Typhoooooooon /o/

Despite the season's 18th typhoon having been downgraded from a Category 1 (of the sort that blew directly through my city last year) to a Tropical Storm, it looks like it's gonna pack quite a punch.

This "storm" has a diameter well over half the length of the Japanese archipelago. It is literally covering a good 60 - 70% of the islands right now.

From the warnings scrolling across the top of my wee-tiny TV screen, I have gathered that my prefecture will have the special privilege of receiving 60 cm of rain (that's a good two feet, Americans). The second-highest number I saw throughout the entirety of the warnings was 20 cm, so we are clearly #1. Go us! On top of that, our coastline (and technically I am in a coastal town, even though I am surrounded on all sides by mountains; there is an ocean inlet that runs almost up to the train tracks a mere mile or so from my apartment) can expect 9-meter waves.

Last year my biggest concern was wind blowing out my big glass patio sliding doors. This year the hubbub around here is obviously the water levels, but given that I'm on the second floor I'm not TOO too worried. Talk about the office has it that we're definitely-maybe showing up for work tomorrow (please see Japanese Work Ethic), the only question is whether or not the students get sent home early.