The Ogiri event went excellently today. We set the hall up without any major problems, and the ladies of the International Club did a superb job of cooking lunch (okonomiyaki to die for, and daizu somen) for the panellists and the members of the International Club from Kubokawa-cho. The four panellists from Hiroshima arrived on time, and, after lunch, we were able to run through the afternoon's schedule before the event proper began.
As the audience began to arrive, it soon became obvious that we would comfortably exceed the numbers who came to the previous Ogiri event, held two years ago (the day after the Geiyo Jishin earthquake, in fact). In the end, there were 95 people in the audience, and all of them seemed to be enjoying themselves. Indeed, as they left, quite a few people told me they were looking forward to next year. I was particularly pleased to see elementary school children and junior high school students in the audience, as well as quite a few young adults, people I wouldn't have expected to be spending their Saturday afternoon at an event like this. Obviously our publicity blitz paid off.
The event itself was most enjoyable. Some of the participants may not have been particularly confident in Japanese, but what they lacked in language ability they more than made up for in enthusiasm. They really looked to be having a good time- which, I suppose, is the most important thing. In any case, they did the whole event proud. Equally, Wendy and Megumi did a fine job of giving out zabuton cushions (unfortunately in a way, nobody lost even one of their zabuton), and Ueda-san, the host, kept things moving smoothly and humorously, even if he did forget to ask the audience to vote and the panellists to answer every now and again... All in all, I don't think I could have hoped for a better event.
I have to say that organising the whole event was hard work, not physically but in terms of stress. Although many people helped with preparations, the planning was entirely my responsibility, and as such, the whole event was dependent ultimately on me alone. Nevertheless, with the loneliness of being in charge comes an immense feeling of satisfaction when everything comes together, and this afternoon, watching the event progress smoothly, and seeing the audience (and the panellists, for that matter) obviously having a good time, I felt that satisfaction more than enough to have made all the stress worthwhile.
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