Orangutans and Natto over eggplant oyaki and cold beer -- You had to have been there.
Expatの新年会？
オーストリア人の木細工師、米国人のコンサルタント、ハンガリー人の陶芸家、そしてこの青い目の旅館若旦那。
皆が戸倉上山田温泉の周辺に住んでいる外国人だ。七福と言うおやき屋さんで集まって、なんちゃった新年会をやりました。亀清に2週間ぐらい滞在しているオーストラリア人の研究家三人と、陶芸家のＡｇｎｅｓさんの旦那さん、版画家のＦｕｍｉｏさんも一緒になって、皆で冷たいビールを飲みながら、アツアツ焼きたてのおやきで盛り上がりました。
海外に住む経験のあるＦｕｍｉｏさんが言ってくれました：日本に住んでいる外国人は色々なストレスがある；日本人には理解が出来ない。偶にこういうお互いに理解できる人たちの集まりが必要。他の付き合いは沢山あるから頻繁に集まれないけど、偶にね。
ちなみに、Ｆｕｍｉｏさんの新作版画展「色彩の幻想」は上田市にあるギャラリー駒で2月23日（水）から28日（月）まで行う予定です。Ａｇｎｅｓさんの作品がそのギャラリーの常設展示品だそうです。詳しくはＨＰへ。
It was like an expat 'Shin-nen kai' (New Year party). It seems like every little 'association' around is having these Shin-nen kai's. As a ryokan owner, I'm grateful as many of them are held at ryokans like ours. But most of them seem to be just another excuse to drink. Especially as they are coming off the tail of all those 'Bo-nen kai' (Forget-the-Year parties) at the end of last year. If people want to get together for a beer, why don't they just get together for a beer and not have to use an excuse of 'New Year Party'?
End of tirade and back to the story at hand.
A woodworker from Austria, a ceramic artist from Hungary, a consultant from the States, and yours truly, the blue-eyed ryokan proprietor, hooked up for a cold beer (call it a Shin-nen kai if you must) over piping hot oyaki buns at Shichifuku. We all live an work in the vicinity of Togura Kamiyamada Onsen, and have a common bond of moving here from overseas. We were joined by 3 Aussies that are staying at Kamesei for an extended time as they work on a research paper, as well as Fumio-san, the husband of ceramic artist Agnes-san.
Fumio-san, who has lived abroad himself, shared a wise tidbit of info: foreigners living in Japan have a lot of stress; stress that a Japanese person can't understand. It's important for them to get together with people who face similar stress and blow off steam every once in a while. It should be spontaneous, not a formal get-together, as everyone has enough other regular obligations in their lives.
By the way, Fumio-san's newest prints will be on display at Gallery Koma in Ueda City from Wednesday 23-Feb through Monday 28-Feb. Agnes's ceramic pieces are on permanent display there as well. Check out the gallery's website for details.
