Stinking in the rain

May and June are a funny couple of months in Japan. April is a month of great change and upheaval - it's the end of the business year, the school year, and it's when cherry blossom arrives heralding spring. By June, the blossom is long gone, changes at work lose their novelty and everyone settles into their old routines. Just to add insult to injury, June is when the rainy season hits Japan. It rains a lot in Japan, but in a different way to Scotland. Here, when it rains it pours. I think (and Google me if I'm wrong) that it's something to do with the hot air working it's way north across the sea and then hitting the mountainous chain of islands that is Japan. The moist air is forced upwards and falls as what you and I call "rain." So, at the moment it's raining a lot and it's really humid, in a two-showers-a-day type way. I drove to school the other day and when I got out my glasses steamed up, that's how humid it is. The younger students are quite sensitive to the weather - it drains their energy and it's really difficult to motivate them while they are sat bathing in their own sweat. This weather shouldn't last more than a couple of weeks though, as it moves it's way across the country just like the cherry blossom did in early spring. At least I can put off washing my car for a big longer. Every cloud...