The attack of the leaping cockroach

   I had the opportunity to talk to more Japanese people about hugging the other night. I was informed that in Japan, そういう習慣はない: "We don't have that custom here." I hadn't thought of hugging as a custom before, but it is, just like kissing on the cheek is the custom in France. Then she proceeded to offer this explanation: "Well, in Japan it's very hot and humid. So it's not comfortable to hug."

   That only explains why there's no hugging in summer.
 

   It has been incredibly humid lately. It's the rainy season, and when it's not raining, it's cloudy and foggy, and it feels like the only reason it's not raining is because the rain droplets can't squeeze through all the moisture in the air.

   I've been informed that soon the bugs will come out to play. Apparently, Japanese cockroaches are a little smaller than American cockroaches. That's great, right? Except that Japanese cockroaches jump. At humans. They jump at humans! They come flying off the ground and attack your face!!!
   I haven't seen any yet, so I really hope the locals are just having fun at my expense.

   There are a lot of insects where I live, and a lot of convenience stores and restaurants have these little bug death traps outside. They're fluorescent lights encompassed by electrified wires. The moths go towards the light, but before they reach it, they are zapped to death. The sound is really loud. It reminds me of the sound downed wires in Half Life 2 make, when they zap and dance around on puddles of nuclear waste.
  
   I really don't envy the people who have to clean all the moth corpses off them every night.

   This is an interesting post about Cultural Differences from a blog I sometimes read: http://thisjapaneselife.org/2013/05/29/adjustment-and-influence-japan/