Tutoring English with Japanese women who are a couple years older than my mother has given me the chance to give lessons and learn about Japanese life through these ladies point of view. Today they told me about when they started dating they had arranged visits with their parents and a boy that they selected. They said it was interesting once, but after the first time... they said nothing, in typical Japanese fashion, they just winced and sucked the air in through their teeth.
Today they are both married to men they met in the office at their jobs before they were married. They smiled fondly, remembering their "office romance." As soon as they married, they both quit their jobs. About a year after marraige, they both had their first children at 28 years old. Now their husbands are the "salary men" and spend most of their time out of the house. When they do come home to their wives, it is usually later than 10pm. They ask their wives to serve them sake, and then they pass out and do it again the next day.
Today's lesson was to use the phrase, "If I had a free day and I could do ANYTHING, I would......" and we proceeded to make an itinerary for this free day from 9am to 9pm. This is their plan, if they could do ANYTHING, they would:
9am: They both would wash clothes and clean their homes.
10am: They would eat breakfast at home.
11am: One said go to sing karaoke, the other said she would go to a tea shop.
12pm: They would eat lunch.
1pm: One said she would take a nap, the other said she would watch TV.
2pm: They would dry and fold clothes.
3pm: They would both watch TV for the next two hours, suspense shows and the news.
5pm: One would start to prepare dinner. The other would go to the pool.
6pm: They would eat dinner, at home alone, because their husbands wont be home for at least another 4 hours.
7pm: They would watch more TV.
8pm: They would get ready for bed.
9pm: They would read or watch TV until they are asleep.
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