Things I learned this year

for me in  2023 there was

rather too much dampness

sad intervals 

and toothache

a weirdly hot 1st week of September

a new king 

 

the nice bits involved swimming and Christmas cake

 

I learned about the Japanese expression Kuuki wo yomu -  'reading the air' 

This is not simply an ability to 'read the room' 

In Japan this is an extreme and excruciating mind game, mainly used to establish and maintain hierarchical structures, the underling must become telepathic.

Kanako illustrated the concept with a story about when she worked for a small fashion company - her boss liked to perform the idea that his employers (the women) were his equals. Every day they would all go out for lunch together. Every day he would ask one of the women to say where they should go to eat. Each woman dreaded her turn to say because it was all about guessing correctly where the boss wanted to go  - the inability to 'read the air' has it's own specific and derogatory term - KY (like being called 'backward') and is apparently a career-killer