Winter is here.....Brrrr.......
To put a little bit of context into this. I love Winter. As a proud New Yorker, winter usually brings a lot of jolly good cheer in a city that never sleeps. A city that is usually so grumpy towards everything and anything. New York city is great in all seasons but you still have to generally deal with....well....New Yorkers....and we are not that easy to get a long with. Mostly because we are all on our hustles of sorts. Whether its trying to get a promotion, a better job, or just trying to survive the city in general at a young age by having two or three jobs to afford our living situations.
Spring brings allergy seasons and that makes anybody grumpy as you have to deal with sick people in trains and at work. Summer brings a terrible heat that highlights not only the stinky smell of the subway, the homeless and the city trash that surrounds NYC.
Fall is really just a tense and anxious time in NYC. Black Friday sales makes us want to kill everybody and Thanksgiving brings family reunions that involves confrontational conversation of whatever your of topic is. But then it arrives....WINTER IS HERE.
Winter in New York City is wonderful. There are more decorations. There are more celebratory events of sorts. Whatever holiday you celebrate during this season. Winter in NYC is different. Maybe its the cold that makes us more numb to things that usually annoy us in any other occasion.
I love Winter in NYC because it brings a sense of warmness to the New Yorkers. In my personal opinion, it just seems that people are nicer.
BUT THEN.......
I came to Japan and was horrified by its Winter Season. What the fuck?!?! Seriously!?!? No central heating. I mean WHAT THE FUCK. So let us take the time and talk about all the things Winter in Japan brings.
1. No Central Heating
So Japan has no Central heating provided in your apartment. I probably sound like a spoiled brat complaining about it. But I certainly did not know about it from the various Japan YouTube Videos I watched to prepare towards living in Japan. So there it was I was left in a Leopalace in the dead of winter going from an air conditioned heated bedroom towards a dark hallway that is filled with cold cold sorrow. Need something to wake you full blast in the morning? Just step into a narrow hallway whose temperature runs in the 10-15 degrees. Thing is you expect that outside of your apartment and your brain automatically thinks...ok here we go...it is cold READY? SET. GO!!! But inside your apartment?!?! You are left running to your heated room after a hot shower just to avoid being exposed to that frigid hot..cold..hot seesaw of temperatures. So it almost makes you trap in a heated room because it takes FOREVER to heat up the kitchen hallway (in a Leo Palace) so that you can make soup, make food. Then there is the dishes, laundry and various other stuff you need to do in that frigid cold hallway.
2. Gas or Electric!?!
So you finally figured out that your air conditioner that has a heater option sucks balls. And it also runs your electric bill higher than expected. You are left with choosing another option. Heaters. Gas or Electric? Now as a person who does not own a vehichle I have absolutely no experience with gas heaters. I know of them. I know the logistics of them. But do not, in any way take this knowledge I have of it; as absolute. I have heard great things about gas heaters. It warms up the room or house incredibly quick. And trust me after being exposed to the weather outside you want to warm up quick.
The cost of buying a gas heater ranges from about 7-15000 yen or more. So It is not like I couldnt afford it but more so that there was just no way of me to buy one as it involves buying gas for the heater. You basically have to go to the gas station in your neighborhood and bring your container to buy gas. Which in itself is not that expensive. But I am on a bike and I have terrible balance. Heck just buying toilet paper and having it hang on my bike gives me imbalance and has me rubbing it against the bike tire. And I really could not just risk having the gas spill on the street like that. Gas is great because it heats up your house fairly quick, and does not use up a lot of electricity. But there are a few other things you have to deal with. Gas smells, and you have to figure out a way to filter out that smell out of your apartment. So if you can get it done. Go with Gas.
Electric. Ah yes the heavy burden of going electric. The thing you have to remind yourself when going electric is this...your electricity bills is going to be higher. Sure you can set up timers on your air conditioner. But you generally can not do that on majority of the electric heaters out there. A lot of them are cheap. Cost ranging from as cheap as 3000 yen to something more fancy with features of 20,000 yen. The basic cheap ones just simply generates heat with basic left and right rotation. But the thing with those cheap electric heaters is that they do not generally heat up the entire room. Just that one small space you are in. Therefore, if you sit in another part of your room; you are left feeling a bit more colder.
The more expensive ones gives you features like an air conditioner where you can set up the temperature you want, a timer to stop and a programmed timer to turn on at a specific time.
You choose electric for its convenience. It is more convenient to stay at home and be warm to stay at your one heated spot/area. It can be a bit of pain in the ass to go to the gas station and buy gas for your gas heater. So do not feel bad if you are on the electric side of things.
3.Dude, where is my hot water?!?!
