📙 Part 2: Describe a time when you got up early

This episode's vocabulary

Early bird (idiom) – a person who gets up very early in the morning. → I'm a bit of an early bird, so I enjoy waking up before the sun rises.

Night owl (idiom) – a person who likes to stay up late at night. → I'm not an early bird at all, I'm a night owl and enjoy staying up late.

At the crack of dawn (idiom) – very early in the morning, when the sun first appears. → He's an early riser, he's up at the crack of dawn all the time.

Comes to mind (phrasal verb) – to enter your thoughts. → One time that immediately comes to mind is when I had to get up to go to yoga.

Buffer time (noun phrase) – extra time allowed for something, in case of delays or problems. → I need to build in some buffer time for him to get ready.

Settle in (phrasal verb) – to begin to feel relaxed and comfortable in a new place or situation. → It's nice to be early so you can get a space and settle in before the class starts.

Get things done and dusted (idiom) – to complete a task successfully and completely. → I like to get things done and dusted as soon as possible and get on with my day.

No skin off my back/nose (idiom) – used to say that something will not harm or annoy you. → Getting up early wasn't really any skin off my back.

Ungodly hour (idiom) – an unreasonably early or late time of day. → I got up at an ungodly hour, 6:20 in the morning.

Full of beans (idiom) – to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm. → In the mornings I'm full of beans.

Natural extension (noun phrase) – something that develops or follows logically from something else. → Getting up early for yoga was just a natural extension of how things usually are for me.

Questions and Answers

Maria: Describe a time when you got up early. You should say when it was, what you did, why you got up early, and how you felt about it.

Rory: Well, I'm a bit of an early bird anyway, so I'm up at the crack of dawn all the time. But, one time that immediately comes to mind is actually the start of this week when I had to get up to go to yoga. Speaking about exactly when it was, I can tell you actually exactly when, because it was Monday at 6:20. I make a point of getting up at that time, although it's usually earlier than most people. If we consider what exactly I did, well, I just got up to brush my teeth, go to the bathroom and then get dressed before I left. And when I think about why I got up at that hour, well, the yoga class doesn't actually start until 7:00 in the morning. But I like to be away by half past six. So, being up ten minutes before that makes a lot of sense to me. Even though it's only a fifteen-minute walk up the road, it's nice to be early so you can get a space and settle in before the class starts. And I've been going with my flatmate recently as well. So, I need to build in some buffer time for him to get ready and so he can make tea before yoga starts as well. As far as my feelings are concerned, I don't really mind to be honest. Like I said, I'm someone who doesn't mind getting up early, so this was just sort of a natural extension of how things usually are for me. If I hadn't needed to be up for yoga, then I still think I'd have gotten up early anyway, just because I'm an early riser, so I like to get things done and dusted as soon as possible and get on with my day. So, this wasn't really any skin off my back. And I imagine I'll be having similar days like that in the future. I don't foresee any possible changes unless I go on holiday or something like that.