Travel in the Time of Tiredness

Saturday 10th October 2009

AM

Least: At close to 9:30am, I sat on the nearly full train and sat in one of the few remaining seats. In the seat facing me was a young women who clearly had an appalling hangover. My guess is that she had been out all night and had caught a morning train home. The sour smell of booze and cigarette smoke hung in the air even after she departed a few stops down the line. Thankfully she didn't vomit in my lap.

Most: Between 9:13am and about 10:40pm, I travelled my usual route to Wakayama. Today I barely noticed the trip as if I was in some sort of travel coma. As usual I listened to my iPod and read a book - this time Joseph Conrad's tricky Nostromo. Despite a quarter of an hour delay at Izumi-Sunagawa, I barely registered the usual pain of travelling so far so early. It is amazing how the brain finally gives up resisting after many months of routine - I hope it lasts.

PM

Least: By 4:40pm, I was very nearly nodding off during a lesson. A few late nights and the inking of a flu left me dizzy with sleepy bordem. I tried to doze off just a little while my student was reading the textbook. I wonder if he noticed, and I wonder whether there's some type of Zen meditation that allows me to sleep while appearing to be fully awake?

Most: After 10:00pm, the night began to get cold. This unusual feeling left me reaching for the doona, and wondering when the right time will be to put the heater on. With the onset of summer, there was a pissing contest among some expats for who could last the longest without using an airconditioner. One paticularly ernest fellow claimed to have never switched it on despite the opressive heat. I wonder if I will recieve snarls when I finally decide it's cold enough to start heating the house?