Morning Commute

The concept of a commute typically has a negative connotation. The words traffic, waste of time, exhausting, and frustration often come to mind. I always associated a commute with something negative until I really thought about my own morning commute. On paper, my commute really doesn't sound very good. It involves walking about five minutes to the closest metro station, a 15-minute metro ride, catching a 15-20 minute bus, and then ends with a 7-minute walk.  In total my commute is typically 50 minutes door to door. Some people would say this is really long, while others would say this is short. For me, it is what it is. It doesn't feel long or short, it feels like mine; my daily routine.

I have found that I actually enjoy starting my day like this. There is something stable and reliable about it, but then there is always something new and different. I pass the same stores, the same buildings, every now and then even the same people. Depending on the weather or the season I see the same things but from a different perspective. The early morning light reveals parts of buildings that are normally covered in shadow, and grey cloudy skies allow for the paint on buildings that is normally washed out by the sun to show off their vibrant hues. 

When I sit and observe my surroundings on the metro or bus every morning I notice the changing trends in clothing as the weather warms and cools, and take note of the new advertisements that pop up in the metro or on the sidewalk. I may be simple, but I like having these 50 minutes in the morning that I can notice the small changes within an environment that from day to day can be seen as fairly steady. There is also a sense of quiet and calm, because when living in a country where you don't understand much of the language, it is very easy to tune out the conversations around you. I really became cognizant of how liberating this was when I had a short business trip to New York in March. It was very distracting sitting on the subway and hearing everyone's conversations. I forgot how much I would unintentionally eavesdrop on conversations happening next to and across from me. You almost feel as though your attention is held hostage because as much as you want to focus on something else, it's impossible to completely shut out the noise. As someone who doesn't like popping in headphones for my morning commute, living in a country with a very challenging language easily solves the problem.