Invasion

So now that summer is here (or summer/rainy season) the bugs have returned to Japan.  For the most part, we are doing ok.  Before buying the house we were warned that we were going to see a lot of bugs in our house due to it being so close to the river and wood, but so far we are getting by fairly easy.  We got mukade (centipede) powder that seems to really work (because I have seen dead ones in our shed or just outside of the house) and Motoaki was able to kill the wasp nest and the bee hive before they became massive (he is such a brave guy).  We have been managing to keep things clean enough to escape any cockroaches, ants, beetles, etc and that snake I saw one time last year (the first week moved in) hasn't returned.

BUT within the past week we seem to have been invaded by small centipedes or millipedes (I don't really take the time to count the legs).  When I first started seeing them I freaked out as I thought they were baby mukade (my biggest fear in Japan) but once I realized they were harmless, they became more of a nuisance than a menace.  For the most part they don't harm anything.  And they are super easy to catch.  If they are on the ceiling I just stick a plastic jar under them and they eventually fall into to it, after which I throw them outside.  Although maybe I should be killing them...  And if they are on the floor I stick an empty toilet around them and when they start to climb it I take it to the toilet and shake them out to a watery death.  About a week ago I would maybe see one a day.

Sorry for the bad pics but here are two in the house.


BUT ON SUNDAY I caught 12.  TWELVE!  Six on the living room ceiling, two on our bedroom floor, two in the hallway, and two in the shower.  Now, this could be because a) we had a huge rainstorm all weekend long and they may have been seeking safety and/or b) Motoaki wasn't around so I was kind of lazy and spent a lot of time lying about, looking at the ceiling while Finn brought random toys to me to throw.  Anyway, it makes me wonder if maybe we need to do something about them.  Motoaki (who'd been in Nagoya) got home at 1 am last night so I didn't have time to ask, but I will tonight.  They really aren't that bad as for the most part they don't seem to bite us, they are very calm when caught, and they haven't been found anywhere near our food.  But I am worried that maybe they eat wood or something.  And I also worry that they will bother Finn or that he will start eating them (he eats enough random bugs and frogs outside as it is...).

On a side note, I will say that in going through this I am reminded of all of the random Asian beetles that everyone had a problem with in Iowa a few years back.  I remember thinking that my mom was overreacting when she would go around killing what seemed to me to be harmless little bugs.  But now I can definitely relate...

UPDATE= We looked into it and they are harmless for the most part and should go away after the rainy season.  You can spray for them, but the spray would probably do Finn and me (due to being pregnant) than the bugs actually do.

BUGS!

(June 29th)
So I finished the Osaka story because all that was left was the club and it would have sounded similar to my time in Nagoya.  Although we did meet either the most talented dance I have seen in a while or the craziest.  Amy and I had a blast copying moves from him and teaching him moves.  And the weirdest part was that at one point he told Amy he was having fun but that he had to confess to us that he had a girlfriend.  I told him it was ok because I had a husband (and to be clear, we hadn't been grinding or touching or anything- it was all purely dancing), and he replied to that by going across the floor and bringing his girlfriend over to meet us.  Anywhere else (or anyone else) and a fight would have started.  I mean, can you imagine introducing your girlfriend to some girls you had been dancing with all night.  But she was extremely cool and just complimented us on our dancing. I LOVE JAPAN!

OK, so now that I have gushed about Japan, I can rant about it.  I HATE JAPAN and have been wondering this week if I can actually stick it out and live her long term.  Don't worry, I am only somewhat serious and I am sure my tune will change once my leg has healed.

What's wrong with my leg?  Well since it is summer and beautiful a few friends and I decided to go to the beach last weekend.  Funny thing about living in the mountains, the weather is always different on the other side.  As in where we live it was sunny, 30C, and calm.  However, on the hour and a half drive to the ocean we went through a tunnel through one of the mountains and ended up in fog and mist.  It wasn't any better at the beach.  But we are a strong lot (I'm from Iowa, another guy was from Ireland, and another was from Michigan) and decided to have a go at it anyway.  I had been really anxious to swim but the waves were huge.  We managed to get in the water a bit and have a nice beach picnic.  After about an hour or two, though, it started to pour and we had to make a mad dash to the car.

