Hi everyone, it's Kenn here!

Yep, it's that season again... where some of us are enduring endless bouts of sneezing, itchy eyes and runny noses. That's right, it's spring, which means it's time for hay fever to run rampant! For me, it's not debilitating, but it is certainly a super annoying inconvenience. Strangely, I only get it severely every two years, and since I was basically fine last year... it means I have to struggle in spring this year.

One thing I found out after coming to Japan is that hay fever is extremely common amongst Japanese people. I don't know the exact numbers, but I've heard that as much as 50% of people are allergic to pollen, and thus have hay fever, to some degree. I've also learned that there is a spring and an autumn variant. As you've probably figured out by now, I have the spring variant.

From my experience, hay fever is still rather common in Australia too. I had several classmates who suffered from it while going to school. I don't think it was as serious of an issue as it is here in Japan though. You see, in my hometown, we basically have a dry season and a wet season only, so the four traditional seasons aren't distinctly distinguished. Hay fever often struck in only for a month or two in a year and it was quite mild.

In any case, I fully empathize with those of you who are unfortunate enough to have these allergies. I know exactly what you're going through. If there's anything special you do to quell the symptoms, please let me know - I can't seem to find any effective treatments for myself! For now though, thank you for reading as always, and stay tuned!

Kenn