Of the Approaching Summer

Do you know what's really weird about updating this blog? Whenever I'm not about to write the blog, I have tons of ideas. Literally, I think I say, "I should blog about that" numerous times in my daily life, but when I finally sit down at this computer, do any of the ideas ever come to me? No. Lovely.

Life continues here in Japan. We've entered what could only be termed the early summer. It's around 27 (80 Fahrenheit) or so every day, and it's also raining like no tomorrow. Apparently there was a tropical storm in the Philippines within the last few days, which is part of the reason that it's so rainy in Kyoto. The other reason is just that it always rains in Kyoto. Even when it's not raining in the rest of Japan, it's raining in Kyoto. I think Kyoto is secretly the Seattle of this country.

Do you know, when I came here, I thought, "How on earth does moss grow 5 feet up on walls?" I'll be honest. I'd never seen moss at eye level before except on trees. I definitely never expected it to be on stone fences. As I came to live here though, I understood. If it rains virtually every day for thousands of years, then moss can grow wherever moss wants to grow. At this rate, it could even grow on the ceiling. So yes, it's either that Kyoto is trying to compete with Seattle, or that Kyoto has a not-so-secret desire to become a tropical rainforest, in which case it's on its way. 27 in the day, 90% humidity, and when it rains it only gets more unbearable.

Honestly, I'm beginning to wonder what will happen in the disaster-stricken parts of the country. Right now, businesses are trying not to use their air conditioners. Some have even gone so far as to require their employees to wear short-sleeve shirts or tank tops. I'm not sure how long this will continue though. It's possible that Japan might change it's working hours, start earlier in the morning, and end earlier in the day. The only issue that I have with this is that the hottest part of the Japanese day occurs around 1:00. That means that you would still have your employees virtually dying in the offices. In this case, it might be better to suggest a siesta type system (you never expected to see Spanish on here, did you?). If this is put in place though, there would still be energy problems. The trains might have to run later, and businesses would have to keep their lights on longer. Honestly, right now, there's no good solution.