Because the beach we had been at hadn't had any shelter, we had gotten into the car wet and still in our suits.  We decided to stop at McDonald's for food and to change.  While I was getting clean in the bathroom I noticed some blood on my ankle.  I cleaned it off to see two small bug bites.  I have gotten these before and they are assumed to be from horse flies (or the Japanese equivalent).  You can tell the difference by the blood.  Now I have had these before and last time I had them they caused my ankle to swell, but last time i also had about eight bites on one leg so I was optimistic that these wouldn't be so bad.

On the way home, my bites were a little itchy, but nothing crazy.  I made sure not to scratch them and even applied a bit of tiger balm (anyone ever heard of this before- the rest of the group acted like it was the most common thing ever but it was new to me) that they were using on their own bites.

Got home tired and beat from the sun and fell asleep fairly quickly.

The next morning I awoke to find my ankle swollen.  Dang you JAPAN!!  But this had happened before so I didn't think much of it.  It didn't even hurt too bad so I spent the morning cleaning the apartment (Motoaki had gone to the beach to surf since he had worked the day before). I took a nap in the afternoon and my ankle hurt a bit when I woke up, but I figured it was partially from being raised and asleep and then standing on it while it "woke up."  I would have just sat back down but I had to meet Motoaki, his sister, and his mom to go look at a house.

We have been looking at houses for awhile and we think we have found one.  It has four bedrooms upstairs, two large room downstairs, a kitchen big enough for a table, two toilets, shower and bath, a small front room, a huge entryway, walk in closets, and a storage shed that runs the whole back length of the house.  It also has parking for tractors that we could use to park cars so that the actual car park (big enough for three or four) could be converted into a garden.  It is also along the river and has two rock gardens already created.  And it is near where we want to live and in our price range.  But still, being young, we wanted to ask what Motoaki's family thought.

They were impressed and saw a lot of potential in the place.  I was feeling good until I went to the bathroom and saw a five inch mukade (centipede) half way out of the drain.  It was dead but it was still creepy!!!  I made a comment and the realtor was quick to point out that you get them in all houses.  AND THIS IS TRUE...  But having to come face to face with it made me realize that it will be a part of my life.  (Of course, the house has been empty for about 2 years so once we live there we can set up sprays and what not to protect the house and lower the chances, but still).  This added to my swollen ankle, and I was beginning to realize Japan sucked.

And then it got worse.  That night we got some medicine at the local drug store for my bites.  I actually had another small one on my left leg as well that had started to blister so I avoided touching that.  I was pretty cranky about it all but Motoaki helped me by helping me to tie ice packs around my ankle and what not.

BUT then the next morning I woke to find that both legs had developed blisters over the bites and that my ankle was even bigger.  I got up to go shower but quickly became nauseous and dizzy.  Not to be a wuss, but I was a little worried about what this was so I called in sick and went to the hospital.  Motoaki had work so I had to go by myself but luckily this was pretty straightforward (it can be hard going to the Dr or dentist and having to describe the pain in my limited vocabulary- I was bale to get my point across by pointing at my ankle and telling the Dr to look).

He was a little nervous about what they were from as he didn't think that horse fly bites usually had such big blisters.  Since both of the balms I had rubbed on the bites were new to me, he thought there was a chance that I was allergic to something in them that had caused the reaction.  But since I didn't know what had bitten me, we couldn't be sure.  He prescribed some medicine and sent me on my way, telling me to come back if things didn't improve in the next two days.

It actually didn't hurt that bad and I had a fairly nice day at home watching TV and writing letters.  It was actually best for me to sit up and only standing still hurt- walking wasn't too bad.  But the blister got bigger and that worried me.  Motoaki came home and was surprised, but not really worried.  He figured I should just wait another day or too.  But that night as I tried to get into a position that wouldn't burst my blisters (pretty hard when i had one on each leg) I got really moany about how I would never be able to live in Japan with the heat and the bugs.  OH I can't wait to come back to America in August!

Pretty gross but not actually the worst of it...