Comments

Hi Yumi! I have the same situation :) I live in 15 minutes from Moscow (where is my workplace located), but it takes about 45 minutes to get to my office, so I have to wake up about 7am. I'm going to bad about 1am and later, and sometimes I feel myself like a robot because my brain functiones in 8 bit, especially on Fridays :) You know, urban transport are also overcrowded in the morning in Moscow, and I fully understand you! Well, it's Friday, what are you doing at weekends? Have a good time! Bye

Hi Yumi and everyone. Pleased to have your second entry just one day after the first one :-). So, you live in Saitama and work in Tokyo. It's not a long distance but it takes time, doesn't it? You only sleep about five hours a day? You're really great, Yumi :-). It would be interesting to know more about your lifestyle. What do you usually do at your weekends? For the expressions you have noticed, how about these: "I used to wake up at 6:30 and MANAGE TO GO TO WORK IN TIME." and "It's too cold to GET OUT OF BED.". This is my idea. Catherine and Yumi, and the other commenters, what do you think? Catherine must have had better answer, I'm sure :-). I'm looking forward to hearing your answers. Enjoy your blog, Yumi. Best regards, penguin x.

Hello Yumi, Nice to e-meet you. In your blog you told us that you commute for about an hour to work every day. I read, about transportation in Japan, that most peole use trains to travel from place to place, that these trains are often crammed full and pushers are sometimes employed to make crowds of people fit into the trains. Is this information true? Would you give us more details about the transportation system in your country? Thanks in advance.

Dobar dan, Yumi! Your entry has received the highest number of comments so far so that that makes you a record-breaker. If you have never ever broken any kind of the record before , now you can be proud of your achievement. It is in my human nature to envy you just a little bit. Don't you agree? I used to get up early to catch a bus on which there was no crowd, and I would arrive at work an hour early, just like you, but this hour was my personal hour, the time of the day I had just for myself. Now I walk early in the morning because where I work is close to where I live. If I don't get enough sleep, I simply drop and fall asleep wherever I happen to be standing or sitting or dancing or ... Would you write to us common commentators about these two cities of yours and about the customs of your country?

Good night Yumi! Well I usually go to sleep around 22:00 or 23:00 o´clock, but if I have had a hard day in my job, by 21:00 I´m already sleeping. Just like you I wake up very early to go to work. Sometimes, when is necessary at 6 o´clock I´m already working. Actually I´m a early bird. I feel full of energy during the morning. Have a wonderful Friday, Ana Paula.

Hi Yumi, I'm pleased to meet you. I'm really interested in your country and I hope to have the opportunity to visit it soon. I'm really keen on animated films by Hayao Miyazaki and on films by Takeshi Kitano and Akira Kurosawa. I've red some books by Japanese writers such as Haruki Murakami, Yu Miri and Banana Yoshimoto. Do you know any of them? Are they famous in Japan? Who are your favourite writers and directors? There are other things that I find really attractive in your culture such as your food and your traditional houses and gardens. As you I have to travel quite a bit to reach my work place, if everything goes well I have a two hours journey. Fortunately I can use part of this time to study English so it is not all wasted time. I'm looking forward to hear more about you and your country in your blog. Best wishes.

Good night, Yumi (It's 2:oo am in Moscow)That tells a lot about my sleeping habbits. I know that I am a bad girl to stay out of bed so late at night, but I can't help it. Fortunately I am free sleep till midday tomorrow, because I am having my holiday now. It's a real nightmare for me to get up at 6 or 7 am but even then I can't make myself to go to bed early. You wonder what I can be busy with at night? Oh, there are plenty of things to amuse myself: reading books, looking through magazines, watching TV, browsing the net, doing some English exercises or commenting on your blog... Yumi, what do you prefer to do in your spare time? And, by the way, do you have much of it?(I wish there were at least twice as much as 24 hours a day)Thank you for your answers in advance. My best wishes for the happy weekend, Elena.

Hello Yumi, nice to catch up with you again. Your English is great! How many years have you learned English? From your blog, I think it's more than 10 years, yes?

hello Yumi,i am a girl came frome beijing,and 25 years old too, i am working for a chinese company.i have the same problem as u,i need to go to the office by train, and the train was very crowded also, then i haven't found a good way to slove this problem. i often go back home about 7:00PM, and do somethings which i interested in,for example: watching TV 、surfing online or reading some book. i often go to bed at 11:00 PM and get up about 7:00 am! what will u do at night? A za A za fighting, wish u have a nice month!

Hi Yumi-san, Actually, I’d been living in Tokyo, where my hometown, for long time, now I live in other place in Japan though. So I can understand a traffic condition around Tokyo. By the way, I have some ideas to describe such situation. How about these sentences? (1) a warm futon doesn’t release me into a cold room. (2)I can’t get away from my warm and lovely futon.’ Anyway, I also wake up at 5:00 to have my own time, when my noisy three daughters are still sleeping.

Hi, Yumi. I feel sorry for your struggling every weekeday mornings. I used to commute like that too. I know the feeling! When i want to go to bed early, i always put on my iPod, tune into some English podcast, it really works for me.

