When I went to Christchurch in NZ in November, it was late spring there. I felt very cold and asked my host family for an electric blanket and heater on the very first night I arrived. They laughed and said, "Oh, karin, you are extremely sensitive to the cold. " I was happy they were kind enough to accommodate my request. To them it was early summer. They wore half-sleeved shirts and short pants and enjoyed the sunshine, lying on the deck-chairs in the front yard-- reading or sometimes sleeping.
On November 5 there was a popular annual event---fireworks on the beach of the South Pacific. The sun set around 9p.m. and so the wonderful show started at 9:30p.m. Wasn't it the time for fireworks to end in Japan?! People from throughout Canterbury drove to the beach at night. To my astonishment they drove at the speed of 120km an hour--not on a highway but on a country road. However there were surprisingly few accidents during the night, the next day's paper said.
The crowds, cheering and screaming, enjoyed a very large number of blazing colors. I thought how much they would be surprised if they had a chance to enjoy fireworks in Niigata.