Mold Update 2012

(One funny thing about Japan is that people love to talk about the weather.  I think it's contagious. I am writing this retrospectively, as I found myself half way through this post about mold and I've spent the first 3 paragraphs talking only about the weather.)

I know you guys are all dying to hear about my mold situation this year. Tsuyu (rainy season) "officially" kicked off June 7th, but until this past weekend it was pretty mild. I've been writing the weather down on my calendar everyday, specifically to mark the days I saw the sun.  There's been no sun since Thursday, but really, that's not so bad. This time last year, we were pushing 2 weeks.

But it finally feels like tsuyu and the on and off downpours since Friday have laid to rest my worry that all the new ALTs would think I was wimp, having complained and warned them about rainy season earlier in the year. I was even doubting myself for those first two weeks of June. It also hasn't been as hot and although there is a typhoon coming later this week, the temperature is forecast in the low to mid 20s. Not too bad, even a little chilly if you ask me.

The only issue with this late/slow start to tsuyu is the idea that it might last later into July. Last year there was a few days break just before my birthday when the sun was shining and the sky was blue, and it looked like the rain was gone for good, only for it to come back for another week. As usual, I'm hoping for no rain on my birthday, especially because I plan to be laying on a beautiful beach on Iki island, but we'll see.

Now on to the real issue, the mold. I've taken precautions this year, setting out my vapor-sucker-boxes all over the house, with multiple in all the rooms. Occasionally I turn on the "dry" function on my air conditioners if it feels especially humid. So far so good (knock on wood). I'm keeping a sharp eye out to hopefully get it before it gets out of hand, but fingers crossed it doesn't start at all.

My friend told me she did an internet search for "fight mold in rainy season japan" and found herself unknowingly reading my blog post from last year. Kind of funny, kind of cool. I hope it helped her.