Rainy season in Japan and the end of spring semester

June and July in Japan mean rainy season. You can see people old and young, men and women, clutching their umbrellas and wearing soaking wet shoes on the train. It’s quite hot and very (89%!) humid. The amount of mosquitoes is starting to get ridiculous and a small part of me is still irrationally worried about catching some Asian type of Malaria. Apart from this, the spring semester is close to its end as well.

My friends from Czech republic often wonder how come my summer break starts so late. That is because Japanese school year officially starts in spring at the beginning of April. This spring semester then ends towards the end of July and the fall semester starts in October and ends at the end of January. Relatively short semesters therefore mean more intensive classes.

Right now I’m in the middle of preparations for the finals – exams, presentations and group projects, some of which I already finished. My tight schedule is made even busier with my two part-time jobs and studying for the JLPTs (Japanese Language Proficiency Test). This year I am trying to get the second highest certification. I am happy with the absence of cyclists on my way to school, because for some reason the Japanese fear the rain quite a lot. Everyone decides to take the already overcrowded bus after the first signs of mild rain.

Everybody is looking forwards to the end of the rainy season so they can do barbecue on the beach, but almost immediately after the rainy season follows the typhoon season. That is why I don’t mind the occasional rain, I know (based on my own experience) that it will become almost impossible to ride my bike in the midst of a raging typhoon. This season is therefore a great opportunity for increased productivity. We cannot just run around enjoying the sun at the moment, so we have to spend the majority of our free time at home, hence I am prepared to use this time as efficiently as possible for studying. Let us hope this motivation will last me even after it stops raining.

 

More blog articles

All news