My Japanese heat

No, "Japanese heat" is not a euphemism for getting some hot Asian lovin' - I actually am talking about the process of warming enclosed domiciles to the point where one can exist in them comfortably. This process is largely a sacred mystery to the Japanese.
Japan is a nation that prides itself on the beauty of its four seasons. Aside from the southernmost parts, every prefecture in Japan experiences the four distinct seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Shockingly enough, winter is even colder than summer here, just like the rest of the world. Unlike the rest of the world, though, Japan has an odd approach to dealing with this phenomenon. Japan (or more specifically, Akita prefecture) may not be ass-freezing cold like Minnesota - the lowest temperature I've seen here is -12°C/10°F - but artificial heating is certainly still a necessity. Everything about this country, though, from architecture to everyday practices, seems to violently oppose the efficacy of this.
Take walls, for example. One would think that the people of any region that gets an actual winter with snow would build houses with thicker walls, insulation, etc. Not so much, here. The prevailing attitude here is that such insulation is a wasteful indulgence. I'm lucky in that my apartment is a stout concrete building that holds in heat reasonably well, but wooden houses 'round these parts can suck most heinously.
This leads into the issue of central heating - if you're going to heat an entire house for the winter, you need some sort of energy-efficient barrier to keep the heat in, right? The Japanese approach here is a complete lack of central heating. Houses are generally designed to be easily partitioned off, and space heaters are used to warm only the areas presently in use. This system...works, mostly. The big, obvious drawback is that when you enter a room not previously in use, it's effing cold.
As serene as a crisp winter morning can be in this region, there's still something about it...something just not quite right. A friend of mine put it best when he said, "Isn't it charming how we wake in the morning, crawl out from underneath the electric blanket, inhale that clean mountain air, and the first thing we see is...our breath?"
Oh but wait, it gets better! I'm one of the lucky ones who has an entirely electric heater in my apartment. So long as I keep the sliding doors to my bedroom shut, it keeps the main living area comfortable. Better still, my school even has a crude approximation of central heating! Of course, they turn it off in any room not presently in use, but it still kicks the shit out of the alternative...the kerosene space heater, which many of my fellow JETs deal within both the home and the workplace. There actually are good and evil kerosene heaters, but the evil vastly outnumber the good, just like in any decent epic fantasy.
Good: (more or less) Permanent, built in structures that you simply fill up and turn on, and they vent their waste products to the outside, through some sort of hose-vent technology I haven't bothered to explore further.
Evil: Mobile units that you fill up and plug in wherever you see fit, so that you may enjoy carbony gassy bi-products in any corner of your house. To avoid death, occasionally open a window and let in fresh air. Yes, in the dead of winter. I'm not even going to bother going into how counterproductive this seems.

My favorite Evil story came from another JET here, whose school office is heated by these monsters. They mentioned to fellow staff how there was a bit of a smell in the air and asked off-hand whether that was safe. The answer: "Well...maybe not totally safe...but definitely cheap!"
Hear that? That was the sound of my palm striking my forehead.

All is not unwell, though. The cold I'm totally accustomed to, but the cold + bucketloads of snow + actual mountains = opportunities I've never had before - particularly snowboarding. I was a little apprehensive
about getting into this, as the last time I tried (when I previously lived in Japan) I screwed my ankle so hard I couldn't walk correctly for two months. But what the hell, if everyone's doing it...
It actually went remarkably well. The place we went to was huge! The 10 or so minute gondola ride to the top began to put it in perspective, and...well, I'll let my pictures do the talking.







Mind you, these are only small portions of one of the courses, the longest of which was 5.5km. My, what precious memories I will have...


Engrish never ceases to make me giggle.

In other news, my students are still bastards, but they're cute bastards who make me laugh.

Student (to me, in English): What's up!
Me: 'Sup.
Other teacher (to student, in Japanese): What'd you say?
S: What's up!
OT: WTF does that mean?
S: You wouldn't get it, you're too old.
OT: *smacks kid on back of head*
Me: *laughing this whole time*

or

Student: What does the "up" in "what's up" mean?
Me: It means something that is currently happening, generally in the life of the person you are asking.
S: Really, 'cause I thought it meant to have an erection.
Me: ...

Mind you, I just taught my students "What's up?" no more than a few months ago. They mostly don't have a clue as to the etymology of this expression; they just know the pronunciation and the fact that it's a greeting used by English-speaking youth. I wash my hands of all blame; they took it to where it's gone entirely on their own.