tai tai

tai tai (n)

You might be wondering what on earth a "tai tai" is. Or you might not. But let's assume you are. (If not, stop reading here)

Wikipedia describes a tai tai as the supreme wife of a wealthy Chinese man. Well, I'm not married to a wealthy Chinese businessman. BUT in Hong Kong the term tai tai is also used colloquially as the term for any "wife," and in particular a wife whose husband is rich, therefore absolving her from partaking in paid employment. Wikipedia goes on to say that to qualify as a tai tai "one must have lots of leisure time, lots of money and lots of gossip to exchange."

Therefore, I suppose you might say I'm really a tai tai in training. Since I'm not a wife! Or, to be even more precise, you could even say I'm only a temporary tai tai in training since I will only be a lady of leisure as long as we live in Tokyo (part time "work" playing with kids doesn't really count. It's not paying any bills!). However "temporary tai tai in training in tokyo" wasn't quite as catchy as plain old "tai tai in tokyo"!

So now you know why you're reading "tai tai in tokyo"

For further information on how to be a successful tai tai, you can watch this "how to" movie. I think it's actually aimed at Singapore tai tai, but the idea is the same.

Click here for Linda's Quintessential Guide to Tai Tai-hood