Typhoon Neoguri

This week Japan a major typhoon, Neoguri meaning "racoon dog", plumelled parts of southern Japan, especially the islands of Okinawa. At least seven deaths have been linked to the typhoon, and it left many injured. For the past few days there has been round-the-clock news coverage with devestating photos and videos. Fortunately, Tokyo remained unscathed and as of this afternoon it more or less left the country. Yesterday my boss said that employees might not be able to come into work today because it would be dangerous to commute in the midst of a full fledged hurricane, but on my walk to work there was no trace that it had even rained overnight:

I hadn't realized that typhoons are prevalent in Japan, but my students said serious typhoons happen two or three times a year, and minor typhoons/tropical storms occur regularly in the summer and early autumn. In June, Japan endures its rainy season, which to me hasn't been so bad. It has only rained heavily a handful of times, and otherwise the rain is fairly light and often fleeting - not unlike Hawaii in December. Due to some sort of atmospheric shift with El Niño, the rainy season is longer than usual this year and some reports say it will continue to rain on and off for a few more days.

Luckily, this weekend looks to be sunny sans rain. This is particularly lucky because this weekend I will be climbing Mt. Fuji! When my first host dad and brother found out that I enjoy hiking in Hawaii, they suggested that I join them in this two-day endeavor. Because my host mom isn't going, I'm borrowing her gear and funnily enough I wear the same size shoe as my host dad who has two pairs so the logistics worked out very well. We are going in a group with a professional guide, and we will stay in a cabin overnight so that we can wake up to watch the sunrise on Sunday! As it turns out, there's a full moon this weekend, so when we wake up around 2am on Sunday to complete the climb to the top, we will have some natural glow (in addition to our headlamps) to light our path. Needless to say I'm incredibly excited for this challenge and I'll be sure to post photos next week!

All set!

Hope you have a weekend full of wonder and adventure.