Japan, a cold country to live

I haven’t lived in Japan continuously for 44 years, I discovered something this winter. When I was single, fortunately I didn’t have to cook food at home, my mother didn’t ask me to work so hard even in winter.

For the first time in my life, my fingers got “simoyake” which means “frostbite”. After several weeks, I now have “akagire” which means “cut red” on my fingers. There are times when I don’t want to touch water, not even hot water, because my hands are feeling very cold and I’m afraid it will feel worse.

When we lived in Canada, the temperature outside dropped to twenty degrees centigrade below zero (-20°C), the apartment had central heating and nothing else puts the temperature at twenty degrees centigrade (20°C) and we lived very comfortably. In Mexico I never felt so cold.

In Japan, a country with 4 very distinct seasons, summer is hot and humid. Spring and autumn are so beautiful and pleasant, with a very comfortable temperature to live in. And winter is not so cold. However, there is a problem in the construction of houses, it is that in Japan it rains a lot and several typhoons arrive and that is very important, enduring the humidity of the summers means that they have better ventilation in the foundations of the houses, that makes the winter it is not easy to seal the houses to protect them from the cold.

Where we live it can go down to three degrees Celsius below zero (-3°C) nothing more. It feels hot around the heating of the air conditioner. Normally they have “kotatsu” and it is heated by inserting the part of the legs and feet. Other appliances they use are gas and electric stoves. Unfortunately, we don’t have any of the extra gadgets. The truth is that we are warmer and that’s it. I think today is colder than this season. The temperature of the house where we are is thirteen degrees centigrade (13°C). I am writing my comments and my fingers are very cold.

The hope is that soon winter will end and spring will come. Remembering my mother, I am very grateful that she did not force me to touch cold water when I was young.