You know, when I think of hot countries, I imagine Hawaii, India, Thailand, even Australia. And the trade-off of these stinking summer countries is that winter isn't too cold. Then there are the cold places like Russia, Canada, and the European countries where you get the bastard cold snowy winters but the summers aren't too bad.
So where did Japan get screwed over in this list!? It seems to get the worst of both extremes!
It was even raining snow yesterday, not quite snowing but not quite raining, I actually exclaimed to myself out loud in the car "God it's raining snow!!!" in an incredibly ridiculous high-pitched voice. Lucky Ash isn't old enough to take the piss out of me yet...
Maybe I should move to Hokkaido or Okinawa and get on one side of the fence. Not that it gets that cold where I live, I like to bitch that I live in the iinaka but really it's Hyogo-ken, home of Kobe and all things international city, but still, cold enough to give me an obviously red honker and numb fingers. It never seemed that bad when I lived in Osaka city but then the blanket of smog probably provided some protection from the cold.
I prefer the cold to hot, especially in Japan where unless you have a pool in the backyard (good luck with that!) or even a backyard for that matter, you pretty much live inside with skin-drying air conditioners all day and going outside means instant sweat and the urge to sigh and say "Atssuuuuuuiiiiiii!!!" There's something about rugging up and going out in the cold that I like and I still stand by the argument that winter is easier to rug up than summer is to strip down... If that makes any sense...
I've even been going out for a walk after dinner, MIL asked Ryota if i was depressed because I wanted to go walking at night in the cold... Err no lady, but now you mention it, may just throw myself under that train for fun! And I don't think suicide by freezing to death counts.
I just like some alone time with darkness and music, very relaxing, and will possibly help walk off the 10 million fucking kilos I've put on from eating a truckload of Mochi over the new year!
Anyway, back to Japan and her unforgiving seasons... I was thinking Japan's weather is much the way I feel about my life here... Sometimes I love it, it's perfect and I can't imagine how it could ever be bad, but for the majority of the time it just pisses me right off and I'll dream of being within walking distance of the beach... well, not really, it's not like I ever hate living in Japan like I hate the sweat-your-tits-off summer humidity but every time I think that I've had enough of living here, there'll be some amazing redeeming quality that reminds me why I wanted to live here in the first place.
5 reasons to stay living in Japan...
1) Both Ryota and I can work here easily.
2) You can eat fish that is still moving on the plate.
3) People aren't half as aggressive as in Australia.
4) The indirectness of, well, everything here suits my personality perfectly.
5) You can drink beer just about anywhere at any time without feeling like a homeless.
Why do so many people choose to stay in Japan???
Damn you and your Hyogo inaka... just kidding.
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty damn cold in Kobe as I remember... just x100 here in f-ing Niigattta/hell on earth.
I go back and forth all the time on living in Japan or not.
I think I've boiled down my main issues though.
1. Access to other native English speakers/foreign food shops/eateries
2. Education for Sakura (and other children) that are not the Japanese public education system
3. Enough money to live comfortably
1 and 2 would be met by living in America easily.
3 would be met by living where we do currently.
Ryohei is pretty determined that he wants to go to Tokyo and make a job switch to a different type of komuin there. Which would have us living in Tokyo permanently on the following condition that Sakura-tachi will go to private or international school which will take lots of yenz and means I need to get a pretty decent paying job.. but hopefully I can do that.
If Ryohei doesn't get a job in Tokyo we are going to move to America I think. I'm so unhappy living here and the winter has been the final nail in my coffin.
I think a lot of people stay in Japan (in our situation) because its easier and more cost effective. I guess because most husbands that are Japanese will earn more here and unless the wife has some sort of specialized career it would be a tigher living for the most part should they go home... as opposed to marrying an Aussie boy or American boy. Not sure how it is in Oz.. but in America there are a lot of damn expenses like car insurance, expensive child care, health care, and education to take into consideration.
Actually I think from talking to Aussies you guys have it a lot better with stuff like medical care and high education being paid through the govt.
Damn me for being born a yank!!! Oh well... It would be awesome if all of us could make some commune.
What the hell do you mean that they aren't half as agressive as living in australia???? bloody hell!!! (just kidding ;) I know what you mean! :)
ReplyDeleteIf you think the weather in Japan is bad, you should never ever visit or worse live in Singapore. Humidity is close to a hundred percent every day of the year and our daily average temperature is between 30 degrees C and 36 degrees C. Living here is like being in a furnace all year round. High temperature + high humidity = lethal combination that saps all of one's energy leaving one lethargic all day long.
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