Fuji Summer, Again

You know the saying, "When the cat's away, the mice will play?" For a high school in Japan, it should go more like this: "When the cat's away and the mice are sweating like pigs, they all get to stick their heads in the freezer."

It's extremely humid, the way that makes you feel dirty after stepping out of the shower and that leaves your clothes constantly damp and stuck to your skin. Contrary to my tennis coach's recommendations to spend time sans AC and "climatize," or get used to the hot weather, nobody can adjust to humidity. Japanese people complain about it more than I do! So when the principal and both vice-principals went out of town yesterday for a business trip, the air conditioner suddenly came alive. It pounded out dry, icy air like I've never seen before in Japan. I forgot that the AC existed in the teachers' room, because last summer it was never used. But with no one to monitor school expenses, that baby was on full blast.

Which brings me to yet another thing I never believed I would believe before coming to Japan: I didn't want the AC on!! It was assaulting. It was like a snow monster came at the most inappropriate time to freeze us all out. My initial, 2-second relief was followed by a sensation that this cold air just didn't "fit." It was too much in contrast to the outside and, since I haven't been in such heavy AC for a year, I could feel my body trying to deal with the change. I'm not saying I don't need an air conditioner, but I am saying I don't need it on as high as I thought. When your body just surrenders to the seasons, it does feel like a more natural and comforting environment, even if it means you're sweating in work clothes.

Well, as long as you're not sweating too much. Not visibly, anyway. It's just that time of year called "summer," you know? We deal with it.

Today marks the start of exam week and my kids don't take the English test until tomorrow. That means I have free time until they finish and I am suddenly responsible for grading 400 papers. But I have plenty to do: I'm writing people I know in France to let them know I'll be there again, and I'm starting my goodbye speech for the school's closing ceremony. The letters are in far-from-perfect French, and the speech is in far-from-fluent Japanese. Of course, the speech is completely riddled with mistakes. But I can't tell you how happy it makes me to realize in hindsight that in the past couple days I've been using 3 languages to go about my business. I'm not saying I'm good at it, but for some reason it was always a dream of mine to be able to use 3 languages at once. Now that I'm doing it I can't tell you how satisfied it makes me feel.

Totally satisfied, until I remember how hot it is; until I have to peel the skirt away from my legs when I leave the computer, because in the meantime it has welded to me like saran wrap.