Rainy, rainy, rainy Japan

So, I don't know that I have mentioned the weather yet in this blog, but thus far, I really hate the weather in Japan. Every day is exactly the same - 80 degrees (give or take a few), about 90% humidity, and rain. Sometimes heavy rain, sometimes light rain, but it has rained every day I've been here. Moreover, on weather.com, the forecast is the same for the next ten days. I hate this weather. It's muggy and gross out and you have to carry an umbrella everywhere (I swear, Japanese people have umbrellas surgically implanted in them when they are born. The minute one drop of rain falls, every single person puts up an umbrella. Of course, now that I live here, I carry one all the time too). Today my umbrella broke in the middle of a rainstorm, so that was great. Fortunately, I was by the station and could buy a new one, though it's not as cute as my old one with polka dots. The cute umbrellas were more expensive and I am cheap.

Not a very exciting day today. I used the workout room for the second time this morning. It's nothing amazing, but there is an elliptical runner, a couple of bikes, and a mat for stretching, so that's enough for me. I have some resistance bands that I brought with me to use for toning and once the humidity dies down a bit, I plan to start running again as well. It is nice to have some equipment right in the building. When I used it yesterday there was nobody there but today, other people actually came in! Disturbing my private gym!! Then I went over to the Starbucks by Yokohama stadium (it's the biggest and the nicest and the quietest one, I think) and did some review for the placement test, bleah. Tonight, I have more review and my Fulbright application to start working on, double bleah! And I have to watch more Gossip Girl online, my newest obsession. We don't have a TV here (which is a shame, because it is a good way to learn a language) so I've been filling the void with US TV shows online.

So that's the excitement here. I am very nervous about McCain's VP pick. I think the choice of Palin makes it clear that McCain is more focused on winning the election than actually governing (whereas I felt that Obama's pick of Biden covered both grounds nicely). Palin is worrisome - not only because of her beliefs (creationism, anti-abortion etc.) but because McCain is old, with a history of cancer, and he could die. And then we would have a completely inexperienced, scary conservative as President. I just cannot take that again! I mean, I think it's great he picked a woman, but it also reeks of tokenism . . . I don't think he would have picked Palin if she were a man. It's really kind of insulting actually - like the fact that he has voted against equal pay for women and doesn't believe in insurance coverage for birth control, all of a sudden he's about women's issues and women's opportunity?? So I hope the novelty of the Republicans picking a women (24 YEARS after the Dems) does not woo voters. Then again, voters are stupid, they elected Bush twice, and I have little faith . . . plus I'm sure the media will run with how she's also a maverick, and she's just as experienced as Obama (no!) and how refreshing and great she is. And I hate how it took attention away from Obama's absolutely awesome convention speech. I liked this new, stick-it-to-McCain Obama and I hope he keeps it up. Actually, I liked a lot of the convention speeches - both Clintons, Biden, Gore, Kerry, and Obamas. They made me excited to be a Democrat and excited to hear many of the things I have been feeling during the last few years verbalized (often quite eloquently) on a national stage. Okay, enough politics . . . but I am curious about what everyone else thinks of the Palin pick?

ETA This Gail Collins column (I have come to love her!) pretty much sums up how I feel . . .