Daily Routines Around the World

School of Doodle

by Juri Ito

Before visiting, my impression of LA was the beach, the tall trees, vegan food and famous people — basically the first ten Google images that come up when you search “LA.” But after spending a week here, staring at shops from the backseat of Uber cars and talking to the locals who kindly explained their town, I noticed all the subcultures, the lifestyles, and how much more fascinating LA is than all the places and restaurants listed in guidebooks. I love the fruit and taco trucks, how you can be in the middle of the megalopolis and still find beautiful nature (which is impossible in Tokyo), and I don’t think I ever met so many passionate artists in one place!

I can explain Japan by sakura, sushi, and anime to some extent, but you can learn much more about that on Wikipedia. I think the fun part of learning about culture is when you visit the actual place, or talk to the people who are from the country, and are able to delineate the map of the world a bit more clearly and accurately in your mind.

I was talking to a Christian girl how the Japanese say “Itadakimasu” before we eat to give respect to the person who made the dish, and to the lives used in its creation, and she replied, “Oh, like saying grace!” It was cool to feel this warm connection and understanding with someone I’ve just met, and it made this big big world seem a little bit smaller.

So I reached out to a couple of friends from different countries and had them explain what a typical day in their own country was like, just because I have wanderlust and it’s interesting, but also to hopefully reach a more compassionate and deeper understanding for a place, people, and our own world. Thank you to all the girls who shared!


Juliette, Korea

Normally I will wake up quite early in the morning and have warm soup and rice and head off to school. Spend the whole day at school, get the normal Korean food at the cafeteria and after school either stay at school to study more or go to a studying academy. If I have time I watch TV or listen to music (the entertainment industries are huge in Korea). Kpop, Kdramas and all kinds of entertainment programs are very popular in Korea and especially these days, there is something called Mukbang, which means ‘Eating Broadcast.’ They are TV programs that are based on eating. This is huge in Korea at the moment! During the weekends, I meet up with friends, go out to town to get good food and shop. We shop clothes and make up. Being “pretty,” “handsome,” having a good body etc. is really important in Korea. Everyone wants to look young and skinny and pretty. That’s why so many people (about 2 out of 5 girls) get cosmetic surgery (which I think is so sad…). Or we just meet around my neighborhood and go to Karaoke (which we call “No-rae-bang”).


Mya, Burma

In the morning after washing my face, I would apply Burmese make up called Tanaka, which is the trunk of a typical tree. I would pray for Lord Buddha with meal, water, flowers and candlelight. I then help my mother in preparing breakfast for the whole family. In Myanmar, we eat proper breakfast like noodle or fried rice with green tea. it takes lots of time to prepare meals since we prefer preparing on our own rather than instant ones. Whenever we have meals, we usually let the elderly have it first. For example, in my family, I am the youngest. So I have to put the curry to my father first, then my mother, and then my sister, and finally myself. After breakfast, I clean the house, and help my mom in kitchen for lunch. We then go to school on weekdays, but on weekends, I go out with friends in the afternoon to watch a movie, shopping or just hanging out. Then again prepare for dinner, clean the dishes, watch Korean drama series all together. We love them!


Harriet, New Zealand

A typical NZ day for me, during the weekends, I would wake up, make myself breakfast and decide what I wanted to do that day. Usually I would drive into town and meet my friends and then we would drive to the beach and go for a walk for a few hours. If it were summer we would swim in the sea. After that we would drive to a cafe and have lunch. After spending a few hours with my friends I would drive home which would take me 30–40 minutes. Then I would spend time with mum, having an afternoon snack/cup of tea and catching up and talking with my mum. Then usually I would spend some time in my room, maybe doing university work or listening to music. Then as a family we usually watch some TV. Most days we eat at home, mum cooks dinner. We don’t often go out for food to a restaurant as a family, as its expensive and we live in the country. We have a vegetable garden at home so especially in summer we eat most of our own vegetables from the garden. In the summer, I love going for walks/hikes and to the beach! NZ has lots of mountains, rivers, beaches and lakes, which are within a couple of hours distance from most people. Lots of people live in rural areas, the cities are most populated with people who have immigrated here from other countries. I think NZ is a place where people can do lots of outdoor activities and spend time doing adventure sports! Sport is very popular and most people continue to play team sports well into adult life. Sport like netball, cricket and rugby are the most popular and they are always on TV. I love to travel, whether it’s overseas or around our own country. I feel like all New Zealanders love to go on holidays, and many people have a second home by lakes or beaches- we call this a batch.


Anais, France

I usually wake up early around 6.30 if I have school. First thing after I wake up I check my Instagram and my emails. I then make my breakfast, often smoothies or fruits and tea, sometimes French baguette with butter, so delicious! I usually run for 45 minutes in the morning. During the weekends, we often invite friends for lunch or dinner or barbecue at home, and have a really good time together. Many people eat really slowly while talking to our family for lunch and also dinner, we love spending time with our family. I go to a restaurant once a week, I love food. We love food. In France we have a lot of influence from the country around us, for example from south Italian food, and East German food. There’s a Italian restaurant in Paris called Ober Mamma that me and my friends go to a lot, also l’éclair de genie that have the best eclairs, and I stop by Mad’leine a lot on the way home from school. Some other things I would do during the weekends are going to a museum or library. We love culture! I can spend 5 hours in a museum, which I know is way too long.

Juri Ito
Hi there, my name is Juri! I’m writer at School of Doodle and I love getting to know all the fabulous & creative people…medium.com

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