Overdramatic, perhaps, but I believe this title is merited and fully justified by the weather today. Yesterday, it thunderstormed and was unbearably humid: today, it's sunny, 31 degrees celcius, and humid as a jungle. I did my laundry this morning and it's still hanging out on my balcony because I don't want to open the door to take it in - if it's even dry. It's so humid, they might just stay slightly damp!
In addition to laundry, I cleaned my toilet tank this morning - the thing had mould everywhere, and was causing a dreadful pong. I've been told that in the rainy season things mould almost overnight, due to the constant humidity, so it's better to be proactive about cleaning and, when in doubt, keep food in the fridge even if you wouldn't refrigerate it normally.
I also budgeted, did the dishes, made a grocery list, and basically procrastinated until I had nothing left to do and actually had to go outside. I paid my gas bill at the convenience store and then walked all the way to the Don Quijote store, which I was told is a chain of junk stores that often sell secondhand bicycles. No such luck; the place was a cafe. So instead I stopped off at the grocery store and picked up some meat for the next two weeks. Fresh fish here is insanely cheap - in addition to being sashimi-grade, may I add. I picked up some salmon and unidentified whiteflesh fish, and I shall concoct some sort of recipe around them later on.
Getting the meat back from the grocery store was slightly nerve-wracking: it's so very hot, I was afraid the stuff would spoil in the twenty minutes it takes for me to get back to my apartment. I really need a bicycle, and that is why I will eventually leave the house again today, to strike out for the very large grocery store in the opposite direction, which has a hardware section under it where they sell bicycles. I have no idea how much a bike will run me - I want to find a used one, if possible, but we'll see. On the plus side, there's a McDonald's right beside that grocery store, so I can chill there with some fries after the trek.
A bike would be indispensible here, I've found. Everything is within walking distance... if it's a nice day and you have the time to walk there and back again. But if I want to get somewhere quickly because the weather's nasty, like today, or I have to run out to the store before work, a bike would be so much more efficient. Also, a basket would really help.
Oh, I went to church yesterday! Nagoya United Church, congregation of about ten. The service is at 4, which works quite nicely with my schedule, and it's only one subway stop beyond Sakae. I admit that I choked up so bad that I couldn't sing during most of the songs; I recognized three out of four of them, and it was all so familiar and comforting. The sermon was by a guest pastor - every fourth sunday of the month they have a guest - he was Japanese, did the sermon in English, and though it wasn't the greatest sermon, it was still nice to hear. Afterwards there was a party for two members who are moving back to the US, so I got to drink tea, eat snacks and chocolate, and chat with the people.
The regular pastor's been in Japan for 20 years; he grew up in Arizona, he's Calvinist (though not Dutch), and very chatty. It's quite a mixed bunch, actually; about half are Japanese who speak English, and the rest are foreigners - Americans, mostly, but there's a French man who teaches at a university around here, and another guy who had an indeterminable accent and I never got a chance to ask him where he's from. All in all, it was extremely enjoyable, and I'm definitely going again next week. I've an invite already to go for tea at the house of one of the women at the church; she lives only a few subway stops from me, and she's really sweet. They're a good group of people, and I'd like to get to know them better.
In any case, I have few more things to do before I leave the house, so I should get going and prepare to once more brave the heat.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)

Woooo~ church! (never thought I'd say that...)
ReplyDeleteAlso, for the molding, get bleach, apply to tank. Assuming there's no visible caulking on the inside.
After I had been away from home for a couple of months I went to hear Handel's Messiah performed; I spent the entire first half crying from the relief of hearing a familiar work sung in my own language. You are right about the need to establish an identity as yourself without the nationality attached to it -- and it does come. Courage!
ReplyDeleteHi, Ariel - Your mom sent your blog address to a few people...thought I'd let you know that I've enjoyed catching up on your posts, especially since you've arrived in Japan.
ReplyDeleteGreat to read about your wind-swept experiences!
I'll enjoy visiting again some time. Meanwhile, will pass this on to Alison.
- Aileen