Using an air conditioner has become a normal part of my life.

Not all year round.

But certainly during Japan’s rainy season.

Back in the Netherlands and Switzerland, I never had an air conditioner.

There simply wasn’t a need for one.

Living in Japan is different.

Here, it is almost essential.

Especially during the hot and humid rainy season.

When I first started using air conditioners, I only knew two modes.

Cooling in summer.

Heating in winter.

That seemed straightforward enough.

After spending time gardening, however, I would often come back inside drenched in sweat.

So I turned on the air conditioner to cool the room and used a ventilator to help dry myself.

I actually thought I had come up with a clever solution.

Then, only recently, my wife pointed out something I had completely overlooked.

The dry mode.

A setting specifically designed for humid weather like Japan’s rainy season.

It had been there the whole time.

I simply never thought to use it.

My wife just smiled.

For her, it was obvious.

She grew up using air conditioners exactly as they were intended.

I didn’t.

Looking back, I can’t help but laugh.

I spent years trying to solve a problem with the wrong approach, simply because I didn’t know there was a better one.

It reminds me that living in another country isn’t only about learning a new language or adapting to a different culture.

Sometimes it’s about discovering the small, everyday things that locals never even think about.

And perhaps those are the lessons that quietly make a place start to feel like home.