This year’s rainy season in Japan has surprised me.

For the past three years, I had come to associate rainy season with heat and humidity.

The kind of weather where a fan and air conditioner seem to run all day.

Where stepping outside feels like walking into a sauna.

Where even sitting still can make you break into a sweat.

So naturally, I expected more of the same this year.

Instead, the opposite happened.

It has been raining regularly.

Yet the temperatures have remained surprisingly pleasant.

Even when I head out hiking or flying my drone in a t-shirt and shorts, it feels comfortable.

More like a European summer than the rainy seasons I remember from previous years.

The funny thing is that I had already made up my mind about what rainy season was supposed to be.

Hot.

Humid.

Uncomfortable.

Yet this year had other plans.

Just because something was one way before does not mean it will be the same again.

Perhaps that is true for more than just the weather.

Sometimes we think we know exactly what to expect.

Then reality quietly shows us a different version.