Japan healed me

… from my chronic tardiness, that is. If you know the duck and me personally, you might also remember an instance (or two or three) when you had to wait for us to turn up to a meeting because I am not the most punctual person in the world (yup, this one is all on me – the duck’s tardiness is just a result of us traveling together sometimes). Don’t get me wrong, I can be punctual in cases where work or catching an airplane/train/bus is involved (because potentially losing the money we paid for our tickets goes against our code of cost-consciousness). But even in those cases, we are just punctual, never early. Well, this was the old me. Now, welcome the new me who is rich, famous, and successful in all aspects of life! Or, to put it differently (and more realistically), since we moved to Tokyo, I have been more punctual than I used to be.
Most of this seems to be attributed to the duck and my constant fear of sticking out as those foreigners who do not abide by the rules (hence our trash-sorting dilemma). I am sure there are many rules we unconsciously break each day, but this one is not one of them… 80% of the time.
Planning out our train journeys at least a day in advance, taking into account possible connection problems (= we get lost at the station so that we miss our train), has turned us into part-time unpaid train station exclusive living statues (as we stand in a corner, proudly smiling at my watch, waiting for our friends to arrive).
Being super punctual most of the time rocks!
Thank you, Japan!
(Though I do have a feeling the duck’s new hobby of whispering into my ear when I sleep could have something to do with this, too. I have been dreaming of watches a lot lately…).