Culture in a nutshell......ok, or a huge space capsule...(?)

OK, here's something to write. Today is the first day of the rainy season. How do I know? No, not because I saw my first centipede in the house (that was last year), no, not because I can see fireflies zipping around my house (they live in the river...and I don't have one of those in my garden). And the most obvious of them all....NO, not because it is raining. Actually, it IS raining, and it's definitely the rainy-season rain, the way it falls so gently so as not to disturb, and the way the sky is a bright gray colour all day, and the way the humidity in the air builds up so that you sweat uncomfortably and when it finally rains you breathe a sigh of relief because at least the rain brings a muggy breeze. But those are not the reasons I KNOW it's the rainy season. I know because they announced it on the news this morning....and my neighbour was gardening in the rain so I said 'working in the rain today are we?'..and she said, 'yeah, it will be raining a while from now on so....' . So, that settles it. Cultural update: everything about the weather is announced on the news here. Oh sure, back home they tell us the weather too, but here it is a little more detailed. I mean it had been raining all week last week and I asked someone, 'So has the rainy season started?' and they replied, 'No, not yet.' I asked, 'How do you know?'. She said, 'Because they haven't announced it on the news yet.'. So there you go. The news caster will also tell you when to change your clothes. If you come here in May you will see a lot of Japanese walking around with long sleeves, even though the temperature is 30 degrees Celsius. This is because the news caster hasn't told them to change to their summer clothes yet. I am one of the ones who gets into her no-sleeve shirts at the slightest hint of sun, so they are continuously asking me, 'Aren't you cold?'......?? I have given up replying 'IT'S 30DEGREES!!', because I know they just want me to conform to the gospel of the weatherman. I can tell you it really freaks them out when my dad comes over in December (winter here) and walks around in shorts and t-shirts. Personally, I think it is just an Aussie pride thing...he he!
So, this next month we should get all our rain for the summer and the rice fields will soak most of it up.