Month: August 2019

This blog has evolved over time to be mostly a “travel blog” talking about places to go, and things to do and see here in Japan, and elsewhere. I have to remind myself now and then, that it was intended to be more than that. I want it to be an honest reflection of our life here in Japan. Originally meant to be here for two years, we are now headed toward completing our fourth year as expats living in Tokyo, Japan.

And… for the most part we have been very happy here. We have experienced so much in our time here, and… still… feel sad about the prospect of all of that coming to an end. (We are scheduled to return to Atlanta next year.) But, as with almost everyone, everywhere, sometimes things just feel out of whack. Sometimes you just don’t feel happy about where you are and what you are doing. No… there is really nothing wrong. Just sometimes life makes you feel a bit “out of sorts.” And I am feeling that way right now. I promise not to wallow in it too much. I trust that things will smooth out and be better soon! But for now, I will just list some of the things that CAN make expat life (particularly for a non-working spouse expat) feel difficult at times.

• Weather. Every place has its weather issues… good weather, bad weather. We are nearing the end of summer here in Tokyo, and in general, that means it is sweltering hot, and incredibly humid. Actually the weather here is very similar to the weather we have in Atlanta, with fewer thunderstorms, and higher humidity. And I guess it is that awful humidity that is the big difference. I cannot go out the door right now without breaking into a sweat. I soak through my clothes, and my skin feels sticky. I wear black or white most of the time because it shows the sweat least. We walk a lot since we don’t have a car. It is a full kilometer to the nearest train station, so even when we take the train, we get sweaty walking to the station. Today it is cloudy and cooler, but the humidity is still high because it has been on and off raining all day. So… this leads to:

• Isolation. When the weather is so hot and sticky, I just don’t feel much like going out. We like to walk, and we look forward to walking and exploring this city. We take our cameras and go on photo walks to discover new places. It is our usual weekend past time. But when it so hot and humid it can get pretty miserable, pretty fast. I kind of feel like I have been cooped up way too much lately. I need to get out… I want to get out!

• Isolation Part 2. I am in a foreign country where I don’t speak very much of the language. I am learning, but still… I am far from having an easy conversation. Also… the Japanese people (as wonderfully kind and respectful as they truly are!) tend to keep to themselves. It is difficult to actually strike up a conversation with anyone. It is difficult — even for them — to make friends. Some say the Japanese are a shy culture. I don’t really think it is so much shyness, as politeness and respect. They try not to interfere in other people’s business. On the trains, by and large, the only people talking are the foreign tourists! Everyone else is sitting/standing quietly with their headphones in, looking at their cell phones.

• Isolation Part 3. I am not saying it is impossible to make friends here, but it is difficult. There is a really nice lady who works at the grocery store where I shop. She is about my age, and she always speaks to me (in Japanese… *sigh*) and smiles at me. We communicate, despite our language differences. I look forward to this interaction! She speaks to me, and I try my best to speak back to her in Japanese. I understand more of the language than I am comfortable speaking. But it is something!

• Long work hours/travel. For my spouse, that is. My husband loves his job here… and I LOVE that he loves his job here. It has been such a positive experience for him. But lately… things have been piling up, and of course, stressful things come up at work, or a big project brings extra responsibilities, or he has to travel more than usual. He works for an international company, so he deals with people in several time zones. To do a video conference or any kind of phone call or meeting takes major time coordination, and usually he gets the late night call time because that works best for everyone else. I don’t usually mind too much, but lately there have been a lot of evening meetings. And last weekend because of a work-related problem, he had to work both Saturday and part of Sunday. So… for me, that is more time alone.

Actually… I pride myself that I have the right personality for this kind of life. I am a person who really enjoys — and requires, actually — a good bit of “alone time.” But lately it has been even more than I like. lol.

This weekend he has to leave on an unexpected business trip, and when he gets back, he has to leave two days later for another trip — longer, he will be gone a full two weeks — that has been scheduled for months. I will take those two weeks to go home to the US to visit with family. All in all, we will be away from each other for nearly three weeks. Ok, Ok… couples do that all the time, and I will try not to be a wimp about it. After all, I won’t be alone, I will be busy visiting people… people I can actually easily converse with! Ok. One last thing for the list…

• Worrying. Sometimes I tend to get mired in worrying. Worried about things going on with our family at home, worrying about our house, and having to deal with maintenance and repair issues from 6000 miles away. And… not the least worry… worrying about this horrendous political situation in the US. Not to go too deep into the politics, watching all of that from afar is alarming… and stressful, and horribly sad. Especially seeing the news through the eyes of the rest of the world. And I worry what it will be like when we have to return to all that turmoil.

So, these are the things on my mind right now that are maybe making me feel less than happy. But it is Ok… Things will hopefully look better tomorrow. Thanks for letting me vent.

