After a longer-than-intended hiatus, and some threats made
by my Grandmother over my lack of updates, I’m back!
Spring has sprung here in the Kanto area. Clothes hung out
to dry now do so in one day instead of two, my electric blanket has stayed off
for a while now, I can no longer see my breath inside my apartment, and the
sakura had their week or so of beauty before littering the ground with pink.
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| He enjoyed the "Blossom Parties" a bit too much.... |
Spring Break was rather lackluster this year. In 2012, my
mom and brother came out and their visit relieved me of a lot of boredom. This
year, my housemate flew back home for week, no one visited, and there was
nothing to occupy my mind except pictures of cats in Halloween costumes and
other treasure troves of the internet.
I sneaked out for long lunches almost daily-at least, on the
days when the weather was nice. It rained a lot this March, shortening the life
of the sakura, and giving me a case of cabin fever every time I went to the
office. You see, teachers don’t actually get Spring Break off here. Despite
having nothing to do, if I wanted to take time off I would have to use my
vacation time. All fine and dandy, except I need those days to escape the
unbearable heat of the summer and visit home again!
It was hard. I fought a tough battle on the brink of
insanity. I prevailed. A few days of good weather managed to be snagged, and
picnics were enjoyed before eventually being rained out.
The best part about spring isn’t the new school year and the
excitement (read:panic) of new classes, but is in fact the realization that I
no longer have to have bubble wrap taped to my windows, nor do I have to brave
the cold and bike to the gas station to fill up a container of kerosene for my
heater.
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| Behold, the holy grail of heating |
I kid you not. These are Japanese heating methods. Yes, the
country that has one of the most efficient public transportation systems in the
world, the country that churns out robots and levitating vacuums and coffee
makers that do your taxes-it really, really sucks at efficient heating methods.
Every window I have ever seen in a private residence has
been single pane and poorly fitted. My own window has a draft along the top
seal, and I stuffed it full of bubble wrap and tape last autumn. It helped a
little, I think, but the heat loss is incredible.
There is also little-to-no insulation between the walls, and
central heating unheard of outside of hotel rooms. Instead, the most cost
effective way to heat an area is via a kerosene heater. I’m used to it now, and
in some ways the smell of a kerosene heater is becoming positively associated
in my brain with warmth and comfort, but there’s still the worry of, say,
carbon monoxide poisoning. And random explosions. Always the explosions.
My personal favorite piece of heating is the kotatsu. It’s
genius, really. It’s a low wooden table with an electric heater built into the
underside, topped with a quilt. Many lazy afternoons and evenings have been
spent snuggled under its warmth watching Dr. Who. People have been using this
system of heat source+blanket for centuries, but it didn’t make the switch from
coal to electricity until mid 20th century. In the dead of winter, I
find myself thinking how awesome it would be to take a kotatsu home, and then
it hits me: Central heating will trump any necessity for a kotatsu.
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| Look at these hipsters, being all warm and insulated. |
Ah, well, until next winter, dear kotatsu.
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Kotatsu Kitty's hobbies include: eating tangerines, drinking crappy beer, and catching colds
from napping under those fuzzy blankets |
p.s. When asked about why Japan has all this cool technology
but never applies it efficiently, the answer was, “Japanese people don’t want
life to be too easy. We would feel bad otherwise”. Take that to mean what you
will!
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