Zaa-Zaa...Or, Another Dose of Japanese Onomatopoeia

I went to the gym today after a stint in the library. Because I live so close to the gym, I take a shower when I get home because I don't want to have to lug extra shower stuff all day - it's a 5 minute bike ride, and I usually go at the end of the day.

Today, rainy season, or tsuyuu, has unleashed her fury! Rain ALL DAY LONG and at points so heavy and fast it qualified as "zaa-zaa" - really heavy rain that just pounds and makes that "zaa-zaa" sound. Ah, Japanese and onomatopoeia. I took advantage of a lull in the rain to get from the library at Kyodai to the gym (which is less than a two minute bike ride if I get all the streetlights on time), but as was changing in the locker room (which is on the upper level and right under the roof)...

ZAA-ZAA!!! ZAA-ZAA!!!

OoOoO...its really bloody raining. Right proper pissdown!

Mega, mega hard. To the point that even the people at the gym's reception told me that it's ok if I wait a bit so that the rain can lighten up. I wait, get some green tea from the vending machine and sit. In a lull, I rush downstairs to my bike, which is parked underneath the stairs so that it won't get drenched. My brakes are squealing (like all the other bikes, it's a very characteristic sound of Kyoto, the brakes squealing) and because I use my right brake more than my left, it doesn't have much "brake" quality anymore. So in the rain, I have to be extra careful - when I ride my bike in the rain, I hold my umbrella with my left hand and steer with my right. Weird since I am left-handed, but my bicycle bell is on the right side so it's just easier that way. Thus, I ride my bike slower in the rain since I do it one-handed.

It's still raining now and its 8:22pm. Stupid me, I did NOT wear my rainboots because in the morning it was just a slight drizzle and I thought that "Pfft...I wear my boots and the sun will come out." However, I did NOT wear my Birks either because I didn't want them ruined; I wore my navy blue ballet flats, but because they are suede my feet turned a lovely shade of blue as a result of the dye bleeding onto my skin.

JUST as I head out from under my protective stairwell...

ZAA-ZAA!!!

DAMMIT. DAMMIT. ZANNEN. ZANNEN.

I have to ride my bike in a torrential downpour. When there is light rain, the umbrella+bike combo is fine (like it was that morning as I rode my bike to the Kyodai campus to get the bus) but with zaa-zaa rain, I might as well not use my umbrella. I was practically drenched, to the point that if I was lazy I didn't need to take a shower when I got home. It lightened up just a teeny bit on my way home; just as I parked my bike in front of my building (underneath that awning) tsuyuu unleashed her fury again. My shoes were actually filled with water; I decided going into my building barefoot is less dangerous than slipping about in squishy, soaked shoes (the hallways actually have its own cleaning lady), so I took off my shoes while outside my building, and scampered inside.