It Snows in Tokyo

It has been a snowy rainy snowy week here in Tokyo. It's more sleet than snow, but more snow than rain. Did you know that it does snow here? Tokyo gets a small handful of snow each winter, though it rarely accumulates to a significant degree. Because of this, the city is not really equipped to handle snowfall. And because of that, I panic a bit at the mere hint of snow, as even a little bit can affect biking conditions, and I have become very dependent on my bicycle. 

Rainy snow.

This past week, the snow has mercifully melted by the next day. Last month, it snowed enough to accumulate a couple of inches and the temperature stayed low. What would have been cleared in Chicago in hours stayed on the ground for days here. I've spent nearly half my life now in cold, snowy regions, and have totally taken snow-clearing for granted. I naively set out on my bike only to encounter a road frozen solid with a layer of ice. Having never biked on ice like this, I continued thinking it would be ok. I paid for my optimism with a fall. At least I was going at a snail's pace. I suffered zero injuries and learnt a lesson: don't test the Tokyo roads after a snowfall. In retrospect, the fact that there were zero cyclists - cyclists who ordinarily bike through typhoons - should have been a warning sign. 

In other news, E recently had a birthday which we could not celebrate with friends due to the rising Covid-19 infections. Despite daily infection rates reaching all time highs, there has been no state of emergency due to high vaccination rates and relatively mild symptoms. Still, a party was an unnecessary risk, so we decided on an outdoor walk-by celebration. Her friend's family, wanting to make her day extra special, took E out for a pancake lunch and a playdate at the park. 

Just weeks ago, Covid numbers in Tokyo had been in the single digits and birthday parties abounded. It's all about timing. Although I felt guilty for not giving E the same birthday party experience, I learnt that kids don't care as much as adults think they do. E was just as happy having pancakes with her friend and playing at the park. In fact, her "disappointment" was really just a projection of my own disappointment. There are so many ways to make kids happy, and their happiness is not always proportional to the time, effort, and money you spend. So, despite another Covid birthday, it was a great one.