Summery goodness!

Ah the sun is shining brightly in Tokyo today, and I am rejoicing. Unfortunately I have to rejoice indoors - oh what terrible torture! This morning though I was briefly reminded of what I don't like about summer (please note I love summer and wish it could be summer all year round):

* commuting in summer - of course commuting in Tokyo at any time of the year sucks, but during the summer men continue to wear suits and by the time they make it on the train their white shirts are sticking to their skin with sweat. There is nothing worse than when this sweaty sleeve rubs your very own skin.....

* cockroaches - we live in a nice place and both darin and I love it to death, BUT in the summertime the cockroaches come out to play. Cockies are big in Queensland, so they don't bother me that much just as long as they stay out of our bedroom.

* cleaning the dishes immediately after eating - sometimes we leave the dishes to do until the next day (most people do this, don't they?), but come summertime this is IMPOSSIBLE unless you want your apartment to stink. The worst is accidently forgetting that you have leftover rice in the rice cooker - this becomes very nasty after a couple of days.

* mosquitoes - I get bitten all the time. If Darin and I both walk into the park, I get bitten, he doesn't. It's really terrible. Luckily there is no malaria in Japan. Sometimes I have to resort to sleeping with RID on and I know that's not good for me.

I think that's it. Now for the things I love:

* wearing thongs (of which I now have four pairs - thank you brother, Darin has one), mini skirts, shorts, and no jackets!

**********late addition*********** I just realized how my North American audience may think that I meant 'thongs' like out of 'The Thong Song' and that my brother gave me three pairs and darin has a pair of thongs - a man thong?? It's pretty funny if you read it that way, but I'm sorry my friends, in Australia 'thongs' mean 'flip-flops'. Repeat after me: I say tomarto, you say tomayto!!

* the heat, being warm at night and drinking a cold beer on a warm night

* being outdoors (swimming, bbqing, knitting)

* kakigori (flavoured shaved ice served with condensed milk) in the park, reimen, hiyayakko (cold tofu)

* fireworks displays and other Japanese festivals

* dim sum (ok, this one has nothing to do with summer, but I really LOVE dim sum) My dad is Chinese and I have great memories of going to dim sum with my family and friends on Sunday afternoons. It always seemed strange that my mother never learned to use chopsticks!! Damn those egg custard tarts are so good. I added this to the list because of this article.

ps Tomorrow is Green Day (midori no hi) in Japan, which means that I don't have to go to work and this is only the beginning of Golden week, which means I don't have to set a foot in this damn office until NEXT Friday! Posts could be sparse (we're going camping - woohoo!), but I might have an FO photo in the next couple of days.

Comments

[freecia]

Lychee Fruit!
I call those "thong" shoes flip-flops.

[rae]

we call them 'slippahs' in HI...gotta chime in and add beer gardens to the list of summer loves : )

[Rachael]

Have a blast!

[Ann]

Hi! I too get bitten up like mad by mosquitoes. Get yerself some Avon Skin-So-Soft or some sort of other good-smelling bug repellent. Then you'll smell good, your skin will be moisturized and the bugs will flee!

[frecklegirl]

hehe- man thong. :) I knew you meant the footwear- haha Although that would be funny if your brother was buying you skimpy underwear.

Mosquitos really like me too- we must have sweet blood.

Ahhh... summer where are you?!

[molly]

Your description of summer in Japan is right on, although I think I approach it with more apprehension that you do (it snowed in my hometown last week, wish I was there!). There are dishes in my sink and some old rice in my cooker now... gotta get out of those bad habits! Top it off with mosquitos, spiders and uphill bike rides in the heat. Luckily we have kakigori and air conditioning, or I'd be on the next flight home!!

[Amy]

They used to be called thongs here too, that is until the underpants came out.

It turned winter here again, which totally sucks. It better be warm when I get to Japan in a couple of weeks!

[Kathy B.]

I have to admit, I thought you meant the butt- floss undies too, until I clicked on the link- then I thought: duh-- the other kind of thong, dummy! ;) Question-- please excuse my extreme cultural ignorance here-- but what is Green Day? Is it anything like Earth Day here?

[sharlyn]

I was going to say the same thing as Rae, we call them slippahs in Hawaii. In Seattle, I've heard them called thongs,or flip flops. I haven't seen a single cockroach since I left Hawaii. The reason might be that I've lived in apartments the last 4 years. Now that I live in a house I'm afraid that come summer, they'll be crawling all over my house. Ick!

[Evelyn]

Good tips about the mosquitos! I'm vacationing in Japan late in June/early July. Mosquitos absolutely love me! My MIL calls them thongs too....and she's kinda like June Cleaver so it's weird when she talks about her thongs!

[Lily]

i was thinking that too, wow her brother buys her undies? they mush be so close + darin has one as well! so open of you to share such private info!
as i think to myself...too funny... sorry!

i have 5 pairs and love wearing them on my days off. it's so lax here in Calif, that i've seen people wear them to work even guys!

[alison]

Wow, it's not even close to summer here! I'm jealous. (Of course, I'll be complaining about the heat in less than a week...)

[gleek]

kathy b., your "extreme cultural ignorance" (which it is not) can be readily cured with google. a search of "midori no hi" brought up:

http://japanese.about.com/b/a/081916.htm

"April 29 is Greenery Day (Midori no hi), Japan's national holiday. It is used to be celebrated as the birthday of the late Emperor Showa. After his death in 1989, it was designated as a day for nature appreciation."

i always say.. when in doubt, google it.

[erin]

I'm from California, and I've always known the shoes as thongs. Whenever I hear the word, I assume shoes first, underwear second.

I supppose "thongs" makes me think of shoes, and "a thong" makes me think of the nasty undies.

[empress]

I went on my honeymoon and missed out on the swap *sob*. I'm so sad...

[susan]

do you have a mosquito net? they're beautiful inventions, and probably in japan come in cute canopy versions...

i also was horrified that your brother would send your significant other what i consider a thong... but now i see...

[Jessica]

Too funny about the different definitions of "thongs". I was surprised at first, wondering why on earth your brother would buy you skimpy underwear. Thanks for the giggle.