Pastry Duty

Let’s jot down today’s events.

I woke up around 5 AM and felt the urge to go to the bathroom, but I decided to hold it in and go back to sleep. However, by 6 AM, I couldn’t hold it any longer. Despite the cold, I reluctantly went to the bathroom. Winter mornings in the dormitory are freezing, and even going to the bathroom requires courage.

(Now that I'm older, frequent trips to the bathroom are a part of life. Holding it in and going back to sleep is no longer an option. Once I'm awake, I have to go.)

I got up at 6:30 AM. For the past year, I’ve managed to keep up the habit of waking up early, with only a few exceptions. Earlier this year, I was so focused on dieting that I often woke up at 4:30 or 5:30 AM due to a lack of nutrition. Now, even on Sundays, waking up early isn’t a struggle.

(Dieting isn't worth it unless there's a healthy way to do it. Overdoing it and rebounding is a sign of failure.)

I did some laundry and had breakfast in the dining hall around 7:40 AM. Today, we had spicy cod roe. There’s a school event today—a concert by the brass band.

Currently, I’m the leader of the welfare helpers in the dormitory. My main role is to distribute pastries on weekends when there’s no dormitory lunch. The dorm residents come to the dining hall to get their pastries, and I handle this with the other welfare helpers.

Around 8:00 AM, I headed to my pastry duty. Since winter started, we’ve had a continuous supply of prepared pastries. The dorm residents seem a bit tired of it. Or maybe it’s just me. While checking the list of residents who haven’t reported their absence, I sneak a bag of pastries. It’s not right, but I can’t stop. I’m far from being a model citizen.

Pastry duty lasts until 10:30 AM. It’s a kind of job, and the reward is the leftover pastries. Being on the welfare committee might be a good position. The leftover pastries help save money on snacks and sweets. I wonder how much these savings add up to.

(I miss pastry duty. Maybe my love for pastries comes from this time. I have immense respect for Yamazaki Baking, which releases new products almost every month.)