Winter Break

I suspect that there are many people who would agree with me if I said that in Northern Japan it often feels that you don't so much experience Winter as endure it. Sure there is a lot of fun to be had entertaining yourself with Winter sports on the weekend, but even the hardiest of souls can find the long dark nights and biting cold a bit of a chore after a while. Unlike in Scotland where a generally rainy and windy Autumn gradually slips into an similarly rainy and windy Winter, in Japan the gentle chill of Autumn, with it's fantastic display of reds and gold, snaps rudely around mid-December, when the skies darken rapidly and the menacing grey clouds which blanket the sky begin to cough up continuously heavy snowfalls upon those unfortunate enough to be living below. It's at this time of the year that you begin to wonder how Japan ever got the name 'Land of the Rising Sun' , because the sun at most times appears to be very well hidden indeed. The start of the snowfalls is accompanied by a dramatic plummeting in temperatures. It is a testament to just how far the temperature can drop that, come around mid-December, most ALTs begin to keep their olive oil in the fridge so it won't freeze on their shelves.

Were Japanese houses not built out of plastic and paper mache the winters here might not be regarded with such trepidation by foreigners. In sensible countries like Canada, Norway or Iceland people can escape the intense winter chill by seeking refuge in their insulated, generally centrally heated, homes. In Japan by contrast, land of the automated arse polishing toilet seat and robotic football-playing dogs, central heating and insulation remain inventions yet to be imagined. Instead here single rooms are heated using dangerous kerosene stoves, which are best kept running otherwise the heat quickly escapes through the house's inch thick walls. As these stoves take a while to kick-in, people traditionally take refuge underneath a kotatsu, a curious piece of Japanese furniture which is basically a low lying table with an electric heater built into it – I slept underneath mine last year as my bedroom was too cold to set foot in, never mind sleep in.

I have been told that the slow up-take of modern heating methods by the Japanese is related to the customary Japanese view that it is more sensible to heat your body directly than wasting energy on heating an entire room/house - hence the popularity of the kotatsu. Frankly I have to disagree with the my host nation on this one: when it reaches the stage when you're too afraid to even go to the toilet because of the cold (although I am fortunate enough to have a heated toilet seat) you know there is an issue in need of addressing.

So as you can probaby guess, all this darkness and cold can get a bit depressing after a while, a feeling which is often augmented by the isolation felt when living in Japan as a foreigner. As the end of December approached I could feel myself in desperate need of a respite. Remembering well how my visit to Australia the year before had really helped me recharge my batteries – as well as my supply of vitamin D – I decided that a long winter break to some hot destination was a must. It was a little difficult choosing just where to visit; China and Korea were both out because their winters are reputedly even fiercer than Japan's; I had visited south-east Asia just last summer and wasn't keen on revisiting the region so soon; I did have one friend who was going to Jordan (somewhat incredibly his route took him from Japan via Amsterdam) but traversing such a long distance didn't appeal. So finally I settled upon India as my destination of choice. I knew it would be hot there, the culture interested me, and, unlike in Japan, I knew there was a good chance that I would actually be able to eat the food. And so it was that I departed to India for my 3 week winter vacation.

I have decided that this is not the place to recount my tales from India, I did think about it, but Fog-on-the-Wyn/Shirami has always been intended as a blog about my life here in Japan – and besides, I need to save some stories to tell people about when I get home. Needless to say I had a very nice time, saw some very nice things and met some very nice people. Most importantly the weather there was fantastic, so for 21 glorious days I reveled in the baking Indian sun without even once giving a thought to snow. Unfortunately my winter sojourn meant that my dear blog has been neglected for quite some time. But fear not, I have returned and so have my musings. Expect plenty of exciting tales involving snow, ice and tubes of Raljex in the coming months.