After
being accepted to the JET Programme, they made us go through a lot of “orientations” in which
former and current JET participants got to stand on a soap box and tell us all
the things they were underprepared for.
Many of them complained that, “Japan is cold!” I would like to address the problems with
this very basic and useless phrase:
First, I am
from Flagstaff, Arizona. Yes, the same
Arizona that is famous for cacti and rattlesnakes. Also the same state that is famous for
featuring a more-than 12,000 foot mountain, at the base of which is Flagstaff,
at a lovely and chilly 7,000 feet. I
came from the bowels of hell in southern California, where winter never came
close to freezing and snow was mythical, and I had absolutely no problem adjusting
to Flagstaff. None whatsoever. Not even after getting an average of 4 hours
of sleep and walking home in blizzards at 1 am after late practice sessions at
the music building was I ever chronically ill or at all uncomfortable with the
weather. In fact, I loved it.
Now,
having gone to Northern Arizona University for college, in Flagstaff, Arizona,
naturally I was surrounded by other in-state college kids who had come from the
desert. These “desert-babies,” as other
Flagstaff hippies liked to refer to them, loved to complain about the cold in
much the same way these JETs complained about Japan’s winter. Although southern California wasn’t quite as
hot as Phoenix, Bullhead, or even Lake Havasu, I felt that if I was okay
adjusting to the cold, these “desert-babies” had no reason to complain. After all, we had awesome heaters in our
dorms and didn’t have to pay for the utilities.
Which
brings me to my next point: every house and every building in America has this
thing called “central heating.” And most
also have “central cooling.” Flagstaff
doesn’t have this because summer isn’t hot enough to warrant the cost, but
that’s another discussion. Central
heating is this thing we take for granted in America where most all buildings
have been constructed with these features built-in since World War II. However, this is something Japan does NOT
have. Somehow, despite having three
orientations in which a plethora of people complained, “Japan is COLD!” this
was conveniently not mentioned.
Going
along with that, Japanese houses and buildings have no insulation. Yes, that’s right, not only do buildings lack
sufficient heating and cooling, but they also have no means of insulating
themselves from the extremes of the seasons.
I have no idea why this is, whether it is related to building codes in
Japan, something to do with regulations about compromising earthquake
resistance, increasing the potential for mold or otherwise, I don’t know. What I do know is that this detail was entirely
ignored by absolutely every person who complained, “JAPAN IS COLD!!!”
Why in
the hell native English speakers, who are asked to teach their language in a
foreign country, can’t seem to properly communicate key details is rather
disconcerting. After all, “cold” is a
relative term that is thrown around in a variety of situations and places from
a snowboarding trip at Mammoth Mountain to a 75-degree-Fahrenheit day in
Tucson. Therefore, for those of you
planning to visit Japan in the winter, please be advised that it is cold
BECAUSE buildings and places of residence lack the heating and insulation most
Western countries are accustomed to.