It's been almost a year now since coming to Japan and I'm not quite sure what to write. I suppose I've been here long enough and becoming familiar enough with the language that everything feels more or less "normal".

What I mean is, that a lot of the mystery and excitement that I used to have during my previous travels in Japan has been replaced with an ambivalent familiarity. It just doesn't feel that special anymore, and after a while that is bound to happen I suppose. On the other hand, I'm not exactly living in Tokyo anymore either, which might have a little bit to do with my sudden lack of excitement.

I've come full circle in a lot of ways. After freezing my a$$ off in the wintertime, I'm back to the sweltering heat and humidity of summer. I've noticed that it's not the temperature, but he humidity that gets you here. The heat index is almost always over 100 degrees F everyday, which is just brutal. All of your shirts just get soaked with sweat no matter what you do. Now I never wear socks at home, and I'm sleeping only in underwear and shorts. To do something like that in say, February would be absolutely unthinkable. Living in a Japanese house, you certainly have to put up with a lot of temperature extremes, thats for sure.