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2012,06,09, Saturday
 このたび迎えたお客さん5名は、到着時刻も宿泊日数も、みんなバラバラ。それもそのはず。長野、熊本、長崎、神奈川、そしてなんと韓国と、住所がみんな違うのですもの。 彼女たちは青年海外協力隊（Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, JOCV）のそれぞれの職種でフィリピンに赴任し、3月に帰国したばかりの同期隊員。韓国のNさんは現地で知り合った仲間。韓国海外奉仕団（Korea Overseas Volunteers, KOV）で同じくフィリピンに赴任していたそうです。 今回、音頭をとって引き連れてやってきてくれたのは、（わ）の高校の同級生という（あ）。彼女は、協力隊派遣が決まった2年半前にも、遊びに来てくれました。驚いたことに、みんな帰国以来の再会なのですって。  というわけで、中日の夜は、いつも通り囲炉裏で猪肉のバーベキュー。マサヤンハウスの面々と、外国人実習生受け入れに関する事務をしている友人、さらにUターンで柑橘農業の後継者となった、僕からすると先輩のYさんも誘って、囲炉裏の土間が、いつにない大人数で満たされました。しかもYさん以外は、生まれたときにはこの地に縁もゆかりもない人々。それがこうやって集まって、この地域と無関係でないことを決めたこの場所で、こんなに愉しく酒を呑んでいる。これは奇跡でしょう。出会いはいつだって奇跡的。 インド・コルカタで暮らしていたとき、（わ）の任期が根拠となって滞在期間があらかじめ決まっていたため、その後の可能性について、早くから二人でいろいろ考えていました。明浜に戻って柑橘農業を基盤に暮らしを送ることを決めたとき、それまでの経験を振り返り、この生活を実践的研究として捉えよう、と整理しました。家族が合流して丸3年が経ち、様々な人を迎えてきました。その間にかんまん部屋の暮らしも始まりました。その中で、研究の成果が導き出されそうな気配を感じます。  皆さん、来てくれてどうもありがとう。梅の収穫と我が家のジャガイモ掘りも手伝ってくれて、助かりました。皆さんの滞在中は、毎日お腹いっぱい、酒もよく飲みました。愉しかった！ ぜひ新たな仲間を連れて、また遊びに来てください。 また会う日まで、健やかに。 （ゆ） Where we meet on this planet We welcomed five guests during this week, but each of them reached here from a different route, at different times, and left here on different days. How come!? - Because they were from various places like Nagano, Kumamoto, Nagasaki, Kanagawa, and Korea! In Philippine, four of those Japanese women had worked as Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) for two years, and the Korean women was a Korea Overseas Volunteer (KOV). They had just completed their terms and came back last March. Though their job descriptions differed, they were in the same batch. A, Wakana's friend from high school, was the one who brought all of them this time. She actually visited us two and half years ago right after her selection (as a JOCV) was announced. Surprisingly, these five women met each other over here for the first time since they left Philippine. On the evening, when all of them were together, we had a usual BBQ with wild boar meat around the Irori. This party turned into quite a special one thanks to people who gathered. Besides those five guests, there were Masayang guys, friends who works for an organization that arranges for foreign agricultural trainees (including Masayang guys) to come and work in Japan with local citrus farmers, and Y-san, one of our neighbors who is originally from this village. After his schooling, Y-san had worked in other cities, but came back to be a citrus farmer like his father. Except Y-san, all of them, including ourselves, had nothing to do with this area when they were born. However, we got together this evening and had such a nice time eating and drinking together. Isn't this a miracle? Yeah, meeting people is, always, a miracle! When we were living in Kolkata, India, we used to talk quite often about our future plans post-Kolkata because we knew the duration of Wakana's term of office in Kolkata would be over in a few years. When we decided to come back to here, Akehama, and live based on agriculture, we understood that this would be our "practical research". Thinking back what we had been doing and considering through our academic and working careers, this made good sense to us. Since we started living together here as a family, it has been three full years. Meanwhile, welcoming various kinds of people here, our life in Kanman-beya had started, too. Now we are feeling that we may get some answers and results through our life here. Thank you very much to the five of you for coming here all the way from other places. It was really helpful that you joined Ume-picking and potato harvesting. During your stay, we ate and drank a lot, and it was simply fun! I hope to see you again, and if you bring some more new friends, they are most welcome, too! Stay well, until we see each other next time. Yuki  
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