From the archives: summer in Kumamoto.

One muggy afternoon in the summer of 2014, Caroline and I sat with our laptops at the Starbucks around the corner from the J-3 apartments and commiserated about the subtropical heat and the fact that we hadn't seen the sun for what seemed like months. I drafted this entry but somehow never posted it. Here it is in its entirety.

As someone used to bone-dry California summers and mercifully cool Bay Area nights, the heat and humidity that lays over Kumamoto like a blanket hits me pretty hard. Japan has a term for summer fatigue--natsubaté, and it turns out I'm not immune. We've got more typhoons this year than we did last year, so the vast majority of the time the skies are just gray, and rain can fall in torrents without warning (and lift just as quickly).

In an effort to maintain a good sense of humor about this situation, Caroline and I have compiled a list which I have entitled, "You might be in Kumamoto in summer if:"

• You drink several liters of water a day and you still get dehydrated.
• Your clothes always feel like they've come straight out of the dryer, only halfway done.
• If you leave the lid on the toilet closed, it becomes a mold terrarium.
• Walking outdoors from an air-conditioned building is like walking into a steam room.
• Walking into an un-air-conditioned room from an air-conditioned one is like walking into a steam room with a plastic bag thrown over your head.
• You air out your dirty clothes before throwing them into the hamper so they don't get mildewy.
• People carry around sweat towels. (I'm not joking; this is a thing. They're actually quite fashionable.)
• Your bottle of body lotion has sat unused for weeks on your bathroom counter.
• You don't take off your clothes; you peel them off.
• Every day is a vinegar- and bleach-scented battle against mold.
• You go to the drugstore and see entire shelves of full-body deodorant sprays.
• "It's hot, isn't it?" -every Japanese person, everywhere, every day.
• Your hair has become a mane of frizz, and you will just have to accept that.
• Staying in bed is actually less comfortable than getting up (unless you like lying in your own sweat).

Caroline and me, waiting for the typhoon that never came. (Photos by Brent, July 2014.)

For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
Psalm 32:4 (NIV)