As many of you may know, I am from Minnesota. It is located in the US right next to the border of Canada. The latitude of my hometown is about the same as Hokkaido. The summers are warm and a bit humid, but the winters can be devastating. Most winters the temperature can get down to -20°C. When it is that cold, your lungs hurt when you breathe.
Having grown up in that climate, I have learned to love cold weather. Tokyo’s extremely hot and humid summers are difficult for me. Even the winters here are mild to me. Most stores in Japan have their heaters on max, so I tend to wear T-shirts all year round. Of course, I will still wear a jacket outside… I am not that crazy.
On the rare occasion when Tokyo gets snow, I become excited like a child. Even more excited when the snow piles up, like this week. The look of everything being bright white, the feel of holding the chilling snow in your hand before you whack someone with a snowball, the smell of the cold brisk air, and even the sound of walking on the crunching snow brings me so much pleasure.
The downside to all of the snow is all of the accidents it causes. I read a news article saying there were over 200 injuries from slipping on the icy snow-covered roads in Tokyo. Normally walking to the station from my house takes around 10 minutes. It took double that to make sure I didn’t slip and hurt myself.
Too bad it won’t last. Knowing Tokyo, the next time I will get to see a nice snowfall again will be a few years later.
