Surviving the Rainy Season Blues

First, an apology. I have just realized it has been over TWO MONTHS since I last posted. I am truly sorry. It is due to a variety of reasons, but perhaps the biggest reason is simply that the longer I am in Japan, the less of an adventure it becomes and instead turns into that thing called “real life”. Which is a pathetic excuse from the girl who tries to live by the motto that “Life is an adventure”, but sometimes even the greatest adventurers get distracted from their adventuring by tedious things. Though I can’t really count work as tedious, it has been taking up a good deal of my time these days.

So, rainy season. If you are thinking, “But Caroline, I thought rainy season was in June!” You would be correct. However, this year it has blended seamlessly into typhoon season, leading to weeks of gray-drizzly-pouring-hot-muggy days. Not only is there very little sun, but the humidity is absolutely through the roof. How muggy is it you may ask. Laura and I have created this list to demonstrate:

How Muggy is it in Kumamoto?

• I have decided to make the frizz halo a fashion statement, because fighting it is a lost battle. It has taken off swimmingly in the foreigner population, but somehow Japanese women continue to have flawless hair.
• Who needs lotion?
• It’s a good thing it’s not sunny, because putting sunscreen on “twenty minutes before getting wet” isn't even remotely possible.
• Staying in bed is actually less comfortable than getting up. Sheets are hot!
• Every day is a vinegar/bleach scented war on THE MOLD
• Sweat towels are fashionable and come in many sizes – never leave home without one!
• You greet your friends with air hugs.
• Stores have whole aisles of body deodorant – meant to be spread on your whole body, not just under your arms
• Every day, at least once, someone will announce that it is hot, like this is a revelation
• You think longingly of the days when, every day, at least once, someone would announce that it is cold, like that was a revelation

How is a girl who loves the sun to survive? Well, I’m still trying to figure that out myself, but most importantly, I find that a good sense of humor, and the knowledge that everyone is in the same boat, makes me feel immeasurably better. Also, the knowledge that I will be (hopefully) going to seminary in St. Paul with Minnesota winters in the near future so I should really stop complaining.

It hasn’t been all bad of course. Two weeks ago I went with our English Speaker’s Society to the beach. Two beautifully, sunny days, and it only rained at night! I have the sunburn lines to prove it. Also, even though it has happened almost nightly for weeks, I don’t think I will ever tire of rain on the roof lulling me to sleep (though I did have to cave to lack of sleep and leave the air conditioning on at night).

It has also led to some fun adventures! I got well and truly caught a few Sundays ago. I was headed out to church and the sun was brightly shining. Sure there were clouds in the distance, sure it called for rain later that day, but after church I was headed out by car to Aso, for a church getaway/retreat, so I took my bike without a second thought. It is a twenty five minute bike ride from my apartment to church. After ten minutes it started to sprinkle. About fifteen minutes out, I was ineffectively chasing the sun that I could still see, so lovely, just ahead as the dark clouds directly above my head opened up and poured. I was drenched pretty darn quick and had to take shelter in a parking garage. It only lasted maybe fifteen minutes and when the downpour stopped I took my sopping wet self home. Eventually, once I was dry, I headed out again, this time armed with an umbrella, and I took the train to church.  

All in all, it’s been rough. Days upon days of grey can really get depressing. It’s hard to have the energy to get out and do just about anything in the heat and the wet. All we can do is just keep… swimming!

And now… because that was not a very cheery blog post, and I am all about finding something cheery these days, allow me to introduce a new character into the Japan story to you. His name is Brent Wilkinson. Yes, I know. A BOY!

Brent is the new J-3 (new being a relative term by now). He arrived in Kumamoto last January and I have just realized that he needs an introduction as he, Laura, and I are headed out on quite the adventure soon and I will be sure to blog about it next. I’m not gonna lie, his literary tastes on Facebook had Laura and I concerned before we met him (his favorite book is Moby Dick, I mean really?), but it turns out he is very nice and balances out the Laura/Caroline show quite well. He keeps us grounded. Brent enjoys politics, history, and classical literature. He is very interested in Japanese and studies hard. He already speaks like five languages and enjoys reading classics in French. Or German. Or something other than English. What a weirdo J Just kidding Brent! Best of all, he kills spiders! We have had one too many of those large Japanese Huntsman spiders in the apartments recently (TWO in my BEDROOM!!!) and Brent has very graciously chased them down, killed, and disposed of them for us. I think we’ll let him stay. He earns his keep. Bwahahaha!

Random Pre-Posting Note: I just signed up to run a half marathon in November!! How exciting is that! I can’t wait! I’ll be running with two good friends in Amakusa, the islands near Kumamoto. Cheer me on?