The following tale by Ken was published in the JET newsletter The Tatami Times back in September 1991.
The Lighter Side
Murphy's Law #431 says: If Kevin hangs his laundry out to dry, it will rain.
At first I was discouraged by this discovery. Now I've applied the scientific method to the problem, and through experimentation have found a foolproof way to change the weather in Bato.
If Bato's gone for too long without rain, I can generally end the drought by hanging out a full load of laundry. A couple of pairs of underwear (my own, mind you!) and a pillowcase guarantee a light sprinkle.
One pair apparently does nothing (although the high school girls walking by stop and giggle).
If I put my futon (Japanese bedding) on the veranda to air out, a thunderstorm is guaranteed, and generally starts when I'm in a meeting I can't sneak out of.
Thanks again, Kevin, for writing about your wonderful rife in Bato.
Obviously this rain thing isn't just Kevin's domain. I, too, am the cause of many a thunderstorm - which is something my father, Odin, likes to tease me about.
However, for me, as the unabashed King of rain... when it pours, I reign... I get all wet and moist - well, pretty much all of the time, as Tochigi-ken seems to get more than its fair share of bad weather. That may be Kevin's fault for doing so much laundry.
Naw... for me... it only seems to rain when I'm traveling. Traveling to a teacher's conference, vacationing, checking out sights around town ... that sort of stuff.
It really is so bad that both the foreigners and Japanese about Ohtawara-shi (where I live) have taken to calling me Ame otoko. Depending on the Chinese/Japanese kanji symbols used, it either means 'candy man' or 'rain man'. Guess which one I am.
Granted I didn't arrive in Japan and suddenly become all wet. Nope, the transformation began after I was first hit by a car while riding my bicycle in a typhoon. Here's ONE STORY I did previously. Here's ANOTHER.
Now, some of you might be wondering what the hell a person would be doing riding a bicycle around in a typhoon... well, all I can say is, if you have to ask, you have never lived in a country where hurricanes (typhoons) are a common occurrence. Not having a car, the bicycle is the main form of location for gaijin (foreigner/ outsider) like myself in and about town. Since I had to get to school to teach, I used my bicycle - it's what all of the students were doing, if they can do it, so can I.
Somewhere with my own private weather system,
Andrew Joseph
Today's blog is brought to us by me thinking of Travis: PLOP
