No, it's not Christmas in August, or an early Labor Day. The British Language influence on my daily life continues unabated!
Today, I leave for my summer vacation. As I did last year, I am headed for the cool mountains West of Tokyo to stay in the town of Karuizawa.
Life slows down here a wee bit in August. In Ichikawa it's been almost too hot to move in any case. No, it's not hotter than Florida, but instead of getting in my car just outside my house and driving in air conditioned comfort to the air conditioned mall, I get on the very warm seat of my bicycle and propel myself up the street to the small shops, many of which are open to the outside air. Or to church which in our case is air conditioned, but when you've cycled there you sweat a while even in the A/C.
In a couple of hours I'm due to board the Shinkansen at Tokyo station and travel about an hour and 15 minutes to beautiful Karuizawa.
I hope to have some times of total seclusion to refresh my mind, body and spirit. However, when you are a Christian in a non-Christian country (world?) you can't take a break from the duties of being salt and light.