Today, I am going to discuss the simple task of doing laundry in Japan.
In Japan, it appears that the majority of citizens do not own a dryer for clothes. While this may seem strange, consider that in Kobe, the city where I live, the population density was 2,768 people per square kilometer (yes, that's right, kilometer... no miles here) in 2007. If every household consisted of four people (the average was actually 2.55 in 2005) and each family happened to dry a load of laundry at the same time, 692 in each of the 553 square kilometers of Kobe (382,676 dryers), a ridiculous amount of power would be used and heat emitted. Aside from the environment/consumption issue, the tiny size of many apartments actually forces people (myself included) to keep their washer outside on the veranda of the apartment. I can assure you that there is no way I'm fitting a washer AND dryer out there, and if I have to choose, I will probably opt for the washer (though I love the warm freshly dried softness of clothes right out of the dryer... I'm having second thoughts about keeping the washer now).
All of that explanation (figuring out the numbers took more work than I care to admit, so don't complain that it was boring to read... you didn't have to do the math) is to say that living in Japan means air-drying your clothes. For many, this is convenient as apartments provide nice rods for you to hang up your clothes.
BUT, there is a catch for some of us. In my apartment building the holder for the rods does not seem to reflect the height of the average Japanese person (Japanese men average in at around 5' 7" while women average 5' 2"). I feel like my clothes rod, and I'm approximating here, is hanging about 20 feet or so above my veranda floor (maybe actually only 9 or 10 feet, but I am done with calculations and I only have a tape measure with centimeters). Every time I want to dry laundry, I have to pull out a step ladder to reach high enough to hang up clothes.
This wouldn't be a big deal, except that when I am on my step ladder, the wall keeping me from falling from the fourth floor to an early demise is at about my knees. If you're not afraid of heights or ever-so-slightly concerned an earthquake could potentially occur at any time (ref. Kobe Earthquake 1995), this is not a big deal, but I find myself getting vertigo-like dizziness if I have to spend more than a couple seconds in the "death-zone." It's like I'm living out the blockbuster Cliffhanger every time I want to dry my clothes (p.s. thanks Sly for that bold contribution to 1990's American cinema).
If it happens to be a rainy day, drying clothes becomes more of a challenge as I try to find enough surfaces inside the apartment to lay clothes. If I am lucky and I happen to be drying a dark/color load, my apartment looks like a harem for the majority of the day. It's like living inside a genie's lamp (specifically Jeannie's from I Dream of Jeannie--Ah, Nick at Nite). If I do a load of whites, it sometimes looks like I live in a big cotton ball.
Perhaps the most ridiculous moment comes when I realize that I want to wear something but have not left adequate drying time for it. Out comes the hair dryer, bequeathed to me by the last SAM here in Kobe, (this small piece of information is definitely unnecessary, but I apparently felt the need to fulfill a male stereotype in not buying/owning a hair dryer when, in fact, I had one back in the US) to try in vain to get my favorite khakis dry. The poor hair dryer is only so big, and I might as well be blowing on the pants myself to get them dry, but I will do and have done this multiple times for about 20 to 30 minutes only to realize that I have failed. So I angrily put on my awkwardly fitting olive pants and head out to class.
And such is my laundry routine here in Japan. I realize that all of the above situations are not necessarily unique to Japan but fit any place or apartment without convenient washer/dryer combinations or a laundromat within walking distance. Has anyone else ever experienced any of these laundry mishaps? Have you worried you might tumble off your x-story veranda to meet an early demise? If you have to hang your clothes out to dry, do you imagine, as I sometimes do, that you may have slipped back in time about 40-50 years (Note: the first electric dryers were produced in 1915 though they weren't more widely available until a few decades later)?
If you have made it this far, thanks for tolerating the rambling!
Life in Japan continues to improve each day and week, and classes are going well. Students learning English here are hard workers, and it is a joy to spend time with them each week. The kids in class are really smart, and I am looking forward to the next two years in the classroom.
In one of my advanced classes we are practicing gerunds with careers, so here's your English lesson and our conversation starter at the beginning of each class for the unit: "The most rewarding/interesting/challenging thing about being a/an ------- (we'll say English teacher) is
For now, peace. I'll update more later this week!
5 comments:
ha! one of the first things I looked forward to doing when I moved back home was doing a load of laundry--washer AND dryer! by the way, i found that on those days when I needed to dry stuff inside (think rainy season in June), i could rig up one of the rods in the tatami mat room--from the curtain rod to the tiny ledge of wood up on the wall. warning: heavy loads will pull down the rod, threatening to behead anyone sitting underneath. good luck!
Thanks for the tip and warning! I will give that a go next time I need to dry things inside! I was surprised there weren't any laundromats really close to the apartment.
ha! Well as long as you are trying "in earnest" to dry your clothes, that's all that matters. ;)
Sounds like you need someone to send you a laundry drying rack. Then you could dry without the acrobatic tricks on the step ladder adn without using every available surface in your apartment.
you are doing well to have survived the differences thus far and have the necessary sense of humor to laugh about them!! anyway, a couple of recommendations--you might want to get a couple of
(aluminum flame hungers) where there is a plastic shaped rectangle with clothespins on all sides linked up to one hanger. you hang your shirts, socks etc on the rack, and then it's just one trip up to hang the rack. if it's starts to rain, it's easy to gather your clothes quickly. for the inside drying, an investment in a dehumidifier before winter sets in might be wise. In a small place, they work well, sucking the moisture out of the wet clothes and heating the apartment at the same time. cheers! Kathy
Post a Comment