Long time no write. Sorry about that.
And now for a weather-themed blog entry. It had to come eventually.
Since arriving in Japan almost ten months ago, I’ve discovered that I, as a Brit, share many characterstics with my adopted culture. The main one is a natural reservedness; and an acute awareness of how my actions, gestures, and even voice might affect or be perceived by those around me. I’ve had this conversation with many of the English teachers at my schools, and they agreed that the Biritsh ‘character’, however you want to describe it, is in many ways similar to the Japanese character. On several occasions this has been a source of great comfort. It’s nice to know that I can move 6000 miles away from my home country and still feel like I have a lot in common with the people around me.
Anyway, the point of this British/Japanese character comparison is this. Another big similarity I have noticed is that we both love to talk about the weather, and in particular we both love to complain about the weather. Too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry. The weather is the default topic of small talk conversations both back in the UK and here in Japan. Have nothing to say to someone? Have an awkward silence to fill? A passing remark on the weather is the perfect answer. And when you have the Japanese ability of a toddler, saying the simple phrases “atsui desu ne” (isn’t it hot) or samui desu ne” (isn’t it cold) can go a long way in making you feel better about your communication abilities.
So, now time for a weather comparison. I come from a windy island in the north Atlantic that is famed for rain and grey, cloudy weather. Did you know that 51% of British days are overcast? Well, I shall explain why (I always dreamed of being a weather woman). The UK straddles the geographic mid-latitudes between 50-60 North from the equator. It is also positioned on the western seaboard of Eurasia, the world’s largest land mass. These boundary conditions allow convergence between moist maritime air and dry continental air. The large temperature variation creates instability and this is a major factor that influences the famously unsettled weather the UK experiences. It is not uncommon to experience sunshine, rain and snow in one day, especially during the April showers season. One thing is certain; if you plan an event outisde, it WILL rain. The recent Diamond Jubilee Washout is a perfect example of this. But, aside from this, we have some of the most beautiful springs in the world, the occasional hot sunny week or two in summer, stunning crisp autumns and biting, cold, snowy winters.
The default climate is drizzle/rain and clouds and an average daily temperature of around 13 degrees Celcius. A major feature of the UK is that there are not usually great extremes in temperature or precipitation during the year. Yes we have odd heatwaves, cold snaps, floods and snowstorms; but generally our temperate climate shuffles along like a reliable old man; sometimes beligerent but usually mild-mannered and unassuming, minding his own business and not throwing too many unpleasant surprises our way.
So, I hope this background information goes some way to explaining why I, and many of my fellow British ALTs, struggle so much to cope with the extremes of the climate of Kagoshima-ken. Our prefecture is about as far south as you can go in Japan, and it has a humid subtropical climate. The emphasis being on the word humid. Weather here is marked by cool, relatively dry winters; warm, wet springs; hot, wet summers and mild, wet autumns.
Now I have been here almost a year, I have experienced almost the full cycle of weather that the Ken has to throw at me. When I arrived on August 1st, I can honestly say that I have never been so unbelievably hot in my entire life, even in Cuba. The mercury hovered at at least 30 degrees Celcius every day until the end of September, and I never realised before how much I could sweat. There was basically no point showering for the entire summer. You soon learn upon arriving in Kagoshima-ken to carry at least one sweat towel, a fan and a cold drink with you AT ALL TIMES during the summer. And, if you’re a pale English rose like me, a sun parasol too, to block out the sun’s cruel rays. I spent my first few months here almost fainting on a daily basis, especially when I began teaching, which always makes me hot even on a cold day. The heat was especially hard to cope with working in a formal Japanese High School, where flesh on display is a no-no. It was only really by the end of November that I started to feel comfortable again, and actually began to wear sleeves once more.There was a brief period in November to December when at last I wasn’t sweating buckets and wanting to lie in a cold swimming pool, so I guess that was the autumn.
After the scorching, searing heat of the summer and the welcome relief of the all-too-brief autumn, the winter arrives in deepest South Japan. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that compared to the likes of Hokkaido and some of Honshu’s northern prefectures, we Kagoshimans have a very mild and even warm winter. However, I would like to refute the myth that Kagoshima-ken does not have a winter. I can safely say that it does. From December to February, the cold descends on the south. And it is COLD. Maybe not the sub-zero temperatures of north Japan, but trust me, it is cold, and yes, it does snow.
