May 2024 | 43°c is not a good day.
I was around 14 or 15 when I started taking a Japanese class. We learned basic words and adjectives to describe the weather, using flashcards as tools to help visualize the terms.
One of the flashcards showed a rainy day with clouds, explaining a bad day; another depicted a snowy day with a snowman, representing a cold day. But when it came to a “good day,” there was a picture of a smiling sun. I remember naively disagreeing and having a big debate with my teacher. Why was a sunny day considered a good day? In Laos, a sunny day can feel like a semi-barbecue—not exactly what I’d call a “good day.”
Thinking about it makes me adore my younger self for questioning that. I now understand better after living in a place with four distinct seasons. It’s ironic that I, the same girl who once argued that a sunny day isn’t always a good day, now find myself chasing the sun and embracing warmth as much as I can IF I am based in that part of the world.
I’ve seen both sides now, but I still stand by that younger version of myself—she wasn’t wrong at all. With global warming worsening, and as I write this in Laos, we’re facing a severe heat wave of over 40°C, with forecasts saying it “feels like 55°C.”—Why would that flashcard still be considered practical? This is just a small example of how those of us from third-world countries must adapt to the norms and practices shaped by the predominant world…