A few thoughts

It is generally my policy not to post long boring paragraphs on my blog because people really just want to see pictures and maybe a few explanations, right? I mean if you really wanted to learn more about Japan, you would just look it up on Wikipedia, right? Correct me if I am wrong because I can certainly start writing epic poems about my experiences- I'd be happy to.

Anyway, today's post will focus on heating, or lack thereof, in Japan. Some things in Japan make a lot of sense to me. While I may pretend to be annoyed by them to the other JETs (hello to Jane and Zach who will inevitably read this and feel shocked at my omission), secretly I don't think that recycling in Japan is such a bad thing (a little nutty at times but oh well). Heating however really gets me. Recently it became winter in Kanazawa. It seemed like overnight it went from summer and profuse sweating (sweating so bad that it has been rumored that JETs have had to change their shirt mid-day after a particularly hot class... I hear.... but I am not going to name names ) to winter and lots of cold. And while I complain now, I know it will get worse. Today the high was 13C and when I woke up this morning it was 16C in my apartment. People say that the Japanese do not well insulate their buildings and I think that is proof of the truth of that statement. It should not be almost the same temperature inside and out! I do have a heater in my apartment with a remote control so when my alarm goes off in the morning, I turn on the heater with the remote and go back to bed til the snooze goes off again. When I get out of bed at least some of the chill is gone.

The cold at school is no different. Some things make sense and some things just do not. For example, our school is built around an indoor courtyard (they call it a GA-LAIR-IA, I call it a Galleria). They only heat the classrooms and not the hallways that face onto the Galleria or the Galleria itself (makes sense). However, what does not make sense is that they leave all of the windows in the Galleria open which makes it completely freezing there! There is no heating in the bathroom. AND the bathroom window is always left open! Instead of heating the bathroom, or closing the window so that is not frigid, they heat the toilet seats. And, to be honest, it is surprisingly pleasant. The same that I found to be distasteful during the summer (hot toilet seat in summer = makes me think someone just sat there for a long time) is a life-saver in winter.

Anyway, I am cold..... and I know it will only get worse. While I am skeptical of reports from other JETs that they kept their toothpaste in the refridgerator to keep it from freezing, I do now understand what they mean by no insulation.

Ok that was my rant for the day. :-)