Rain rain go away

The news in Japan today declared that the rainy season is over!!

Although I did wear my new rain boots to work a few times this past week, I honestly don't think the rainy season was very bad in Nagoya this year. 

The typical rainy season starts on June 1st and lasts until July 20th.  So this year's rain started 13 days late and ended 4 days early... Woohoo!!  Spring in the midwest can be just as gloomy; that's why it's called April showers!

But in some areas of western Japan, the rain has been coming down so fast this past week that it caused flooding, mudslides, and at least 8 deaths.  Many areas even set a record for rainfall in an hour, as much as 64mm (~2.5 inches). 

Thank goodness I never had to wear my new rain poncho to work (it's stifling hot), but I did wear it a few times while riding my bike in the rain!!  This hungry girl needs to get to the food store somehow every weekend, and I'm not coordinated enough to control a bike and hold an umbrella.

The locals have warned me many times that once the rainy season ends, the humidity kicks in.  But I've already experienced some pretty wicked humidity here, so I say "Bring It On"!!  If it's even half of the treacherous "rainy season" they warned me about, I can handle it :)