Last week a Smith’s School of English Kawanishi student told me that the rainy season had begun. In Kawanishi and Amagasaki where I teach English, the rainy season begins in June and ends around mid July. It can get a bit wet at times but with smart phones these days, it’s so easy to know the weather forecast and know when to keep an umbrella within reach.
According to what I’ve read on the Internet, Japan has 4 seasons. However it seems that in the minds of some Japanese, the Japanese rainy season does not automatically fit into any of them. For example this week at Smith’s School of English Tsukaguchi, I told a student that it was hot and that summer had begun. At first my student’s reaction (laughing) indicated she felt otherwise. I was intrigued. So was the rainy season a season in itself? Did Japan have 5 seasons? I asked her. She said no, it had 4 seasons and so the rainy season was part of summer. This example shows how the rainy season seems to be kind of special in the minds of some of my students of English. It seems to be more like a transition period between spring and summer. That’s interesting.
So do I mind the rain? Not at all. It doesn’t rain every day and there are plenty of nice days to enjoy. I enjoy wearing some shorts and a t-shirt every day now. (^.^)
Derek
Leave a Reply