日本人記者現る！の巻っ！Hungarian Rhapsody(31)

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10月7日（火）晴れ

♪　昨日の疲労もあるが、今日も早起き。
朝、7時半には、研究所の裏手にあるKodaly(コダーイ)音楽小学校へ行く。
学校見学が始まるので、今朝は、秘書のアグネシュに案内され、
学生皆で校長先生にご挨拶。切れ味鋭そうな女性校長先生。

♪　校長室には、いつ誰が贈ったのか、千羽鶴が飾られていた。


♪　今日はご挨拶だけすぐ引き返し、朝8時から指揮法レッスン。
先日金曜日に、希望が見えてきた指揮法。今日も振らせてもらえ、3/4拍子の三拍目の形を注意されたけれど、それだけ。

♪　わりと無難に切り抜けた。ほかの人が振る時は、その指揮に合わせて、各２声ずつのピアノを両手で弾くが、それも慣れてきて、だいぶ上手くなった気がする。

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ナゾの男性　現る！

♪　2時間目のフォークミュージックも終わり、図書館へ“アンティークコーラス”という古い時代の音楽テキストを借りに行った。


♪　そこに、おや？見慣れぬ後ろ姿。何と日本人男性！
40代後半ぐらいだろうか？　Yさんという、日本の某大手新聞、
モスクワ支局の方に「こんにちは」と挨拶され、名刺をいただく。


♪　図書館を出て、廊下を歩きながらお名前を伺った。
あまり大っぴらに話せない事情があるようで、少しだけよいですか？と、
私の部屋へ。（この部屋も、どこかで監視されているかも？だけど）


♪　詳しい話はできない、と前置きがあり、Visaビザの関係でここへ来たという。
いろいろ訳ありで難しいらしい。
この学校の電話番号を聞かれたので、学校のパンフレットを1部差し上げた。

♪　学校の外にタクシーを待たせている由。
これから農村の事情も見たいし、私の話も聞きたいので、一緒に来てもらえませんか？
と言われた。

♪　1階のKodalyに関する展示（壁面ミュージアム風）は、普通の観光客でもオープン時間内なら、受付にちょっと声をかけて見られる。
が・・2階の図書館には、どうやって許可をもらったのだろう？
わからない。　

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♪　とにかく、私は提出期限の迫っている、滞在ビザ用の写真の撮影に行く必要があった。
加えて、毎日の課題、宿題をこなす時間が必要で、と、２つを理由に断った。事実だから。


♪　久しぶりの日本語は嬉しいけれど、いきなり図書館に現れた新聞記者さんといえども初対面。先生方の紹介でもないし。

♪　誰にでもついて行くわけにはいかない。
記者さんは、諦めた様子で、また何かあったら話を聴かせてください、と
社交辞令のような言葉を残して、学校の外へ出ていった。
タクシーまでお送りすることはしなかった。
お断りしてよかったと思う。
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写真館はどこだ～！📸

♪　さて、滞在用Visaの写真を撮ってもらわないと・・・
秘書たちに聞いたフォトスタジオは２、3か所ある。
ハンガリー語で　Foto＝photo なのだが、なかなか見つからず、
探しながら歩いていたら鉄道のKecskemet駅についてしまった。

♪　ここまで遠くはないはず。

“どこですか”という意味のハンガリー語、“Hol van～？（ホル・ヴァン）を3回も使って通りがかりの女性に訊き、
結局、マーケット（市場）に近い方のスタジオを見つけて撮ってもらった。


♪　一応、写真スタジオなのだけれど・・・ライティング機器も古そうで、きっと「ブタ」のような女に写ったに違いない！🐷笑
その代わり４枚組で価格は、すごく安かった。

♪　せっかく近くまで来たので、マーケットへ行ってみる。
朝書き終えた　４通の手紙も途中で出せた。

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♪　検閲を受け（包みが開封され、少し雑に再度包まれた形跡あり）、受け取る時、少額とはいえ、配達してくれた郵便屋さんに「関税？」を支払ったけれど、
午前の授業の合間に、両親から日本の唱歌集と小さな電卓2個が届いたし、何だかとても解放された気分。


♪　こんな時間では何もないかな？と思いながらも、足取り軽く、火曜日のマーケットへ。
意外にも、今日は牛ひき肉、トマト、玉ねぎ、花も買えた。
一人の部屋に、花は心休まる。

♪　午後の見学は先方都合でキャンセル。
その後は、メトドロジィの授業。
ソルフェージュ、歌の練習少し。


♪　夕食は、キャサリンのヴァイオリンレッスン料の代わりに、
ビートン(Patricia, Colin Beaton)一家にミートパイをごちそうになった。
塩分控えめ、手間のかかるパイ生地からColinの手作り。
美味しかった。お肉の塊みたいな大きなパイ。家族5人＋私の分も。感謝。

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♪　18-20時合唱。
合唱が終わった後。ダイニングに戻り、
これからハンガリー語の授業をどうするかというミーティング。

♪　音出し練習終了後、22時過ぎにも、Susan, Diane, Alineと4人でお茶を飲みながら0時過ぎまで、かなり真剣に話をした。


♪　ハンガリー語の女性先生に、学生たちが英語で質問する。
けれど、最近、先生の英語力が質問内容に追いつかなくなってきて、
授業の効率がよくないのだ。

♪　先生が用意したテキストブックがあるので、
ハンガリー語はDiane, Aline　と3人で、毎週末に１チャプターずつやってみようということに。わーい、上手くいくといいな。

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♪　日本のお蕎麦屋さんで、美味しいお蕎麦を食べた夢など見た。（笑）
少し日本食が恋しくなっているのかもしれない。
大丈夫！
おやすみなさい　（続く）

Tuesday, October 7 — Sunny

♪　Although I was still tired from yesterday, I got up early again.

