Blog Reading: "Cool Summers"

Reflection:

After learning about the culture variations when dealing with weather, I was excited to see quite a few contrasts to how things are taken in Japan verses where I am from. (For the purpose of this reflection, I am specifically comparing what I've learned about Japan and my own experiences of where I have lived/grown up.)

The biggest difference that I've noticed is that when dealing with Japanese culture and its relation to weather is that Japan seems to have a much larger use of descriptors and association with more 'seasons'. Growing up in East Texas, no one really bothered to differentiate the seasons except with weather the plants were dead or alive and subsequently if it was hot/humid or bearably cool. Our summer season really took up the majority of the year and it never really got cold- enough so that if there were even minor flurries the schools would shut down because of power outages. Japan, with the excitement of very specific seasons and special festivals or things associated with them is much different, and I appreciate that because it seems much more optimistic or that people are actually trying to enjoy the change.

One similarity, however, is that both areas do have a rainy season and get humid in the summer. You wouldn't think Texas gets wet, but the particular area that I lived suffered from hurricane seasons and regularly flooded and had severe downpour during hurricane season. This, coupled with the extreme heat lent to having very humid summers. I have one particular memory of having to go out and walk a couple of miles with 102 degree weather with humidity percentage in the high 80s and 90s.

When dealing with extreme weather, I feel like they can be pretty similar in that daily life can continue, but I would also say that at least from what I have read, Japan takes the changes much more serious and actually takes precautions, whereas in Texas, people really just react to the disasters and don't actually prepare for them usually. It always took a lot of people off guard when the power went out (and always took a very long time for discrepancies to be fixed).