- What is your favourite season? Why?
- Do you live in a country with a rainy season? When is it? What do you have to do to prepare for, or cope with, this season?
- Which area in your country has the best climate in your opinion? Would you like to live there? Why?
- Tell me about a country or region in the world that suffers from extreme weather (heat/drought, flooding, low temperatures, typhoons/twisters/hurricanes, heat waves, sandstorms, hail, tsunami etc.)? How does the extreme weather adversely affect the people there? What do people do there to try to protect themselves or minimise the damage?
- What is the worst weather you have ever experienced in Japan (or anywhere)? What happened?
- What do you think of people who say that the world is not warming and suffering from more extreme weather? Does the future of our climate worry you? Why?
Question 1
In Japan, I prefer the autumn. The summer is too hot and muggy and the winter can be long and cold. In spring and autumn the weather is more pleasant. In spring, however, I suffer from seasonal allergies. So, Autumn is my favourite.Question 2
The rainy season is in July in Japan. I always buy a new inexpensive collapsible umbrella in late June or early July, to prepare for it.Question 3
Vancouver definitely has the best climate in Canada. Both summer and winter are mild in Vancouver. I think Okinawa has the best climate in Japan, but I have never been there in the summer, nor have I been there during typhoon season.Question 4
In Northern Canada, winters can be brutally cold. The area is covered in snow and ice for more than half the year, temperatures average -30°C, and it can dip below -50. People dress in layers, keep their entire face and body covered, and don't stay outside for too long.Question 5
I got caught in a typhoon in Tokyo several years ago, before I moved to Japan. I was in a long line of people waiting to enter The Nippon Budokan to watch a pro wrestling show. I was wearing a long leather coat and it was completely ruined by the heavy rain. The wrestling was very enjoyable, though.Question 6
Of course I am worried. I want my children to grow up and live in a pleasant and comfortable world, but that seems to be less and less likely these days.Tough Vocabulary
| - English - | - Japanese - |
|---|---|
| collapsible umbrealla | 折りたたみ傘 |
Having kids makes you see the world differently and worry about things that you never did before.
Why do you need to buy a new umbrella every rainy season?
@ Jon: Indeed it does.
@ Jim: I generally buy the cheapest possible umbrellas, and the collapsible ones are often destroyed if I try to use them in a storm. It’s rare for a cheap collapsible umbrella to last a full year with me, or even a full rainy season.