All Aboard

Lately, I find myself frequenting this blog just wanting to jot things down, even the most mundane aspects of my life here in Australia :)

On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I have my Graph Theory class at 9am.  I live out in a northwestern suburb of Melbourne called Strathmore so that means I should be on the train by 8am-ish. Give or take 15 minutes depending on how sleepy I am. So yea, basically 8:15 haha.

8am is peak rush hour here so by the time I get on the train there are no seats left for me, which is fine. I'm always thankful for even being able to get on the train. As the train moves from one station to the next, my fellow standing commuters and I, we begin to play our silent game of human Tetris. It's not a very fun game, but everyone always participates!

I thought packing people into trains/buses like sardines was an Asian thing. But I was wrong. It's more of a overpopulated metropolis thing haha. One time, one very sleepy morning, I fell asleep standing up on the train because it gets to that point where you can't even fall over. That is, if you had such a talent like mine where you can fall asleep at any place, any time, anywhere. (yes, by talent I do mean sleeping disorder : /)

As we get closer and closer to the CBD (stands for Central Business District or what would be known as center city in the states), we pull up to stations full of people who peer hopefully into the train windows only to find us sardines packed to the max. The effect that the train pulling into these latter stations has is kinda funny. Smiles are wiped off people's faces instantly and they all begin to simultaneously roll their eyes or frown. I feel for them. My condolences to the people of Kensington and Newmarket station!

Tomorrow is my last day of class so it'll also be my last morning peak hour commute! Despite all of the unpleasantness described above, I will miss commuting. I'll miss playing tetris with the business men and women, the high school students, and fellow Uni students of Melbourne.

I think it's one of the most interesting places to be in any city, on trains.

Flinder's Street Station

More peaceful evening commutes :)