update 3: nature and me

japan is currently in its fifth season . . . rainy season. . . quite honestly, it hasn't been what i expected. . . everyone kept preparing me for downpours every single day for a full month. . . maybe kochi just lucked out this year (so far), but, as it is almost july ( i.e. approx. the half way point of rainy season), we have only had one really heavy day of rain and several days of sprinkles. . .a normal summer in america. . . still in preparation for the season, i bought some cool golashes. . . i got them for less than $10. . . at the store, they looked like a kind of burgundy/wine color. . . once i wore them, i discovered that they were, in fact, dark pink. . . i'm pretty sure my elementary students have the same golashes. . . actually, i almost bought kid's golashes for $20 with red polka dots, but my 'pink' ones were taller i.e. more splash protection. . .anyway, i was pretty excited to try them out. however, on the first day of rainy season (the one downpour) i forgot to tuck my jeans into the top of the golashes on my walk to work (i.e. i still ended up drenched.) . . . puddle jumping was quite fun. . . sitting soaked at work was not. . . but i figure if an umbrella and golashes won't keep me dry, i may as well have some fun.

anyway. . . it is finally summer in japan. unfortunately, my air conditioner is broken. . . i informed my supervisor of this a week and a half ago, two people came to check it at the end of last week, another guy came yesterday (i thought he came to fix it, but he really just did another more thorough inspection). . . guess it is going to be really expensive to fix as there is a hole in he 'gas pipe' (don't know if that's really what it is or the best english translation they could figure out). . . my supervisor said that the board of education would pay for it. . . the only catch is that they don't have much money now. . . so, in the hottest part of the year, i am stuck in my house (which is a good five degrees above the outdoor temp) without air conditioning for another one to two weeks. . . i am not at all happy. . . it is so flipping hot. . . every time i use the fan i start sneezing like crazy. . . i have to keep the windows/doors open at night (and even that doesn't cool the place down for too long). . . the worst consequence of all this is that all these bugs are sneaking into my room. . . have i ever mentioned that kochi has poisonous centipedes? i think even my fear of spiders is lower than my fear of centipedes. . . i don't know what the bugs are that i have found so far, but i do not like them. . . i am not that much of a nature girl. . . especially not when i am in my house (camping, hiking, etc. are a bit of a different story). . . so between the heat, the allergies, and the bugs, i have literally not been able to sleep for the past week. . . i am miserable. . .on top of that, they never use the air conditioner at the schools or the board of education. . . the one day they did have it on in the b.o.e. was monday. . . the coolest day we have had in the past month. . . what kind of logic do these people use???? (quick update here. . . i decided it was getting a bit too hot in the office when i was sweating just from sitting at my desk, so i removed my little jacket. . . leaving me in only a tank top, which appears to be against the dress code although i have never been given any verbal instructions in that area. . . anyway, after approx. 45 seconds two of the ladies in the office closed all the windows and turned on the air con! guess that's one way to fix things. ;)

next. . .earthquakes. . .feeling your house shake and having your friend call and speak japanese is not an easy way to wake up at 5a.m. that, however, is exactly how i experienced my first earthquake. . . technically, i think there was a small one once before while i was on tour with genki. . . they tend to happen at night, so i just don't wake up. . . the one a few weeks ago was a level 3 in kochi (level 5 at its center in oita), which you would think would be strong enough to wake me. . . i am not a heavy sleeper when it comes to sound and light (in fact, i think i'm usually the first one up then). . . but i guess i've slept in too many bunk beds with roommates who toss and turn or something because my house shaking (without the phone call) would not have been enough to wake me up. if you want to know more, here is the article from the bbc. . .

*quake strikes south-western japan *
a strong earthquake hits south-western japan, shaking the city of hiroshima and injuring five people.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/5070390.stm

finally. . . returning to the issue of bugs and outdoor things. . . i keep seeing snakes on the road between the junior high and b.o.e. one was really scary. . . it was almost white, fat, and at least 180cm long. . . that's longer than i am tall! i was terrified. . .tsuyoshi said that they sometimes eat small babies (he was joking, but i did not find it amusing). . . anyway, that one was, thankfully, just off the road in someone's driveway. . . the other one i saw was quite a bit smaller (maybe 80cm) and crawling out of a rice field. . . it had crossed the street half way when it saw me and stopped. . . i had a bit more courage because i had my golashes on ( i.e. ankle protection). . . that and it was pretty afraid of me as well. . . it was kind enough to let me pass in peace, after which it was also able to cross in peace. apparently, the smaller snakes are sometimes poisonous. . . the big ones just eat babies. . . yuck.

i really do think japanese people (or at least those that live in the inaka) have a different take on nature. . . tsuyoshi once stopped me from destroying a spider web because he (the spider) had his own spider life in his own spider world and was not a part of my world and not causing any immediate danger to me. . . my elementary school kids have over ten cages with bugs and whatnots as pets ranging from beetles to frogs to crabs to slugs to numerous bugs, amphibians, etc, etc that i could not even begin to name. . . they keep pulling them out of their cages and trying to hand them to me. . . the frogs are okay. . . the rest are a bit sketchy. . . anyway, i suppose that concludes my update on the wonderful outdoors in kochi that have a tendency to make their way indoors just a bit too often. . .if the weather is nice on saturday, i am going hiking/camping with the entire junior high school (over 100 students plus staff). . . should be an adventure.

じゃあ、おわり。