Three things that mean Summer in Japan...
1. Humid Japanese SummersJapanese summers are so HOT and humid that a number of things begin to happen. My hair develops a sexy frizz. My windows get all fogged up. I have to flip my futon every day so that the bottom doesn't develop mold. I have to drink all my tea in the PET bottles before bed so that the tea doesn't mold when I'm sleeping. Shiny face in photos. Must wear all black so that sweat doesn't show. Two showers or more a day. Long baths in cold water. Lower tolerance for annoying things (people playing music so loud that I can hear it through their iPods, etc).
2. Japanese cockroachesThere are tons of cockroaches in Japan and they mainly come out in the Summer. The ones in Japan are able to fly. Too disgusting to describe. They come into your house mainly through the drains. Cover/close your drains while you sleep, and don't leave food sitting out.
3. Japanese FireworksEven though they're too crowded and it's far too hot, I love 花-火 Japan's summer fireworks! Do you have a yukata? What do you people feel about seeing non-Japanese (Western) people dressed in Japanese yukata for the fireworks? Just curious.
More "Summer in Japan" things...
-Riding my bike around Kyoto
-Somen
-Old ladies carrying umbrellas and wearing armwarmers to ward off the sun
-More couples arguing because the hot, sticky weather makes everyone irritable
-Everyone is eating ice cream. (An Ice cream / popsicle in Japan is just called ICE.)
-Lots of girls in Japan wear bikinis with high heels to the beach. That is awesome.
15 comments:
SUIKA!!!
Japanese watermelons taste way better than any other watermelon. It is the perfect watermelon time now.
florida is way worse..
"They come into your house mainly through the drains."
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! is THAT how it is?????
i swore i was going to have a clean room from now on but i don't and i am pretty scared i am inviting cockroaches.
summer in japan is unbelievable. i love sprawling around with friends at night when it's really humid and can't imagine doing anything. i like all the long silences and lazy mumbles because everyone's brain is too soggy to have a normal conversation. love love love it.
I think it's funny when foreigners wear traditional Japanese clothes. I know I can't wait to get a yukata and go out to watch the fireworks with my husband this year ^_^
I have never been to Japan, but my mom lives in Florida and the cockroaches there are the flying kind as well. Ugh...
"-Lots of girls in Japan wear bikinis with high heels to the beach. That is awesome."
Haha, that is!
"the France's"... hmmm.
I had a lot of fun wearing my yukata to hanabi a few years ago. I did get some strange looks, but not like those old-grumpy-man-on-the-train looks. Have you worn one out yet?
oh, and those mini purple grapes! Love them! I can't get those where I come from...
Do the girls actually wear the high heels in the sand and everything? That is crazy! I bet it's a good work out walking around if so!
Hi Julie, I am 23, just graduating from U of T (am fellow Canadian) and am planning/hoping to move to Japan to teach English in a year. Just got back from Tokyo/Kyoto and loved it so much. So I have avidly been reading your blog, which has provided lots of useful info! I am just wondering if you have any recommendations for TESL schools in Japan or schools to teach English in Tokyo. Any advice about teaching English in Japan? Would be so much appreciated!
Thanks alot,
Stephanie
I don't know if Florida is worse, but I know that when I was in Georgia, I could barely breathe, so you may be right. And New Orleans cockroaches are also disgusting and numerous.
Beth, come over here and sprawl around with me sometime!! We'll go to Kyoto and you'll melt. Kyoto is the hottest place ever. Let's go ride bikes and I'll take you to some good places.
The first time I ever saw a cockroach was in New Orleans in 2005! It was huge!
I bought a yukata in Kyoto a few years ago because it was beautiful but I never had the opportunity to wear it. I think I'm going to take the fabric and turn it into a skirt.
I like seeing foreigners in Japanese clothes in japan! If I wore a yukata or kimono it would be out of a desire to integrate and show my appreciation for the culture... I hope the Japanese would view it the same way.
@Lisa
Yeah, I think that most Japanese people have less of a problem with foreign people in a yukata than other foreigners in japan do. Ha.
Foreigners in Japan are almost always jerks to each other. They make fun of each other all the time. I'm just as guilty of this as anyone else, though.
Florida is definately much worse, especially in small towns (the red necks tend to get more unbearable than the heat). The roaches are pretty bad too. we have both the kind that can fly and the kind that cant. And the heat is horrible! I think it was last year when the highest temp. was about 105 degrees.
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