OH THE HUMIDITY. 梅雨 (tsuyu - more common - or baiyu - less so, and also baiyu reminds me of the word 'bayou' in English, which I hate for some reason) can't decide if it's bloody coming or going, so we keep getting days of glorious sunshine (during which I tend to be in class, commuting to or from class, or at work) and then the next day unbearable humidity, oppressive cloud, and sudden deluges of rain (needless to say, these days tend to fall on weekends and holidays, due to sod's law, which also applies in Asia). The weird insects are amassing on the balcony, I can sense them. Not to mention the mould D: (カビ, kabi).
Just watching the news now and there's a case in which a woman (Takahashi Tomomi) killed her sleeping husband by pouring gasoline all over then setting fire to him (!). Apparently they lived in government-sponsored housing and were both out of work, with two young kids (8 and 12 months). According to the neighbours, they used to fight all the time and she would sometimes run out of the house screaming "He's going to kill me, call the police". She was often covered in bruises. And what did the neighbours do? They called the police "a number of times", but when the police actually came the wife would say there was nothing wrong, and go back inside her house.
I can't tell you how many times this pattern (well, minus the death-by-setting-on-fire bit maybe) comes up in the Japanese crime news. Blatant domestic violence/child abuse going largely ignored by the neighbours, who know what's going on, because there's a culture of not getting involved with other people if you can possibly help it and then it all comes to a climax in a murder/the death of a child from neglect. 溜息, tameiki, sigh.
I don't have any class on Thursdays, and H usually has the day off, but today he has work so I'm taking the opportunity to clean the flat, do all my 課題 (kadai, which is the word for university-level homework, as opposed to 宿題, shukudai, which is school-level) and possibly check out the gym nearby which apparently only costs 5500 yen per month for members under 30. Hopefully there'll be fewer 80-year-olds lifting 4kg weights at this place than at the last gym I used to go to. Not intending to be ageist, but for some reason there's nothing more motivation-sapping than being surrounded by old-age pensioners while working out...
Just watching the news now and there's a case in which a woman (Takahashi Tomomi) killed her sleeping husband by pouring gasoline all over then setting fire to him (!). Apparently they lived in government-sponsored housing and were both out of work, with two young kids (8 and 12 months). According to the neighbours, they used to fight all the time and she would sometimes run out of the house screaming "He's going to kill me, call the police". She was often covered in bruises. And what did the neighbours do? They called the police "a number of times", but when the police actually came the wife would say there was nothing wrong, and go back inside her house.
I can't tell you how many times this pattern (well, minus the death-by-setting-on-fire bit maybe) comes up in the Japanese crime news. Blatant domestic violence/child abuse going largely ignored by the neighbours, who know what's going on, because there's a culture of not getting involved with other people if you can possibly help it and then it all comes to a climax in a murder/the death of a child from neglect. 溜息, tameiki, sigh.
I don't have any class on Thursdays, and H usually has the day off, but today he has work so I'm taking the opportunity to clean the flat, do all my 課題 (kadai, which is the word for university-level homework, as opposed to 宿題, shukudai, which is school-level) and possibly check out the gym nearby which apparently only costs 5500 yen per month for members under 30. Hopefully there'll be fewer 80-year-olds lifting 4kg weights at this place than at the last gym I used to go to. Not intending to be ageist, but for some reason there's nothing more motivation-sapping than being surrounded by old-age pensioners while working out...