A meditation on the changing seasons
This career diplomat from the Philippines experiences her second winter in Nagoya and reflects on the life’s transitory nature, its inconveniences, as well as its wonderful surprises
By Celeste Vinzon-Balatbat
I have spent most of my life in countries with no winter season.
In tropical Philippines, my home country, the weather is either wet or dry—and always humid.
Our archipelago of our more than 7,000 islands is blessed with blue tropical waters, beaches with white or pink sand, and almost perpetually sunny days.
And while I have survived the winter season in its entirety in the temperate zone, my taste of winter had been generally mild and bereft of extremes: slightly cold (rarely falling below 0°C), occasionally wet and windy, and with very little snowfall.
I had loved seeing the fall foliage in Nagoya and outside the city. The shades of orange, red, yellow, and brown had been a refreshing sight in the concrete jungle from my apartment window.
During a snowfall, I find myself drawn to the sight of snowflakes swirling in the wind. They mesmerize, still the mind, make me pause, and bring a sense of quiet joy.
This is my second winter season in Nagoya, and the air feels chillier now than during the previous winter. I have however come to accept its transitory nature and inconveniences as much as its pleasant surprises.
Mt. Fuji is perhaps at its most majestic when its summit is capped by snow, which glitters in the sunlight.
Winter has occasionally covered the Nagoya city landscape in white. During a snowfall, I find myself drawn to the sight of snowflakes swirling in the wind. They mesmerize, still the mind, make me pause, and bring a sense of quiet joy.
The snow monkeys in Nagano Prefecture probably feel the same way during winter, when they warm themselves, relax, and groom each other in a hot spring in Jigokudani (Snow) Monkey Park.
The early nightfall in wintertime lends a more dramatic and magical setting to the winter illumination in Nabana no Sato, a symphony of lights, music, and water fountains in Kuwana City, Mie.
As we approach the end of winter and transition to spring, I am reminded of the fleeting nature of the seasons and its lessons on the cycle of life, that seasons come and go, follow a specific sequence and their own timeline, and cannot be rushed, that we best treat these timelines with trust, patience, and respect, that we make the most of the present and appreciate the joys during this journey, and that—when the time comes—we let go of the familiar and accept and adapt to change.
Consul General Celeste Vinzon-Balatbat is a career diplomat from the Philippines. She has degrees in economics and international studies. She held jobs in banking and the academe before joining the foreign service in 1995, and assumed her post in Nagoya in November 2020. She is married to a fellow Filipino diplomat. They have a daughter and a pet cat.