But on some days, I do think it is a bit out of the ordinary. Let me try to explain.
For many of us, a typical day - a normal day - is a day that is not out of the ordinary. We dine at our usual venue, wait at the same bus stop, walk the same route, and see the same scenery. Essentially, it means that we go through our day with the same group of people. If you work in an office setting, you dine at places that are full of people like you; when you wait at the bus stop, you are also with people who dress like you. In other words, you rarely meet anyone that is different, out of your social circle and different from your circumstance.
What I notice about my day is that it's not like that, at all. When I go to work in the morning (way past the rush hour), I don't see office-goers; I actually see a lot grandmas out and about doing grocery shopping. They talk about the sales that are going on at the markets, the fish, the meat and all the "little things" in life.
When I'm at work, my colleagues (tenured professors) talk about totally different things: ideas, concepts, abstract things. Most of them drive to work and they are quite well off. They eat at fancy restaurants and live a life that is above the average income earner. I certainly don't fit into that high society, but that's where I work.
At lunch time, instead of dining with my colleagues at restaurants that I can't afford, I do take-outs like many of my students. So yes, I would be that person with a window office, overlooking the great harbour view, and chowing down a burger.
And when it's time to go home, again, I don't go the same way as my colleagues. Instead, I walk down from the university campus to where stay-at-home moms pick up their kids from school and head home to prepare dinner.
So you see, my whole day consists of blending in with very different groups of people, literally, from each social class - from the poor and needy to the freshies who are just starting out, to the well-off "upper class" and finally, to the middle class stay-at-home moms.
And that is my typical day....and here are the pictures to prove it.
Beginning from yesterday:
I invigilated the exam for my course. This was taken about 10 minutes before the students came in for the exam.
Early next morning:
I
lined up to buy these famous cookies from this store. These are all
tourists. I was the only local who bought a big enough suitcase to fill
20 boxes of cookies. Does this sound crazy or what? These are for
Chris, not for me. I ended up taking a taxi home because I couldn't
manage the suitcase. I looked like a crazy tourist.
At lunch, I ate a restaurant near my house. Here, I'm sitting with grandmas and grandpas and a lot of construction workers who are on their lunch break.
One of my favorite dishes is rice in tomato sauce. It doesn't look appetizing here, I know. But trust me, it's good.
After lunch, taking the mini-bus back to the office. Again, I'm surrounded by tourists, students, grandmas and foreign maids.
Arrived
at the office and began marking. Bumped into my colleagues dressed in
suits and dresses. Me? I'm in jeans, T-shirt, and sandals. Totally
office appropriate =P
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