10 August 2011
What’s the sweating point in Celsius?
Posted by Roland under: JET .
One of the most unfortunate parts about Japan is that its summer is hot and humid. Not that I haven’t experienced this myself, Maryland is just as hot and humid as Japan is, but the weather is one of the big reasons that I left Maryland for San Francisco. And if anything, California never gets that humid, for the most part, it’s a dry heat that is much more enjoyable to be around.
So while I would love to visit Japan in the height of their cherry blossom season, not just for the trees but also for the cooler spring weather, inevitably it is the summer when I get a chance to go over there. They have always been enjoyable trips, but I’m definitely sweating through most of it.
However, this time around is different than before. Not only for the obvious reason where I’m actually living in Japan now (where I have to make sure my air conditioning stays in tip top shape…if it breaks I’m done), but also for the fact that Japan is still trying to recover from the March 11 earthquakes. Even though Amakusa is pretty much the other side of the country from Fukushima, I believe even people here are trying to help out by limiting their electricity usage. I attribute it to Japan’s group mentality, basically all of Japan is in it together for post-earthquake recovery, so everyone has to do their part.
And unfortunately, one of the biggest uses of electricity in the summer is air conditioning. It was prevalent even in Tokyo, where the hotel had their air conditioning turned down a little bit (making the sessions with a lot of people in the cramped room somewhat uncomfortable). But like I said, I didn’t think the far south would be sharing in the load quite as much.
Now I could be wrong, this may be how they do things in Amakusa on a daily basis, I mean saving electricity is always a good thing, for the environment and for your pockets. But I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s because of the earthquake as well. Nonetheless, I try to limit my time outside and bounce from air conditioned room to room, which unfortunately, in the summer, just means the teacher’s office. The students are still on break, and the ones who show up are out in the fields practicing.
But in any case, it is hot down south. That’s the theme of the story, and will probably be the theme for the next few months of summer. My house is a hot box when I get back from school, because my windows in the living room are facing the sun and the paper screen windows do not really do much to block heat. It may also be a problem come the winter as well, so expect something about that in a few months as well. I’ve been shopping for bamboo screens although I have no idea how to put them up just yet. But the living room is so uncomfortable in the afternoon that I’d rather just stay outside while the air conditioning does its best to cool down the room, which takes at least 15 minutes.
Take heart though, that I’m by the coast. It could always be hotter.