Party Time パーティーの時間

2023 年 9 月 8 日

🫵 It doesn't matter if you left school years ago, or that you have no school-age children, or indeed if your life has nothing to do with education: if you live in Germany you will know when the school holidays have ended. I look out of my window today and I sniff Bratwurst 🌭hear some loud music 🎺 and notice the crowds gathering. Yes, It's Verkaufsoffener Sonntag in my little town, and it coincides neatly with the end of the school summer holidays. To have the shops open on a Sunday is not common in Germany, hence the street party.

学校の休みも終わりです。 ランゲンではお祭りがあります。 でも、パーティーもしたよ…

I walk down the main street, enjoying the traffic-free ambiente. The usual big names have set up stands - Telekom, VW, The CDU (Political party), but there are lots of local clubs out aswell. And the Musikschule Brass Band is playing....

🫵 But I got my party in before the Stadt Langen 😅.

It had been my birthday a few days ago so I had an excuse to celebrate on Saturday. In rolled my lovely and marvellous friends, forming a sort of international roll-call bearing gifts.....(even though I thought I had said no presents! ).......

Here is an exquisite Chinese card from my neighbours Wenyi and Nebo......

たくさんのお友達が私の誕生日パーティーに来てくれました

food......食べ物

Home-made Sushi from Yumiさん、。。。おいしい。。。😋

Photo: Yumi san

Salads, and home-made bread from Julia in the workshop...mmmmm...

サラダと自家製パン

Video: Momo san

Mini mouth-watering quiches from Hisako san - wow! How does she do that pastry?...

尚子さんの美味しいキッシュ....彼女はどうやってそのペストリーを作っているのですか？😋

....drinks 🍾 in the fridge.....Now when you are the only host for over 23 guests you can't be everywhere at the same time, so I had to leave notes like this one in the kitchen.....キッチンにあるメモ

It seemed to work, as the flat was decorated with many an empty bottle by the end of the evening...ah, just found another one behind the lathe in the workshop.......🤣

And music...🎵......Nik arrived straight from a 3-country ( Hungary-Italy-UK trip ) to accompany Joshua with Schubert's "Die Sterne" Op 96 .....🎧 Thank you Nik and Joshua! Poetry.....the stars.....wonderful!

Video: Olexandra

Baby Ando looks on.....

.......With Momo Yamamoto we were transported to quite a different world. Momo treated us to some of her own intimate almost improvisatory songs...in Japanese, naturally......(having re-haired her violin bow I had originally asked her to play the violin, but she had other ideas....... 😅)

モモは自分の歌を歌います

Photo: Ruby

Video: Olexandra

Thank you Momo!

What is it about birthdays that they not only call for celebration, but also for reflection? With the passing away of my dear father this year I needed somehow to pay my respects to his memory. Now he was no musician, but he loved to hear my mother play the piano. So I asked a friend of mine, Yao, if she would play this Schubert Impromptu in his memory. There is something in this music that invokes memory and nostalgia. There is no harm in this, as long as there is space for hope - which Schubert indeed writes into the music. The shift into the major key at the end. We only hear the last bars here, but Yao played the whole piece with exquisite beauty and tenderness. I could not have asked for anything more fitting. Thank you, Yao!

父を偲んで、八尾さんにこのシューベルトを弾いてもらいました……。

(Because my piano is digital I suggest headphones again here..🎧) : Impromptu Nr. 3 Op.90

Video: Momo san

The sun set on a very happy evening. Thank you everyone for coming, and sorry to all those I could not invite due to lack of space!...I will need a big villa next time. It appears that one of my ....er...younger guests leant out of the workshop window at one point.....It's a long way down 😱....

私の若い友人の一人が窓からこの写真を撮りました

Great shot Ruby!

One of the side-effects of being with so many nice friends is that you hardly get a word in with your own family. So Esther and myself made up for this later in the week at Casa Pintor in Frankfurt. Tapas and wine under a fig tree. So happy! 娘のエスターと一緒に. しあわせ.

reaching for the wine.......

Photo : Esther

🫵 Thank you for reading "..Party time .."

"..パーティーの時間 .."を読んでくれてありがとう

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よろしければ、リンクを友達と共有してください

🫵 And it would be nice to hear from you...!

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Chinese Mooncake

THE END

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終わり