elllo #344 Daily Routine

344 Daily Routine

Eli compares two routines.

Transcript
Vocabulary

Eli

Eli: At the moment I'm living in Japan and life here is pretty different to anything I've really experienced before. I think just because the daily routine is so different. In England, in England, basically I was really lazy. I'd probably get up at you know 8:30 in the morning. Leave ten minutes later, cause I always brush my teeth at work, eat breakfast at work, get to work for 9 o'clock, come home from work at 5:30, probably lie on the sofa, watch the Simpsons, cook some food, go to bed, and that was the sort of daily routine in England, a very lazy one. I mean, even if I needed to get to the supermarket which was probably what, like 3-400 meters away, I'd get on my scooter to do it. Walking anywhere would be just a massive hassle and so it was a bit of a shock when I got to Japan and all that changed, I mean, the one thing you have to do a lot of in Tokyo is walk. You have to walk everywhere. I mean the train systems are absolutely amazing but you need to walk to get to the train. You need to walk between the trains and like when I first arrived, I walked my feet into the ground. After a week they were aching so badly after two weeks. They were just I don't know, it took me at least a month to like wear my feet in. They're still, still like now, after long walks, but it's just apart from the walking, you just, it's just a business of life here, I mean cause no one actually lives in Tokyo cause it's so expensive.

We all live out sort of in the suburbs in what we call bed towns, and so actually getting into school every morning, I'm studying Japanese here, I have to get up pretty early just to get onto the train, to then travel, commute, an hour in, to get to school on time, which of course I never do. I'm meant to be at school at about nine, which would mean, sort of leaving my house at about 8, getting up at 7. I know this is not shocking for a lot of people, but after the routine I had, it's a pretty shocking experience for me, especially the hour of commuting on the train where you're kept in like sardines, you just would never have in sort of London and London underground in England where I'm from. On the London Undeground if the trains full people wait for the next train. Here if the train is full, people just push and push until they get on so you can end up being stood, never get to sit down, just standing for an hour, like squashed up, like sardines, so by the time you get to school you're totally tired and then there's a school until lunch time and after lunch I always say I'm going to come back and study but I never do I always come back and fall fast asleep.

Vocabulary notes (text only) explain key vocabulary and phrases from the interview. Learn more here.

scooter

I'd get on my scooter to do it.

A 'scooter' is a type of motorbike that is not very powerful and can be electric or use petrol.

Notice the following:

Having a scooter is very handy as it means I can park just about anywhere.
I can't carry many groceries when I am on my scooter.

hassle

Walking anywhere would be just a massive hassle.

When something is a 'hassle' it means that it is a problem, difficult or frustrating.

Notice the following:

Please do not hassle me I am trying to concentrate on my work.
Traffic jams are a real hassle.

walked my feet into the ground

When I first arrived, I walked my feet into the ground.

'Walking your feet into the ground' means that you have walked a very long way and you are feeling tired.

Notice the following:

On my first day at work I walked my feet into the ground.
When she takes me shopping she always walks my feet into the ground.

bed towns

We all live out sort of in the suburbs in what we call bed towns.

'Bed towns' are areas of a city where people who work long hours live and they are only at home to sleep.

Notice the following:

I do not want to only go home to sleep and live in a bed town.
A lot of student doctors live in bed towns.

like sardines

It's a pretty shocking experience for me, especially the hour of commuting on the train where you're kept in like sardines.

When a lot of people are packed into a small space they are referred to as being 'like sardines.'

Notice the following:

We were all squeezed on to that train like sardines.
Airlines have so many people on planes nowadays that I feel like a sardine.