It is hot in Tokyo in August… sweltering, for most of the time. And I know many of our friends around the world are experiencing heat and humidity as well. Tokyo is not the only place where “Natsu wa totemo atsui desu.” (Summer is very hot.) But… today is Saturday, and part of our precious weekend to spend together, and it is just too hot to be out!

We look forward to our weekends here. During the week, my husband is busy and working, and I spend my days taking care of household chores, doing the shopping, going to the gym, and learning Japanese. We both look forward to spending time together on the weekends.

Usually for us, that means going out to explore some part of Tokyo that we haven’t seen before, or attending events or festivals, or going out to many of the places that have become our “favorite places” in our adopted city. We both enjoy photography, and so, cameras in hand, we simply enjoy just going out to walk and explore and take photos. It is our favorite weekend past time.

But right now in Tokyo, it is HOT. This past week, Tokyo was brushed by a typhoon (the worst of it went way west of us), that brought at least some temporary moments of respite from the monotonously sunny, hot weather. We had a day of off and on rain showers, and another day of cloudy breezy weather. It was nice — despite the fact that the rain showers increased the humidity even more.

At the moment (at almost noon) it is 93F, with a heat index of 108. Here in Minato City, Tokyo, the public address system has been announcing an extreme heat advisory from the Japan Meteorological Agency… “go chuui kudasai!” (Please use caution!) [** Incidentally — these public address announcements from speakers placed all over the city, are now bilingual in Japanese and English!]

We don’t mind a little hot weather. In fact, we expect it. We both grew up in Kansas, and our permanent home is in Georgia. We are used to hot and humid summers. But… something about the heat here just seems so much worse. Being near the ocean, the humidity is somewhat higher, but also, the sunshine just seems more intense. Maybe it’s not really… Maybe it is just that since we have to walk everywhere, or walk to take public transportation, we end up being out in the heat more continuously than at “home.”

At home in Georgia, when I wanted to go somewhere in the summer, I would walk out of my air-conditioned house, into my garage, and get into my rapidly air-conditioned car. Drive to wherever I wanted to go… walk a few steps in the heat, and then be blasted by ice cold air-conditioning in any store or other public venue I went to. To tell the truth… at home in Georgia, I sometimes would take a jacket with me when I went to shop at the supermarket in the summertime. The air-conditioning was TOO cold.

So here… today… we will mostly be staying in during the hottest part of the day. We have been out running short errands, getting a quick brunch bowl of noodles (cold) at our favorite neighborhood soba shop, making a quick stop at the dry cleaners, and the grocery store. But for this blazing, relentlessly sunny Saturday afternoon, we are inside in our nice cool apartment with the “eakon” running.

Maybe later, when the sun begins to sink down, and the temperature moderates, we will venture out. This weekend is the end of Obon… one of the three major holiday weeks here in Japan. There are Obon festivals still to see, and Bon Odori dances to watch… Hate to miss out just because of a little hot weather!

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Tokyo in the summer is hot. HOT. And it can be loud, crowded and frustrating. But Tokyo has a number of large parks, offering a quiet and peaceful release from the hectic city. One of our favorites is Ueno Park.

Ueno is conveniently located in the heart of the city. Take the Yamanote train to Ueno Station, and the huge park begins steps away from the exit gate.

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On any given day in the summer, you’ll find festivals, street performers, food, and a lot of green space at Ueno. The park also includes Shinobazu Pond, a refuge for many different water birds at different times of the year, paddle boats and row boats, and a very healthy crop of lotus plants.

Beginning about the end of June, the lotus start to bloom. As the summer progresses, you see the full variety of young blooms, fully opened flowers, and seed pods reminiscent of the aliens in War of the Worlds.

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In the summer, you’ll want to have some lightweight, sweat-wicking clothing, a hat and sunglasses, plenty of sunscreen, and a bottle of cool water. But take some time and brave the elements, and you’ll find Ueno to be a beautiful oasis in the middle of this big city.

Summer in Tokyo. It’s hot. It’s humid. It’s sweaty. Sometimes, you just want to sit in your nice, air conditioned living room and stay cool.

But there are lots of things to see and do in Tokyo. In the summer, you just have to put on some cool, drip-dry clothes, take a bottle of water, slather on the sunscreen, put on some sunglasses, and learn to love to sweat as you strike out into the heat.

There are quite a number of festivals, flea markets, fireworks displays and other interesting events in the summer. Arakawa River fireworks… Sumida River fireworks…Sumidagawa Toro Nagashi (lantern festival)… and many other events are available.

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So, if you have a choice of when to visit Tokyo, don’t make it in July, August or early September. But if that is the time you have to be here, don’t fret. You can go from convenience store to convenience store, with their cold air conditioning, cool drinks, and ice cream. And you’ll find many fun things to do…just take an occasional break from the heat and humidity, and you’ll be fine.