A few thoughts I wrote down this morning: 1. Tall man, must you reach over my head holding on to that particular handle instead of the available one directly in front of you? Call me a princess but unless it's absolutely necessary I'd rather not have to tilt my head 45 degrees for the remainder of this ride.

2. I'm not exceptionally short for Japanese standards. How did your elbow reach my head on your way out of the train? Ouch.

3. Getting off is like an intense untangling game, having to twist, tug, and shove. I tried to stand by my exit to avoid that but kept getting pushed further and further into the train at each station.

4. I'm ready to go back to bed long before arriving at work.

On a better day a few days ago:

I figured out my commute. You can minimize the human bumper cars with a little preparation, maybe comparable to life in general? There are deadlines, goals, all sorts of people you pass without noticing and some you can't avoid, or even those you run into. Some people need some extra nudging because they're completely self-absorbed. If you plan ahead you can make it out at your destination a little easier by getting to the right door on the right car closer to your transfer. There are plenty of factors out of your control like train delays, rude people, getting stepped on, and awkward situations. For example as I scribble this in my journal, since I was pushed forward, I'm practically straddling this poor seated woman, who fortunately seems to be in a different world reading her book. Add something you enjoy, in my case, mellow music to balance my busy surrounding, and go with the flow.

Same day- after a few store visits for work I had been on 12 trains by the end of the day. I'm impressed at how people of all ages take multiple flights of stairs, all at the same pace like robots, no one losing their breath!

I hope the good food makes more sense now. After getting elbowed, shoved around and stepped on every day, it's like a simple reward at the end of some days. I could live on eggs, vegetables, and Japanese sweets. One of the current seasonal things is sweet potato sweets.

 I was too lazy to put the egg through a sieve to make it evenly yellow. Maybe if I were making it for someone else... but this is one of my favorite things: tamagoyaki (rolled sweet egg omelet)

Japanese sweet potato sweets (yes, there are purple sweet potatoes!)

Grocery stores and convenience stores have really good ready-to-eat bento type lunches, sushi, and even bakeries in the stores. Maybe it makes more sense to explain that the daily fresh made food section is much bigger than the frozen food section? Anyways, after dinner they start discounting the food since they can't sell it the next day, so by the time I get to grocery stores it's often around that golden hour. The local grocery store has this stand inside that has some fresh made Chinese dumplings, spring rolls, and Japanese sweets. They change what they sell there depending on the season. I bought these sweet potato sweets there.

Side note:

The bottom of Japanese Forever 21 bags have the whole verse of John 3:16 written out, and the brand is spreading all over Japan :D