the dark side

I've gone over to the dark side. It was a gradual slide, but now there's no going back. I now use an umbrella.
I have loathed umbrellas my entire life; I've always thought they looked goofy. Once the 2 meteres of snow melted here in Japan, it started to rain, and the umbrellas came out, I vowed never ever to use one. In fact if someone had told me two weeks ago that I would be using an umbrella in 14 days, I would have told them they were lying.
But there comes a time when necessity overtakes pride. And that day came for me.
It's so stinkin humid here; you sweat just by sitting and it doesn't evaporate. And then when it's raining and you're walking to the train station for a full day of teaching, there's no way anybody in their right mind would want to wear a rain coat and start their day all hot and gross.
It began by just carrying my umbrella when I was going places, just in case it started to downpour. Then I discovered I liked having that safety cushion against getting soaking wet, and plus it's fun to walk with a cane-like object in your hand. I think I violate every Japanese umbrella-carrying rule.
Then came the day when it started pouring when I was conveniently carrying my umbrella; I was very thankful. And I don't think I'll ever go back.
But there are definitely downsides to umbrellas; the number one reason being the restriction of necessary vision. Good thing Takanosu's streets are not teeming with traffic; I'm sure I would have been run over by now. Basically you can only see a 1 and a half meter radius around you, and if you walk at a pace of 3/4 of a meter per second, it severely limits your reaction time when foreign objects come into your range of vision. And I have not yet learned to compensate for the extra width I take up. I'm not gonna lie, I have hit a few Japanese people with my umbrella.
But I guess when you're in a country where it's cool for even guys to have umbrellas, I can suck it up and use one as well. And when it's so ingrained into a culture to have an umbrella that there are umbrella racks in every store and bathroom stall, and a special place to put them on shopping carts (not unlike a child seat) I suppose I can learn to adapt. And then when I come back home to Canada I can judge how Japanesied I have become by if I still carry an umbrella or go back to wearing a rain jacket.