Depending on how your living situation is set up. You may have to deal with this. Not having hot water to use to clean and not having it to shower puts you in a foul foul foul mood. Not having water in your shower or apartment is usually the result of your water pipes not being properly insulated. Therefore, freezing your pipes during the harsh winter and you have to resolved to waiting it thaw out until water can pass through the pipes for it to be heated up. When I was in my leopalace, I was all electric and I did not have to deal with this. However, when I moved into a traditional Japanese 3LDK house and had to deal with paying a separate gas and electric bill. I had to learn this lesson the heard way. I usually and typically have a morning timed routine of getting up, showering, getting dressed and going to work. But when you have no hot water and you are left with cold water shower. Your usually proficient timed routine goes all into shit. Your mood becomes more foul and you are left curing everyone for this debacle.
So if you find yourself in a situation like mine, the best advice I can give is to have one or two faucets left on to run water. Small drips will do as to not waste water and increase your water bill than usual. The problem is fine tuning it to drip and that is always not easy. Do not do this before you go to work. It can be a major time consumer.
I do not know any of the science or magic that involves in making this work. But it personally works for me. I have a faucet dripping the hot water side at all times. I generally do stop it when I know the temperature is higher than usual. However, once you get careless with things and you forget that its going to be colder than usual on some days, then you forget to run the hot water and is left with having none to use the next day.
Kinda makes you wish there was an app that reminds you that its going to be fucking frigid some days. * Siri, can you tell me whenever the temperature drops down to 10 degrees or less*
4. Laundry
We all know how convenient it is to do laundry in Japan. It almost seems like every apartment has a laundry machine but no dryer. So you get use to drying clothes outside which doesn't seem like much of a hassle until winter. Frozen clothes.....anyone. Here are a few things that can prove to be problematic for laundry in the winter season. Using powdered laundry detergent sucks because during winter time the water is so cold that it does not disintegrate the powder which causes your clothes to have large chunks of hardened powdered detergent rocks.
Drying clothes is now a lengthy process that includes you drying your clothes when the sun is at its warmest and some days indoor drying is your best option....but since there is no central heating your are left with indoor drying which usually takes a day or two to dry.
Your best option is to use liquid detergent when doing laundry and dry your clothes when there is sunlight or dry your clothes when you are using your bedroom heater, because nothing is better than a bedroom smelling like downy fresh.
5. Staying Warm
Big shout out to Uniqlo for making heat tech and being able to make Big and Tall options on those clothes. Seriously, thank you.
So let us talk about how people stay warm that does not involve heaters. Living in a small inaka area, trying to look cool in order to stay warm goes out the fucking door. 3-4 sweaters.....fuck it, just do it..... 2 gloves, one cotton and other giant snow gloves....fuck it, just do it..... Heat tech jeans over ski pants....fuck it, gotta keep the good junk warm; just do it. You see when you have no general desire to use the current heating options you have in your house. Well.....you leave. And if you were me and is to cheap to take the bus.....well you bike. You bike to the supermarket, the mall, the movie theatre, the whichever place that provides you the best free heat. And when you bike, you deal with mother nature whose job is to stop you from stupidly biking at those kinds of conditions. So the next time you see a giant balloon man who looks like he just robbed a clothing store on a bike. Well, that is probably, honestly, me.
There are also various supermarkets who have a section that sell you heat tech layered clothing. winter socks, winter slippers, heated pads,heavy blankets and kotatsus. Yes, I know I really should have mentioned it when I was talking about gas or electric choices. Because a good kotatsu can keep 3-4 friends warm who chooses to slide in and play heated footsie among other things. (heat up your bentos, dry your small laundry like socks and undies) But it just really heats up the lower half of your body. And there are some downsides to that. Hot farts anyone?!?
Staying warm during the Winter in Japan usually means being a fashionista goes out the window. FUGLY Sweaters, leggings and multiple layers do occur. You will have to do more laundry every week as those layers do pile up and take longer to dry in the winter weather.
Winter in Japan is starting to suck for me. It is the one season of the year where I feel truly home sick. Sort of nostalgia because I would remember that the 14th Street Union Square Holiday Fair is there and I can haggle with sellers. Warm Chili, Hot Sandiches, Various Ethnic Soups and Foods that warm up your body and soul. These are just a small amount of things I miss during Winter in Japan. The end of the year brings excitement to the city and the beginnings of a New Year reminds New Yorkers that well......shit....these bills are not going to pay themselves. The hustle begins once again. And that always brings a source of inspiration for me.
This is not me bashing the entire Winter Season here in Japan. There are some challenges but there are also opportunities for you as a foreigner to take advantage. Netflix and chill anyone? Japan Illuminations and various enkais of sorts are sure to keep you busy and.....well...broke during this season. Japan is great in all seasons but winter is a challenge that can be overcome with the right mindset and proper preparation. So stay warm brave teachers! And remember, sex does not keep you warm it just makes you sweaty in the winter. LOL JK.
