I went to bed after 23:00 since I had taken my time to wind down after picking so much sorrel. I had slept in socks because the temperature has been dropping for the autumn season. I got up after 6:00 and had to change into longer pants and a long sleeve top before my devotions. I even kept the blanket thrown over my legs as I did my devotions. I thought of sharing the following verses as a reminder of those who need our love and kindness the most. “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.” Proverbs 25:21-22 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/pro.25.21-22.KJV. I finished my devotions a little after 7:00 and was eager to make the sorrel drink this morning. But I didn’t think I had enough ginger and sugar. So I rushed to my supermarket and bought only those items, except I bought an extra pack of sugar. As soon as I got back, I got everything started. the smell was so warm and homey. I didn’t know how well it would turn out as I couldn’t remember ever using fresh sorrel myself, in Jamaica. I didn’t have much time after that, but I hurriedly made a smoothie, which didn’t go down so well at all. LOL. But the taste was palatable. I had a quick shower and got ready to leave home. I left the sorrel covered on the stove top.
I ran like crazy because I heard the train chime going off. I could see two trains on the platforms set for opposite directions. I hadn’t had the time to confirm what time train I would need to take from this station, one stop before mine, where the bike parking is free. I had left my apartment at about 9:21. My apartment is crazy messy at this time and so I was trying to make sure I wasn’t leaving anything for my private class this morning. And to be honest, I don’t think I even knew or was clear on what exactly I needed. I had an idea from the night before that if I left my apartment at 9:14 and walked to my station, I would have gotten the 9:29 train. That’s all I was working with when I left my house at 9:21. So I had pedalled like a crazy person to the station, jumped off my bike and had to search for a space to park my bicycle. It’s Monday and that means school and work bikers, so less space. As soon as I’d parked, I could hear the train chime announcing the train, and I saw another man take off. I didn’t know which train, but I took off at top speed too. I turned out to be the man’s train on the opposite platform leaving at 9:30. Sadly, he dropped something and stopped to pick it up which resulted in him missing his train. My train on the other hand, had not yet arrived but came a minute later and left at 9:32. Fortunately or unfortunately, if you don’t like the cold like me, the temperature is in the teens, so no sweating really, after that intense run. I tried to update one of my blog entries while on the train. I was still behind and falling even more behind with each passing day.
My new student was already waiting on me at the station wicket. It was about a 12 minute walk to her apartment on a slowly ascending incline. I could only imagine what bicycle riders had to go through with this long slope. She offered me something to drink and I asked for green tea. It had been a while since I’d had the tea I used to have almost everyday for 3 years. We had a grand time sharing with each other and only used the last 10 or so minutes to get to what she wanted out of the lessons. But I knew it will be a class I can look forward to. We matched our schedules to reflect the next two classes to be held in November. I left her apartment about 11:15, even though I should have ended earlier. At the same time though, I want it to be a more meaningful relationship as we talk about different things and share more personal things about our lives. I got the 11:34 train and made my way back to my apartment. I wondered if I was going to be up to riding 25 minutes to meet my friend. It was still quite cold and I was still tired. Once I got to my apartment, I packed a couple persimmon fruits and shared out a small mason glass serving of sorrel to take with me. I ate an apple for energy to take me on my journey since I had decided to ride, after much contemplation. I left home at almost 12:30 thereabouts.
I made the ride to meet my friend but I took my time, kinda-ish. My friend came to me a few minutes after 13:00. When we entered her apartment, the smell that hit me was so divine. She hadn’t finished preparing the food however so she continued doing so while we talked. Her apartment screamed eccentric with its Latina decor. We finally sat down to lunch and my taste buds were so delighted. I added a Jamaican touch as I introduced her to the Jamaican sorrel drink. She absolutely loved it and had hers with ice, while I had my serving still warm because yesterday was so cold. We chatted as always about cultural matters and life in Japan as expats and the inequalities we observed. She is currently in her second year as a PhD student and I’m so proud of her focus and dedication. She is intensely interested in research surrounding immigrants and history and so on. We could have talked for hours more but it was almost 17:00 already. I declined the offer for coffee at that time as I knew I had so much at home to get done.
I left my friend’s house at about 17:10 and got home at around 17:30. I was on pure adrenaline to make it through that bike ride, but I knew I was tired. There was no energy, desire nor time to make dinner and so I had the snack from Argentina that my friend gave me with a cup of coffee. She is from Argentina, by the way. I relaxed for a little bit in my entertainment spot as I tuned in to a movie, but it was short lived, to say the least. But the treat was delicious. A new, but familiar taste. I stuffed a rice cracker and some potato chips in my mouth to counter the sweet taste, after which I felt quite satisfied. I made some deliberate additions of Japanese study time on my schedule until early December just before the exam. I needed to also know what my earnings would look like so I calculated what confirmed classes I knew for November, because I didn’t want to take on any more classes. Of course my earnings have been significantly less over the past two years and I’ll never be able to ‘catch up’ on that. So I identified as many study opportunities as possible and penned them in as that had to be my focus along with some undone things like the two outstanding drawings with timelines before November. The next thing I needed to get to was a final worksheet for the high school students tomorrow. It took me a long time to settle down in my work spot to do this, but I was finally able to. I finished working on the updated worksheet for the highschool students a few minutes after 21:00. I decided not to try and tackle anything, but instead, go to bed early and get up early after a good night’s rest. I did do a quick repair of my biking gloves though. But I was in bed before 22:00. The end of another beautiful day.