Home alone with my Okaasan.
And cats.
And snow.
And working, shopping, cleaning, cooking, chatting, bathtimes blah....
This week (before he went), I actually escaped and flew down to Tokyo with friends to see Adam Lambert in concert - stay a night, do some tourist stuff, eat HUGE spare ribs on TGI Friday's in Shibuya. Another world. And not just the lack of snow.
Trouble with going away - it all mounts up and waits for you when you come back.
I was away last week for 3 days in east Hokkaido spreading my horrendous Japanese language skills far and wide. This week in Tokyo.
That schedule moved all my classes around, and an ongoing editing job...not to mention the impending end of year accounts and a dentist trip.
Agh!!!!
Just glad to have reached Friday at the moment.
Okaasan went to day care twice this week - Tuesday AND Thursday...hula and ballroom. I let Dear Son do the organising to get her out the door in respectable clothing and with the right accessories. It's good for him.
She resisted both times a little, but soon accepted the plan and set off happily.
We might...almost..be getting into a routine with this day care now. Maybe :-)
She is defeinatly MUCH brighter and conversationally engaged after day care, the experience is worthwhile. After ALL that struggle to get her set up and going!
One strange thing: yesterday she came home to an empty house cos he and I were out working...and the day care center driver gave Okaasan the Day Diary paper to bring inside. This is the paper that reports how times she peed, what she did, how she interacted with staff and other people etc.
The driver just gave it to her - no envelope, just the paper.
Isn't that a bit strange? I don't think that is really something SHE should be reading - it's the report to the family to reassure us she is ok....I don't think Okaasan should be so clearly shown that the staff there are noting what she does and writing it all down! If this was me I'd hate to think that they are spying on me and noting when I go to the toilet etc and whether I talk to people.
Or is that just me being over-sensitive?
Anyway, I swiped it from her table when she was in the toilet. Also swiped a Japan Pension letter before it vanished under the kotatsu trash mound...
Odd. They should really put it in an envelope and address it to her son. Not just give it to her. Strangely slack.
Finally..a culture quiz for you.
In a Tokyo youth hostel 3 women stayed the night. In the morning they had to return their bed sheets to front desk.
Which sheets belong to a) the Brit b) the American and c) the Japanese?
And for a bonus point: Who was such a lazy bugger they couldn't be bothered to go 4 floors down and rent a towel...so they used the bedsheets instead?
haha, japanese is folded neatly, british is the swirl at the back and american is roughly piled on the left.
ReplyDeleteI always wonder, what would your other half do if you weren't around when he went off skiing for god knows how many days? What would happen to his mum then? I seriously think he takes advantage of you a bit...it's not fair that you get to look after his mum all the time.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the neatly folded sheets are Japanese...from my experience they are messier than any other nationality, so I say the neatly folded ones are yours. :)
Kelly - don't worry 'bout me,I'm ok with him working away from home - when I met him he was a ski teacher so I have always known and accepted that he needs to ski and travel - and then come back to me all happy and energised. I am very independent and like my own space.
ReplyDeleteOf course, NOW that means I get left with Okaasan. It ain't great, but we have lunch deliveries, once a week day care outing for her...so I can manage.
But I enjoy to whinge about it :-))
Wow, those ribs are huge :O Nice to know Okaasan did something :)
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna say A to your quiz but I bet I'm wrong!