Summer again

I hate summer in Japan, and it is now officially summer. Temperatures are in the 80s and 90s, the sun is hot, the breeze is dwindling and its HUMID. I'm hot indoors under air conditioning and I avoid the outdoors like the plague.

Thankfully, the hot and humid weather held off a surprisingly long time. We had an early Spring so I was nervous, but most of the summer has been lovely. Warm but not humid with a nice breeze. I can do that kind of summer. It couldn't last forever, though.

A few things I DO like about summer in Japan:

- huge hydrangeas everywhere
- lush green landscapes
- cold noodles
- fireworks (though you usually have to sit outside in the humidity before the fireworks start.. bleh)
- shirokuma (polar bear) ice cream (shaved ice with - what? - sweetened condensed milk on it? with frozen fruit and sweet beans mixed in)

Russell also recently remembered that we had these ice pack pillows that we had bought for him mom when she came to visit. Basically its an ice pack but its pillow sized and one side of it has something in it to keep it soft. The darn things stays cold ALL NIGHT. Its amazing. Russell is worried I'm going to give myself frostbite I'm so attached to it. Its making summer way better this year, though.