The First Three Things I Learned in Rural Japan

1. Summer doesn't joke around. 

Japanese summers are known for being hot and humid, and so I came to Hekinan expecting to be a little warm. What I didn't know was that "hot and humid" is a misleadingly gentle description. In reality, summer here mostly closely resembles the climate of  Hades--humidity so thick it feels like walking into a sauna the moment you step outside, and heat that penetrates walls faster than the X-Men. 

Good thing I have air conditioning, right? Well, despite the space in the walls for ac/heater units, I only have one air conditioner. For the entire first 10 days of my stay, I huddled day and night in my living room with my mom, brother, and boyfriend, uchiwa in hand, two fans going, and the air conditioner set at "arctic blast." 

As wonderful as the AC is, its effects disappear the second I hit the off switch (and since I am trying to keep my bill done, I am militant about only using it in 30 minute intervals). Heat sneaks in through the cracks and comes in through the windowpanes to the point that I'm the one suggesting we turn the AC back on.

Since my apartment faces east, the morning sun pours right through my windows and the house heats up like an oven. Not even the high setting on the AC can win this battle. For us poor inhabitants on the highest floor, it's just a matter of getting through to the afternoon.

At least it cools down at night. Last night, it even got down to 88 degrees! Woohoo!

2. Heaven really is a place on earth. 

On the day I arrived, with my mother and brother in tow, my new boss invited me to his family's house for dinner, as well as for a dip in the bath. 

If you're thinking "a dip in the bath???" you're on the same page as the three of us newcomers. There was no way we were getting into the bath at some stranger's house, but after several suggestions, and the real possibility that our brains were addled by the heat, we were escorted up a marble staircase to the bathroom. When our hostess opened the door and we got a glimpse of that bathroom, I could hear the angels start in on the hallelujah chorus. This was no ordinary bathroom, you see. This was heaven on earth. 

To give you the scale of the grandeur I'm talking about here, imagine a bathroom so big that it would take up my entire living room and bedroom. There was the requisite shower, albeit jumbo-sized and with beautiful, cold (!!) tile. The main bath was situated across from the shower, and was huge. It could comfortably fit three people, or be the ultimate in relaxation for a lucky one person (me). It was fragranced with yuzu, and somehow this yuzu smelled better than any other bath possibly could, as if it was divine in origin. Next to the divine yuzu bath was a perfectly round, deep tub of cold water. I parked myself in there for at least 10 minutes. 

Seeing as this was no normal bathroom, it also had it's own deck, complete with a hot tub with jacuzzis and multi-colored underwater lights.  

<3

3. Hekinan is a bike rider's paradise.

The biggest difference between the rural city I live in now, and the urban cities I've lived in before, is the number of cars vs bikes on the roads. In Japan's bigger cities, the sidewalks are choked with cyclists swerving around pedestrians, and the most common vehicle on the road is a taxi. Here, though, the sidewalks are virtually empty. Everyone uses a car as the main mode of transportation, which leaves the roads wide open for me.

I don't have a car, nor do I plan to get one here (drive on the left?? What??). I do have a pretty cool bike though, and with the lack of any sidewalk congestion, I can ride it all over town without ever having to worry about collisions or mowing somebody down. 

Hekinan is also very flat, and with no hills to contend with, biking with all my groceries is no problem at all. Considering how often I have to go shopping to keep from overstuffing my small fridge, that's a good thing.