We arrived in Beppu-shi in sweltering August heat. Since Beppu-shi is on the coast, the humidity was closer to that of Houston than to Austin. Plus Beppu-shi literally has steam pouring out of the cracks in the streets. The town is a hot-spring resort built on one of the most thermodynamically active spots in the world. Did our apartment have air conditioning? No. Did either of our schools have air conditioning? No. Did the train station have air conditioning? No. Only modern Tokiwa department store was air conditioned. I suddenly became a fan of shopping.
"Mushi-atsui!" people muttered as they dabbed their foreheads and the backs of their necks with summer handkerchiefs, or waved uchiwa (paper fans).
For months, I thought people were saying it was "bug-hot". I knew that the word for insect was "mushi" and that the word for hot was "atsui". The semi (cicadas) roared at such a deafening pitch that I felt like I was stuck in a Tarzan movie. I could well imagine that the expression "mushi-atsui" came from the idea that, in this jungle-like heat, one could almost feel the bugs crawling.
Typical nipponDAZE moment: I couldn't have been more wrong. That winter, as I was looking up the kanji for o-chawan-mushi (savory custard steamed in a tea cup), I discovered that another meaning for "mushi" is steamed. All summer, people had been complaining that the weather was sweltering, literally, steaming hot.
One note of encouragement: it's these kind of mistakes, the ones that make you feel most like an idiot, that ensure you will remember the distinction ever after.
Next time: the difference between natsu-yasumi and nasu-yasumi.
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens
April 14, 2002
Comments
Glad to read your comments about Beppu shi--we have a foreign exchange student from that city arriving at our home (for the next full year!) on Sunday, 8/11/02. Since I don't know the extent of her English abilities, I have been researching her city so that at least I can get an idea of what she is used to, likes, etc. Thanks for the comments! Burke McLemore.
Comment by: Burke McLemore. Posted August 9, 2002 02:18 PM.
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