A space for those who find themselves in a less-familiar land. Share experiences or advice, seek help, ramble at will :)
How's the weather?

The typhoons are all over the place in this part of the world of late. What differences in weather have you noticed between where you have lived before, and where you live now?
Aside from the typhoons, I guess for me the biggest thing about the weather in Japan is the temperature differences between the summer and winter months, compounded by absolutely abysmal house insulation - the complete opposite of England, where summer and winter temperature averages are both pretty mild and our buildings are usually fairly well-insulated. I do appreciate that there are other countries with far greater extremes, but for me as a cold-sensitive Kentish lass my first winter in Tokyo was a bit of a shock!




Barring the haze, I love the weather in Singapore, actually! Everyone kept telling me that the humidity would drive me crazy and it would be terrible and I would want to die, but I sleep with my windows open all the time and enjoy the evening breeze and barely use the air-conditioning.
It's true that sometimes I do close all the windows for a couple of days and run the AC as a dehumidifier because otherwise wooden furniture does swell up and you can't open the drawers, but on the whole I love it. I can do water sports the whole year without freezing to death!
The haze, though. The haze is so terrible.
Singapore weather is wonderful! I totally agree with you. I wanted to live in SG after spending a wonderful few weeks there about six years ago, but somehow got stuck here instead, lol. I do hear my SGean friends complaining about the haze, too, and it sounds awful. Please take care of yourself on hazy days :(
Well, I moved to Edinburgh from Dallas, Texas, after having grown up in Phoenix, Arizona, so I had a lot of acclimatisation to do!
Interestingly, the central heating in my house hasn't worked for several years, which has probably helped more than anything else to get me really acclimatised, as well as saving us a fair amount of money on our power bills. (We do have a gas fire which we use during the winter months, and a couple of smaller heaters.)
Edinburgh's weather is fine - when they hear where I'm from, everyone asks if I don't hate the weather here, and I always say, "no, I'm quite happy with it," and they give me strange looks! I guess people are so used to complaining about the weather that they don't realise how good they have it!
I think I would be right there with those giving you funny looks, since I love warmth and sunshine and Edinburgh is not famous for either of those things! But then, Britain as a whole is mostly famous for being rainy and grey, and we both know for a fact that this is not reality. Still, I respect you enormously for living there in a central-heatingless house (HOW? I lived in a house without central heating down in Southampton and was miserable for half the year, lol) and am really happy that you are happy there. :D
I hear you on those typhoons. We've got a number of tropical storms and depressions that have cropped up in the Atlantic in the last few days or so. Fortunately most of them look like they aren't going to do much, if any, damage.
Having grown up in the Deep South, I am very much a summer girl. I love high temps and higher humidity. Even in with the heat I still tend to wear long-sleeves and scarves (mostly because folks are wild with their air conditioning around here). I have a very difficult time transitioning into northern climates, especially in the winter. I am not at all accustomed to snow or ice, and having to drive in it makes me incredibly nervous.
That being said, it is my goal to one day go sledding. I have never been, but it looks like a lot of fun so I kind of want to try it out. :D
I heard on the TV last week that due to climate change we can expect typhoons and the like to get worse over the coming years too, so please be careful during typhoon season. :(
I am so happy when I meet fellow heat-lovers! I mean, possibly due to being British, I am incapable of physically withstanding too high temperatures, but nothing makes me happier than the rising thermometer signalling the beginning of summer. I am so with you on that!
As for driving in unsavoury weather conditions... Well, at least I suppose you can deal with rain better than those in California, right? ;) Seriously though, being cautious in ice and snow is only fair, I think. I hope you get to try sledding one day! You're right, it does seem like fun. :D
Whooo, fellow heat buddy! Summer is definitely my favorite season, with Spring coming in at a close second. I just love being warm. It's like wrapping up in a blanket fresh out of the dryer.
Hah, yeah, I think I could tackle rain better than a Californian, but they'd probably laugh at my reaction if I ever was caught in an earthquake. ;)