I park it. It's not much of a problem here at home, the bike parking area for the apartment building usually only holds 3 scooters/motorcycles and 3-4 bikes, but at school or at the grocery store, it's nice to walk out and be able to spot my bike in the sea of gray and silver.

I unlock the bike, throw my bags in the basket, and wheel it out from under the awning. I jump on and adjust my skirt a bit, as the bike starts to roll down the slight incline into the street. I make a wide turn out into the road and take off on the 10 minute ride to school for another day of work.