Ahhh, summer

Today was much cooler than it has been for the past 10 days or so, but summer has arrived here in Japan. It arrived overnight. I am not complaining. Finally, I can find a place where I am not cold! And, with all of the electricity saving ideas going around this summer, maybe not all buildings will be freezing!

Apparently, I am crazy. All of my friends keep telling me that. I like summer, yes, Japanese, hot, humid summer. I am not saying that I don't get hot and sweat like crazy, I am just saying that I don't mind it. I do agree, that feeling sweaty all the time is not necessarily the best feeling in the world. But, it is not the worst, either. I love that when I go running I come home looking like I just stepped out of the shower and feeling like I can conquer the world-well, okay, like I just conquered 5K!

I love eating watermelon and kakigori, shaved ice that is an experience in itself, salads and fresh tomatoes, although I'm not growing my own this year, white peaches and somen, thin, cold noodles served over ice.

I love carrying a fan and a summer sweater with me all the time, trying to stand in the shade of a light pole, finding out that sun umbrellas really are helpful, and riding in the 'mildly air conditioned' train car.

So, as we head into what looks to be a long hot summer, I am going to enjoy myself.

(Soon I will share about my early summer trip which I blame for my not posting in June:)

Persimmon and Nashi

Another great thing about fall in Japan is the fruit. I come from small town South Dakota where plums and blackberries are exotic fruits. We buy huge bags of oranges and apples and big bunches of bananas, those are our staple fruits, add watermelon in the summer. So, when I moved to Japan I found a whole new world of fruit!


One of my very favorite Japanese fruits is the nashi, also known as Asian pears. This fruit is shaped liked an apple, usually a light brown almost tan color, and tastes wonderful. I was so excited when my family was able to be here during nashi season so they could taste this wonderful fruit.




The other autumn fruit I have come to love in Japan is persimmons. I had heard of persimmons before moving to Japan but would never have known what one looked like until I got here. (Before my dad knew what they were, he asked about the orange square tomatoes at the grocery store!) I also got to introduce my family to the joy of this fruit while they were here.