Hi, Yumi! How are you today? I hope you're fine. Today is the last working day in the week, I think you'll spend wonderful weekends reading our messages =) Sorry for asking so many questions, but I can't stop doing it. You've said it was too cold in winter, what temperature do you have in winter in average? I thought it wasn't very freezy in Japan.

Hello Yumi, we(You & Tanya and me-as so far..) all have the same situation(wake up early for get to office on time and go to bed lately),but I think it is a kind of "trend".^___^ Actually which I mean above is nowadays people get information from internet(that's what I do often). Remember to take a rest for your eyes good if you sit in front of the computer too long. Have a nice weekend!! Regards, Peter.

Hi Yumi, I think my sleep-time method is not very standard but it suits me very well. I go rarely to bed before midnight. I get up at a quarter to five. I live in the outskirts of Brussels. In normal days I go to my office by train, but sometimes or now that most people is in holidays I go by car. By car, it takes me 30 minutes (27 km), if I leave home before six. By train I need 35 minutes but the first train is five past six. Why is this method ok for me ? Because I can be back at home between 2 and 3 pm. So I can help the children with their homework and have other private occupations. I do not need to sleep more than five hours but from time to time, once a week I sleep seven or eight to recharge batteries. Antonio

Hi Yumi^_^!!!!!!! How are you, Its 4.20 PM in India and am blogging you from home.Thesedays,I wake up late in morning generally at 7.00 AM because my exams are near so I am sleepin late in night, actually i studied late night. Hay I think you are really a very heard working girl but you should take care of your self and get a full rest for good healt. Yumi could you pls tell us what is your hobbies and dreams and genarlly what you like in food. Hey!! Raining here and what is the weather in JAPAN and what is your program for this weekend,I can say confidently that you will go for shopping huuuuuuu. Hey! waiting for your reply Take care n Happy Weekend Keep Smiling Regards, Manoj Pandey "Monu"

Hi,Yumi.Seemingly,most people have similar trouble that there is a long way between offices and homes.'A za A za fighting'becomes popular among the working group,even though i am still a student.Life goes easy on me, but i have a rather flexible schedule.:).Good Luck!!!

Hi Yumi, I'm quite sure that your blog will be considered in the future as the first International Traveling Workers Club!! :) It could be the starting point of a great and famous career! Don't you agree? I'm only joking ;-) Do you usually travel with friends or alone? one positive aspect of my journey is that I met a lot of people and now I have a lot of new friends. Another good aspect for me is that taking into account bus and train hours "force" me to leave the office and to be in time. Probably I would spend more time in the office if I lived close to work. Would it be better? I don't think it would. I can preserve time for me! Well, I didn't intend to be so long in my message. Bye bye and read you soon

Hi Yumiko :-) I hope your blogs are going to be very interesting as Japan and Japanese people are very interesting. As for your sentence 'I used to wake up at 6:30 and MANAGE TO GO TO WORK IN TIME' I suggest that you should say 'I am used to waking up at 6:30 so I was able to get to work on time'. It's easy to understand what you mean, but 'I used to do sth' is a sort of the past tense so shouldn't be used here. All the best

Hi, Yumi I have been doing my military service. I must do it. It's a rule in Turkey. Every teenage(only boys) have to finish this charge. So I get up 5.30 every day too. You are right it's hard to leave the bed. But we are doing anyway. I have been the east of Turkey because of the obligation. Normally I live in İstanbul(Arguably the amazing city in the world^ ^). Traffic is one of the main problems in the city so it takes me to reach to work nearly 1 hour. But when I go to work I always pass over the bosphorus bridge. And try to relax passing on the bridge, watching magneficent view. You see there are lots of similarity. We are living the same world ^ ^. I'll read your writings.Bye..

Hi, Yumi. Like our friend Ibrahim, I had to perform my military service here in Iran which is obligatory for every man. I live in Tehran, the capital of Iran, and the place I used to go during military service was 120 kms away from Tehran and I had to be there by 7:30 in the mornings. You can't imagine how hard it was to get up at 4 and commute every morning. I'm not used to sleep early at nights as well, and to your amusment, most of the nights I get only a short 3-hour sleep. Anyways, I would be happy if you could let us know more about your life in Japan. Thanks

accroding to your time , i think i am lucky. i get up at about 7:00,too. i always have my breakfast at home and then go to company by regular bus offered by the company.we begin our work at 8:00.i uesed to overtime till 7:30 or 8:30 pm, but these days i get out of my office room after 5:00pm. in the evening, i used to watch books/movies.i like to watch movies in english language. i think they seem to be true and let me feel same as the characters in the movies. at the same time , i think it is a little useful for my english skill. i go to bed at 11:00. i usually fall in sleep quickly. i think i am full of energy and passion all the times, and i want to do much more things. but usually i waste my time in the office room. ok. that's all. i will read your other writings and the others comments. best wishes to everybody!

Hi,Yumi! maybe i'm very late! but i feel similar situation about us!because i live in a city out of Tehran,Iran and i have to commute to there. it's more than 1 hour,then be happy!