I sweat!

I perspire!

No ..... I sweat, I sweat, I sweat. I sweat like never before! This is the wet season and wet it is, it really is, sticky from head to toe, everything and everywhere is wet. The body, the curtains, the food, the washing outside trying to dry sweats, the shoes, the veggie patch sweats, the couch sweats. We all sweat together! Now we know why we have 5 air conditioners in our 100 m2 apartment. Of course, we shouldn't turn them on, but, we sweat. We haven't got a bill yet but when we get it, it will be OK, despite Japanese prices, because we wont be able to read it:) We are using our fair share of black balloons here. I don't think that that Australian advertisement would go down too well here in Nagoya. We are using so much electricity, we even went to an electricity museum to make ourselves feel good about contributing in this way to the Japanese economy, although the fact that it is partially nuclear energy provokes the idea of controlling heat in some other way, like getting in the fridge.
I sweat so much, I thought about doing what all the other expat families seem to have done. That is, get out of here for the summer. "Where are you going for the summer? You are staying here for the summer?" They ask in disbelief. I am starting to be convinced, perhaps we should get out of here, after all Mark is off to the Netherlands for a week so what are we doing here on the kids 9 week summer vacation? Let's go too, "Ikimasho ! "So off to the travel agent we go and guess what?
Everyone else is leaving the country all 127 million and we cannot get on a flight, so Nihon it is! Sweat or no sweat.

There are some very enjoyable things about the wet season though.

The tropical climate brings out the most incredible flowers and insects. The grandiflora magnolia are magnificent, the hydrangeas, the butterflies, dragonflies, bumblebees and bugs surprising and that is just around here in our Japanese neighbourhood. We are growing kiwi fruit, sunflowers, tomatoes, vivid hibiscus. How can we bring our balcony plants and pet insects and crustaceans home?

Did you know that I have no idea who, if anyone is reading this blog? Today I received a post card from someone who does not have a computer, yet managed to read the blog and has encouraged me to sit up and write again. Writing this blog has been great fun and a way to say hi indirectly to my family and friends back home, as well as to keep a diary for ourselves. If anyone would like to know when I blog, go to post a comment and scroll down to subscribe by email. Thank you for reading it:)

PS. I went to the one hairdresser in town who does blonde. The word was that he also does orange by mistake, I went, I had no other choice and guess what? He does blonde!:) Fortunately I do not look like this local octopus.