Chickened out last night, called a friend and went round to her place for pizza and non-alcoholic beer instead of another Silent Stressed Dinner with my accuser.
I'm over-dramatatising you think?
Anyway - good to have any evening away and I expect Yujiro enjoyed it more too, not having to worry about the two women in the household. He has been wonderfully supportive of me in this - I can't imagine what it would be like if he wasn't. And many men...specially Japanese men...would step aside and say: "none of my business...it's womens stuff".
So I sneaked home after 10 pm when Okaasan was safely snoozing under her heated table in front of the TV.
And this morning: I broke the sheet ice and made her do a "Good Morning" to me.
I was in the kitchen washing up our breakfast plates. She was in the bathroom washing todays millions of pairs of underwear.
She walked once through the kitchen and said nothing to me.
So I counted to 10...turned round and went near the bathroom door and chorused out a firm: "Good Morning!" ( in Japanese of course).
NO Japanese person can fail to respond to this. I expect even the Sad People Who Lock Themselves Away From Life in Their Rooms do it...
And Okaasan...actually with a toothbrush in her mouth...couldn't fight generations of social conditioning...she HAD to respond. Maybe not "in kind"...but a response anyway."Good morning!".
* Hunt the newspaper. Okaasan phoned Yujiro from downstairs this morning and claimed the newspaper hadn't been delivered. He went downstairs...hunted around her room...and found it...under her pillow.
I am so SO vindicated.
Victors can be generous in their "Good mornings".
Tonight is the last of the baseball massacres for Nippon Ham, the local team. We are planning a TV dinner so I expect I can do that. Sit and eat together at the table in front of the TV....no talking necessary.
I can do that.
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