It's May and Kyushu has already officially entered the rainy season. The rest of Japan is not far behind. What, no spring? Well, we all know what happened to spring this year. It headed to the Middle East: The Arab Spring. Let someone else have some of it.

So, if the rainy season hasn't started yet in the rest of Japan, then what's with all this rain? I call it rainy season boot camp. A little practice now will come in handy when you're confronted with the real rainy season later.

For example, people on my island are already practicing the "yanda dash." This is when, especially during seemingly endless downpours during the rainy season, the rain stops for a little bit and people feel the uncontrollable urge to exclaim, "Yanda!" ("the rain has stopped!") and dash out to do things during this tiny interval of no rain. It's amazing how much you can get accomplished in just a few minutes if you put your mind to it.