Memories of Summer Woes

I'll start by saying, I hate summer. Always have, always will. And in Japan, at least in the parts I lived, the summers are parTICularly unbearable ~ though you must bear them ~ because of the extremely high humidity. It was not unusual for the temperature, at, say, 7:30 a.m., to be 85+ degrees already, and the humidity over 90%. It was awful. AWFUL!

One summer the stores had postcards showing a little guy surrounded by orangey-yellow heat with a swirl of red going round above his head, his eyes big as saucers and rather bleary looking. The heat and humidity of August are legendary. In case you need reminding, summer in Japan is AWFUL.

For two years I lived in an apartment in Tsuchiura that was lovely in many respects, but it had no air conditioner. This was my second time living in Japan, my first time living on my own there. I probably could have bought a unit and had someone install it, but I believed a) I wasn't going to live there long enough to justify paying that kind of money (they seemed pretty expensive, more than I wanted to pay), and b) I thought I could bear it. It helped that my friend Margaret lived just across the river, in an apartment that did have air conditioning in the main room. We spent a lot of time in her apartment in the summer; she came to my apartment more in the winter because it was warmer than her place.

However, I still had to deal with the heat of my apartment, and getting ready to teach Business English classes for a company with a fairly strict dress code. I had to look professional, myself. And that meant.... du-du-du-duhhhhhhhhhhh: pantyhose.

Oy.

If you're a man, you may not fully appreciate how hot those are, never mind about getting them on in the first place when it's hot (and humid). AWFUL!!! So I needed a plan. And I came up with one that worked. It worked so well that I recommend it to anyone in a hot and humid place with no air conditioning, because you'll be comfortable (afterward) for at least an hour, maybe two. Here's what I did.

I filled the tub with cold water. In Japan, the tubs are short but deep, so you can't stretch out but you can be up to your neck in water. And so I filled the tub with nothing but cold water, and when it's running long enough to fill a deep tub, that water gets very cold. And then I got in.

Hyperventilating at first, because going from the intense heat into that cold water... well, it was tough getting in, but then I was able to slow my heart back down and relax and.... ahhhh, that felt really nice. For a bit. Until it didn't anymore because now I'm FAH-REEZING!!!! But I forced myself to stay in there until I couldn't stand it a second more, my teeth chattering and goose bumps all over. I got out and dried off and out into the hot & humid room again, and it felt wonderful. I was not hot, I was not cold, I felt clean and dry and refreshed. I could even put on the pantyhose and not be miserable. And get ready for work, and feel fine.

I did skip the walks to the train station, though. I knew the bus schedule perfectly, especially the one just across the street, and I was never late (neither were the buses, thankfully). Oh! And the buses? They were air conditioned. Thank God!!