Live from Japan!

Here in Gifu we have been experiencing a chillier winter than we did last year. We are seeing temperatures regularly dipping below zero (Celsius that is) at night. We even got what Gifu considers a “snowstorm” on Tuesday morning, nearly two inches of snow which were almost completely gone by mid-afternoon.

While I never felt that I was able to adapt to the summer, in fact, just thinking about this summer strikes fear in my soul. I hate the heat and humidity that Japan dishes up. I do feel as though I have adapted to the winter. It is chilly, without being ridiculously cold (a major shout-out to all of our friends and family in the Midwest dealing with unspeakable temperatures), except that it is chilly ALL THE TIME. Remember us telling you about the whole lack of central heating about this time last year??

However, I must say that when I woke up this morning and looked at the thermometer in my kitchen it told me that it was a balmy 5 degrees Celsius (40 degrees for you Fahrenheit folks). In my KITCHEN!! That, my friends, is a totally unreasonable temperature.

That is the type of temperature which makes it such that you can’t just sneak to the toilet quickly in the middle of the night without fully waking up. It is the type of indoor temperature which rudely robs you of your groggy state the minute you pull your covers back. It makes you question exactly how badly you have to use the toilet (and, as the pregnant lady, I must say that the answer is almost always, pretty badly). It is the type of temperature that means that even though you are only out of bed for only a minute or two, it is cold when you climb back in. As I said, completely unreasonable.

There are many things about Japan that I will miss. A total lack of central heating, and more importantly insulation, is definitely not one of them.