how to stay warm in japan

In a country with almost no central heating or insulation, wintertime presents and interesting opportunity to huddle next to your fellow teachers and chat by the kerosene heater.


This is what warms the staff room at Naruto Technical High School. Notice the tea kettle on top that heats up the water that we all drink throughout the day. There are still some warm days here once in a while and the heaters still run full blast so these particular days can be really warm in the staff room. I haven't been using heat in my apartment for the most part but I have been taking advantage of my kotatsu, which is a a heated table with a blanket draped over the sides to keep your legs warm. Ask anyone here- once you get under a kotatsu you've pretty much set the course for your evening...unless you're getting up to take a shower, which is simply another method of keeping warm here in Japan. At my schools, the teachers are all wearing coats to their classes at this point. A few weeks ago I was teaching in a my winter coat, a sweatshirt, a scarf, and gloves. I'm sure that I'll be layering up even more as the winter months press on.

Time is really winding down for this part of the schoolyear. Today marks the four month period for living here and I've only got two and a half weeks left of teaching before I'll be heading off to to some big cities with Curt and then to Thailand and Laos for my winter vacation. Thanks to Caitlin and her tactful planning skills, the details of the trip seem to be almost all in place. December and early January will be busy but it'll be nice to have a lot of activity during this time of the year.