When you live in the subtropics, the buildings are built to shield you from the summer heat. The walls are thin and uninsulated, and the Japanese style home, with its focus on wood, paper and tatami mats is light and airy, allowing for a cooler home in the stifling summer. Unfortunately, this means that come winter, there is simply no escape from the cold. Buildings here are neither insulated nor centrally heated, so in order to survive the cold you have to accept the fact that your heating bills are going to go through the roof. I took to sealing my sliding doors and heating just one room with my air conditioner, only leaving the warmness when I absolutely had to. My other defences against the biting cold were wearing more clothes than I thought possible (it took me a full ten minutes to dress in the morning, and another ten to undress in the evening), sticking self-heating pads all over my body and filling up on hot food and drink whenever I could. I could hardly believe, upon seeing my breath in my own kitchen and finding my dishes frozen to the draining board one morning, that a mere four months earlier I had been baking alive every single day.
However, I love the winter. I am a winter girl. Aside from an irritating circulatory condition called Raynaud’s Syndrome which leaves me with numb, white, purple, throbbing fingers and toes during the winter, I love everything about winter. I love the hot, comforting food; the cosy clothes, snuggling up to keep warm. I love snow and when the air is so cold it stings your lungs. I am one of those rare people who actually feels sad when they have to shed their winter layers and allow the spring sunlight to penetrate them; and I actually mourn the the day when I have to put away my cosy winter boots, coats and scarves for another year.If I had to choose between being too hot or too cold, I would always choose too cold.
February was chilly, but not unbearably so; and by April and the arrival of the beautifulsakura (cherry blossoms), it was mild enough to go outside without a coat. In my opinion, summer arrived in Kagoshima in May. At 25 degrees Celcius, it was already like a hot midsummer day in England, where the mercury rarely rises about 25 degrees C, and when it does it initaites ‘HEATWAVE!’ headlines. However, when you add humidity into the mix, a weather condition never experienced in the UK, it feels at least 10 degrees hotter. Although everyone around me was still wearing long sleeves, coats and jackets and happily sitting in the staffroom with all the windows shut; I was sweltering and already in short sleeves and cropped trousers by early May. “Amy, aren’t you cold?!” students and teachers would ask incredulously as I mopped my brow and tried to discretely drink cold water during class to stop myself from fainting. As soon as the sakura were gone, talk turned to the most dreaded weather event of the Kagoshima year: the rainy season of June-July. From early on, I was conditioned into dreading the coming of the rain by teachers and students who told me that it was “a simply dreadful time of year”; that everyone gets depressed; everything is covered in mould and every day is dark, wet and grey. Rain always affects my mood and so I haven’t been looking forward to it one bit. However, I stocked up on moisture-grabbing boxes (ingenius inventions that you put in your cupboards to suck all the water from the air and protect your clothes from mould), asked my Japanese friends how to work the de-humidifying setting on my air conditioner; and tried to tell myself that the dreaded rain is the reason our prefecture is so green, lush and beautiful. So far, rainy season isn’t fun, but it isn’t the soul-destroying dreadfulness I was expecting either. It’s June 11th today and although it’s rained most days since the start of the month, we’ve had a few dry days too. However, today was textbook depressing rainy season. It has been dark as night, pouring all afternoon and the humidity is unbelievable. I made the unwise decision to cycle to and from school today- and the even unwiser decision to wear my new skirt too (note to self: billowing skirt and pouring rain do not mix). It’s so humid and cloudy that you can’t even see the green mountains that surround Sendai. The town has turned into an island in a sea of clouds. Everything is wreathed in moisture; and it’s not unlike being in a giant steam room. Although it currently feels like it will never stop raining, I know that in just a month or so’s time, the scorching sunshine will burn the clouds away and it’ll be time for the blistering Kagoshima summer once more. I do love this prefecture and I accept that the crazy climate is part of it. However, I think it will take me longer than just one year to adapt to the extremes. However much I might have complained about the dull, cloudy, cool weather of home, there is a lot to be said for a comfortable temperate climate!
fromnottstonippon 