So it's finally starting to warm up around here, and I'm finally starting to feel human again as a result. It's positively balmy at 75°F when it was just 10 ° colder a couple days ago.
One of the things you get told over and over again when you get here is, "Did you know? Japan has four seasons," as if it's unique to this country only. At first I thought it was one of those weird conceits that most cultures have. Here, specifically, "Japanese is soooooo hard. It's the hardest language ever, and no foreigner can ever hope to understand it," or when people are surprised you know how to use chopsticks.
But coming from So Cal, where we have nothing that really resembles clearly defined seasons (apart from it reaching 32° a couple times in winter and and really hot in summer, spotted with the Santa Anas in September and some times in March/April where it probably might rain a little - and don't forget June Gloom), the changes are pretty drastic here.
It's, like, it was the 1st of October, and BOOM, it was a cold day. Or now, May rolled around, and I could go outside without a jacket. Not to mention the beautiful changing leaves in fall, the couple times it snowed in winter, and the beautiful early spring where everything just CAME BACK TO LIFE. It was still kinda cold, but the light was brighter and all the flowers just popped open (including the famous sakura). I didn't think I was depressed at all, but, somehow, I just felt happy to be alive again. Really weird.
In any case, it's nice to experience actual seasons, but when I move back to the States, I'm going somewhere with no winter.
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