SUN

Let me just say "DUDE!"  The sun in okinawa is BRUTAL.  Anything less than SPF 50 only buys me like 30 minutes outside.  Last time I went scuba diving I got burned in the 5 minutes it took me to take off my clothes and put on a wet suit.  This place is no joke (and I am also extremely white).

I've noticed Japan has a kind of love hate relationship with the sun.  On one hand, they have it on their flag and they use it's kanji, 日,　about a thousand times in Japanese.  On the other hand, anyone over 30 seems to spend every ounce of energy trying to avoid contact with said sun.  

It really does seem to be an age thing.  (Thankfully) the teenage and 20 year olds love to bare skin, and lots of it!  In the summer however, little kids and the 30 and up crowd are covered head to toe in clothes.  Seriously, no skin exposed.  Parasol, hat, mask or bandana around the face, long sleeves, towel around the neck, the occasional sweat shirt, pants, the whole nine.  For a while I wondered if there was even a Japanese word for sunscreen because these folks don't seem to have heard of it. 

That being said, I've started adopting the towel around the neck or head look because Okinawa is the most humid and gross location on the planet.  

I'm smiling to hide the searing pain

Okinawa is lacking in the fashion department but I totally get it now.  Any sexy shoes  or make-up you put on will be disgusting within minutes.  Damn I miss the mainland and winter...

Typhoon

I survived my first typhoon last week!  All in all it wasn't so bad compared to the few hurricanes I've been in, but I learned a few lessons unique to my time in Japan.

First, living in a high rise provides a spectacular view of the carnage but there was some heavy swaying during strong winds and the 13 hours without power also meant no pump to bring the water up to the 12th floor.  13 hours without water or power does put life into perspective, so the moment of zen and reflection was a nice bonus, but I also wonder why humans would ever live in this humid hell hole before electricity.  

Second, air conditioning is king.  Power went out at 10:30am and by 12:30 the humidity inside rose to about 70% and later peaked at 80%.  Even after the sun set it was incredibly hot and impossible to get comfortable.  I was able to keep myself 'hydrated' and cool with slightly chilled beer and a wet towel that I periodically threw into the beer fridge.  In hindsight I should have stocked up on some ice beforehand...

Third, Okinawans don't give a crap about typhoons.  While most jobs officially had the day off during the typhoon, I still saw way too many people driving and walking around outside during peak rain/wind.  Maybe they were going to buy ice and cold beer, but it just didn't seem worth it to me at the time.  Luckily I got the following day off from work too but I would say the majority of Japanese businesses had work the next day despite the heavy flooding and power outages.

Lastly, physics do not apply here.  Though I was on the 12th floor there was still water pouring in under the front door, through the peep hole, and out of the the smoke detectors on the 6th floor.  

The news said typhoon #8 (I think the foreign news programs were calling it Neoguri but they just call them by numbers in Japan) was one of the biggest in the last 10ish years, so I'm hoping the next few won't be so bad....yes, the next few.  I'm told Okinawa gets several typhoons a year and the season lasts until around September so there is more fun to be had.  I definitely need to stock up on ice and just kick back and enjoy the view.

And what a great view it is