Japanese

23 days leftby Mie

December 8, 2000: Welcome to Oita, Korean friends
	Mr. Shing Dong Hoon (handle name Ranma) and his families visited Oita from Seoul, Korea. Ranma is an old COARA member. When personal computer communication was in booming, we talked with him in "Korean Conference Room" in the system. He was the very member who gave me the first response upon my message.
When we visited Korea for the first time and met him in a hotel in Seoul, he was still a college student. He got married three years ago and planned to make a trip to Oita together with his wife and parents.
	My husband picked them at Oita hovercraft terminal and headed Beppu city directly. After check-in, we soon went out for sightseeing of Hells in Beppu hot spring area. In front of Mountain Devil Hell, my husband Ken (center) and Ranma's parents.
Red Torii gates and autumnal colors make a good contrast.	Here in Sea Hell, we can see the remnant of autumn color. The site is crowded with many visitors.
	In Hells, there are many kinds of facilities that utilize the heat of hot springs. This is Giant lotus of Amazon in a hot pool of Sea Hell. The Hells in Beppu are very appealing to Korean tourists. They also love bathing in hot springs. After the quick look of the Hells, Ranma family soon tried hot springs in the hotel.
In the evening, our mailing list members got together in downtown Oita to have a "forget-the-year-party" together with the welcome party for Ranma family. Just before joining the party, Ranma family visited COARA office. The main street of Oita is light up like this annually.
	A small pub Mitchan is crowded with 14 people, from left Ranma, Fujio, Uchida, Inoue, Nakamura, Suyama, Kuboki, and Matsumura. The main dish tonight is duck hot pot.
Mr. and Mrs. Ranma. They look very happy posing for a picture
	This time, Ranma planned to visit Oita in commemoration with his father's birthday. Mr. Tooru Ono, president of COARA, gave a present to Ranma's father. The classic colored muffler made him very happy. He made a few words in English.
Oita members introduced themselves in English or in partial English. My husband Ken supports them.
	Mr. Kimura, an old friend who knew Ranma before, calls from Tokyo. Mr. Ohishi in Kumamoto also contacted Ranma through a cellular phone. Ranma looks very happy to hear dear old voices.
Ranma's mother and wife try together to eat Natto, a sticky strange food for foreigners. Ranma ate Natto ten years ago for the first time and got a shock, he laughed.
	Paul, Ranma's father, and Mr. Mori hit it off together with each other.
The pleasant party was over before we knew. Ranma family goes back to Beppu by train. All of us saw them off at Oita station.
See you again, dear friends from Korea. From front left; Ranma's mother, Nakamura, Ken, Mrs. Ranma, Rear from left; Paul, Inoue, Kuboki, Fujio, Ranma, Mie, and Matsumura. Picture by Mori. The Ranmas will make a round trip to Mt. Aso tomorrow.
A "second-party" as usual in a pub near the station. We talked to visit Korea again in early spring the next year.

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