Various Updates

Cockroach update: You may remember that I caught a cockroach in the kitchen back in early July. He didn't check in to the roach motel that I so kindly left for him, but I did nab him nonetheless. I wasn't surprised that the roach motel didn't lure the sucker, because I remember seeing several of the exact same motels placed in various spots around the apartment that I first lived in, and, even though the cockroaches there were out in force, all of the motels were vacant.

So what a surprise it was to find that a customer had checked in a few days later! Holy cow! The motels work! Either that, or I just caught the dumbest cockroach in Japan. And guess what? Ever since that second bug bit the dust, I haven't spotted or caught any more. So I hope that's the end of them. But who knows? Maybe they have avoided detection. Or maybe I just jinxed myself by writing about their demise. Stay tuned.

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Weather update: The rainy season supposedly ended in early July, but it's still raining quite a bit. I think the Japanese need to re-define what they consider the rainy season. Oh, and when I got back from my recent trip, all of a sudden the humidity in Gokase had all but disappeared. Amazing! So I'm back to walking to work, and I'm barely sweating when I arrive. How nice. And instead of the temperature hovering around 30 degrees C (86 F) in the morning, it's now usually around 20 C (68 F)! What a difference that makes! The temperature in Gokase had dropped so much, I feared that summer was over. Heck, one night when several of us teachers were drinking at the beer garden, we were actually a bit cold sitting there in our shorts and T-shirts. But, alas, all it took was a trip back to the lowlands to realize that summer was still here. I tell you, down along the coast, it's much hotter and much more humid. I certainly wish I could live near the beaches so I could go swimming or surfing more often, but I like the trade-off of the cooler weather.

And on a related note: It's getting closer and closer to rice harvesting time. It's probably just my imagination, but it seems like the rice has spurted in the past few weeks. Time sure flies.

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Mini-triathlon update: It turns out I was right, that I did finish in third place. So I got the (non-existent) bronze medal. Amazingly, the first- and second-place finishers crossed the finish line only one second apart! I was approximately 1:29 behind them. Even though my time is unofficial and based on my watch, the fourth-place finisher came in a good 45 seconds after me, so I'm sure I got third place. As far as I know, the results have yet to be officially announced, and I have no idea if they ever will be. But what will probably happen is the that maybe in another month or two the top finishers will receive some sort of certificate or award in front of the other students. You see, at school they are often in no hurry to pass out certificates. It's a shame, because by now, everyone has forgotten about the race, anyway. By the way, I know how the students fared because I got the times from a P.E. teacher, upon my request. (The first marked column has the swim times, the second one the bike times, the third one the run times, and the last one has the total times.)