Rainy Season

梅雨 - つゆ - tsuyu - rainy season

The rainy season in Japan starts in June and lasts through the end of July. The skies stay cloudy, the air is humid, and storms are expected most days of the week. 

Last year I was surprised by the weather. I remember having to buy rain boots, a jacket, and multiple umbrellas. I remember walking to my bus stop in the mornings dodging puddles, because my rain boots were the short ankle style ones. This year though, I have been more than prepared. I'm actually pretty comfortable. I have multiple umbrellas, a long black trench rain coat from UNIQLO, my black knee high Hunter boots. I'm all set.

In this post I've included some pictures of the heavy flooding that happened this week. It was shocking to me to see the rice fields that I walk through every day completely submerged under water.

This week was extremely busy for me and not exactly routine. Not only was I was hosting an international English event at my junior high school on Thursday and Friday, but I was also preparing for an elementary English camp that I'll be hosting in a couple of weeks. I'd been preparing for the international event since the end of June, but I still felt like everything came together at the last minute. That's how I always feel though, but I kind of love the rush. 

Anyway, the event was a great success and I was so proud of my students for the effort they put in. I also have to praise the visiting graduate school students that came to participate in the event. They were extremely patient and persistent in helping my students put together full English sentences. I was thrilled with their level of involvement.

So this week's rainy weather worked in my favor at the beginning, and then let me down at the end of the week. 

Let me explain ... 

On Monday, the skies were blue and the air was thick. I could tell a storm was coming.

Storm clouds rolling in ....

My feeling was right. On Tuesday, classes for students were cancelled due to Typhoon "Nanmado". However, I reported to school along with all of the other teachers. We used the day as a 'work day' and as a day to catch up and make any material that we've been behind on. 

Typhoon "Nanmado" was a gift to us in that sense.

Thankfully, the Typhoon was not severe and it really only brought heavy rain and some strong wind. Not too much damage was done. We were all very thankful for that.

Thursday was the first day of the 2017 International English Event. Like I said, it was a great success, but I was so happy when the day was over and I was waving goodbye to the visiting graduate school students. I had last minute preparations to make for the second and final day of the event.  I couldn't relax just yet.

Loved having the opportunity to meet and be around other English speakers!

When I left school that afternoon, I had everything printed and ready for day two. I was so excited!

Little did I know, the weather had something else planned ...

As I was getting ready to leave for school on Friday morning, an Emergency Alert went of on my iPhone. I checked my phone and used Google Translator to decipher that there was a possible evacuation warning for my area. Apparently there was severe flooding and possible landslides. I must've been too focused on my English event, because I didn't really think twice about the alert. I continued on as if it was a normal morning with just heavier than usual rain. 

It wasn't until I got to my bus stop that I started to think, maybe I should have called the office and double checked that Emergency Alert ...

There was a line coming out of the JR train station with people waiting to pick up their "late" slip for work.

There was a line for taxis. 

There was a line at every bus stop. 

And my bus wasn't there ... yet.

My bus finally arrived and we all piled in. Surprisingly enough, my bus actually got back on schedule and I was not late to school. If anything, I was actually a minute early. I was really impressed because I did notice quite a bit of flooding on the roads. There were a couple of times where my bus had to switch lanes because the water was too deep for it to move through.

As I was walking to my school, I quickly realized that the rice fields that I normally admire, were completely under water. I couldn't see them at all. The road that I was walking on was actually at water level. It was so bizarre. 

When I walked into the building all of the teachers were surprised to see me. They immediately told me, "Mickey, no school."

I was so surprised, even though I should've known better. Most of the students at my JHS come to school by bike, so of course they wouldn't  be coming in today.

I was disappointed that the second day of the English event would not be happening. I had prepared a lot for this event and I was really looking forward to my students having the opportunity to put their English into practice.

Thankfully, this wasn't their only chance to participate in an event like this. Around October, I'll be planning another international event for my school. As long as the weather doesn't interfere, they'll have another chance. However, October is Typhoon season ...

I do have to say that even though I was disappointed with school being cancelled, I understand that it was done to keep everyone safe. Thankfully the area that I live in was only inconvenienced, but there are parts of Kyushu where the heavy rain did severe damage and caused multiple fatalities.