Sweating to the Cicadas
If Richard Simmons even steals that title, I’m demanding royalties. :-) Yes, it’s August again in Japan, which means sweating like a horse on a daily basis (since I found out pigs don’t sweat, I’ve been trying to come up with a decent alternative exclamation….I like ‘horse’ because they do sweat like mad, but they are still regale….works for me anyway!). August is by far the hottest, most humid month in Japan. Being on hand to witness the blooming of summer flowers, which come in an amazing variety of shapes and stunning colors, coupled with the crazy summer heat, made me realize how tropical Japan’s climate is, at least part of the year, which kind of blows me away, not because it doesn’t make sense, but because I don’t think many people (including myself, up until recently) ever make that association.
I believe the average summer temperature, at least in my area, is between 32-36*C (90-97*F). And of course it’s humid as all get-out. Last week we hit 38*C (100*F) and two days later, 40.9*C (106*F), which apparently was a record high, although I haven’t been able to verify whether it’s the highest temperature ever recorded in Japan (which is what everyone is telling me), on only the island of Honshu or just in the greater Kanto region. Whatever it was it was damn hot. I woke up at 6:45am already sweating. Someone told me it was 35*C (96*F) by 9:00am that day. That’s Phoenix/desert weather! What the heck?! I had vacation that day, so was planning on staying home and the second I woke up I gave up my previously seemingly obtainable quest of not using my air conditioning this summer. It wasn’t until the next day I found out I was completely justified in caving on the hottest day EVER IN THE HISTORY OF JAPAN (as one person told me :-) - dramatic effect, thank you very much).
On the day, I was all set to blog about the incredible experience of surviving the summer heat and humidity in Japan when I stumbled upon on internet article about the intense heat that has been gripping the South-Central U.S., and suddenly my summer heat experience here in Japan didn’t seem so incredible. And I’m sure I’m proving complete ignorance of crazy weather those of you in other countries are probably experiencing this summer as well. But, of course we all like to think that our experiences are unique, so I’m blogging about it anyway. :-)-
I believe the average summer temperature, at least in my area, is between 32-36*C (90-97*F). And of course it’s humid as all get-out. Last week we hit 38*C (100*F) and two days later, 40.9*C (106*F), which apparently was a record high, although I haven’t been able to verify whether it’s the highest temperature ever recorded in Japan (which is what everyone is telling me), on only the island of Honshu or just in the greater Kanto region. Whatever it was it was damn hot. I woke up at 6:45am already sweating. Someone told me it was 35*C (96*F) by 9:00am that day. That’s Phoenix/desert weather! What the heck?! I had vacation that day, so was planning on staying home and the second I woke up I gave up my previously seemingly obtainable quest of not using my air conditioning this summer. It wasn’t until the next day I found out I was completely justified in caving on the hottest day EVER IN THE HISTORY OF JAPAN (as one person told me :-) - dramatic effect, thank you very much).
On the day, I was all set to blog about the incredible experience of surviving the summer heat and humidity in Japan when I stumbled upon on internet article about the intense heat that has been gripping the South-Central U.S., and suddenly my summer heat experience here in Japan didn’t seem so incredible. And I’m sure I’m proving complete ignorance of crazy weather those of you in other countries are probably experiencing this summer as well. But, of course we all like to think that our experiences are unique, so I’m blogging about it anyway. :-)-
posted by Mandy | 9:21 PM
1 Comments:
Wait a minute! Where's part 2?
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