♪　By 7:30 a.m., I was already at Kodály Music Elementary School,
located just behind the Institute.

♪　This morning, we were scheduled for a school visit.
Secretary Ágnes guided our group, and together we greeted the principal—
a sharp, intelligent-looking woman with a commanding presence.

♪　In her office, a display of a thousand paper cranes (Japanese ones)
caught my eye. I wondered who had given them, and when.

♪　After a short visit, we returned immediately to the Institute.
Our conducting class started at 8:00 a.m.

♪　Since last Friday, I had begun to feel a glimmer of hope in my conducting. Today, I got to conduct again. I was only corrected once—
on the form of the third beat in 3/4 time—and that was all.
I managed to get through the class without any major issues.

♪　When others conducted, we accompanied them on the piano,
playing two voice parts with both hands to follow the conductor’s beat.
I was getting used to this and felt I’d improved a lot.

A Japanese Stranger at the Library

♪　After the second period, which was folk music, I headed to the library to borrow an old textbook titled Antique Chorus.

♪　There, I noticed a man I didn’t recognize.
From the back, he looked unfamiliar—
but as I drew closer, I realized he was Japanese.

♪　He appeared to be in his late 40s.
He greeted me with a “Hello” in Japanese, and introduced himself as Mr. Y,
a correspondent for a major Japanese newspaper’s Moscow bureau.
He gave me his business card.

♪　As we walked down the hallway, he told me his name.
There seemed to be some circumstances he couldn’t openly discuss.
He asked, “May I speak with you for a moment?”
and I invited him to my room. (Although even there, I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone might be monitoring us.)

♪　He prefaced the conversation by saying he couldn’t explain everything in detail, but that he was here due to a visa-related issue.
It sounded complicated.
He asked for the school’s telephone number, so I handed him a school brochure.

He then told me he had a taxi waiting outside.

♪　Although it had been a while since I last spoke Japanese,
and I was grateful for that small comfort, I had never met this man before.
He wasn’t introduced by any of my teachers.

♪　Besides, I needed to go have my visa photograph taken before the deadline, and I had homework to do.

♪　So I politely declined—for both real and practical reasons.

He seemed to accept my decision and said something polite in return:

♪　Then he left the school. I didn’t see him off to the taxi.

I’m glad I turned him down.

The Search for a Photo Studio

♪　Now, I had to get that visa photo taken.
The secretaries had told me about two or three photo studios in town. In Hungarian, photo is written as Foto. I set out on foot, trying to find one.

♪　But somehow, while walking and searching, I ended up all the way at Kecskemét railway station. That wasn’t supposed to be this far!

♪　I asked for directions three times, using the Hungarian phrase “Hol van ～?” ("Where is ～?"), each time speaking to women passing by on the street.

♪　Eventually, I found a studio near the market.
It was technically a photo studio, though the lighting equipment looked quite old. I must have looked like a pig in those pictures!　🐷

♪　Still, it was a set of four photos—and very cheap.

♪　Since I was near the market, I decided to visit. Along the way,
I also managed to drop off four letters I had finished writing that morning.

A Small Gift from Japan

♪　Earlier in the day, between classes, I had received a small package from my parents in Japan.

♪　It had been inspected by Custom—
the wrapping had clearly been opened and rewrapped a bit carelessly.
I had to pay a small delivery fee, like a kind of customs charge,
to the postman.

♪　Still, I was delighted.
Inside were two small calculators and a book of Japanese folk songs.

♪　The gift brought such a sense of relief. I felt free again.

♪　Even though it was in the afternoon,
I headed to the Tuesday market with light footsteps, wondering if anything would still be available.

♪　To my surprise, I was able to buy ground beef, tomatoes, onions—and even some flowers.

♪　In a lonely room, flowers are such a comfort.

Evening with Music and Friends

♪　The school observation was canceled,  and attended the Methodology class.　I also had some solfège and singing practice.

♪　That evening, I was invited to dinner at the Beaton family's home, in exchange for helping pay for Catherine’s violin lessons.
They served a delicious homemade meat pie.
Colin had made the crust from scratch with little salt—time-consuming,
but so tender and flavorful.

♪　It was a huge pie, full of hearty meat, and enough for their whole family of five—plus me. I was so grateful.

♪　From 6 to 8 p.m., we had choir practice.

♪　Afterward, back in the dining hall, we held a short meeting to talk about our Hungarian language lessons.

♪　Even after the late-night instrument practice, Susan, Diane, Aline, and I gathered again for tea. We sat together until after midnight, discussing the situation seriously.

♪　The problem was that our Hungarian teacher had been struggling with English.
♪　As we students asked questions in English, her responses had become harder to follow. This had made the lessons less efficient.

♪　So we decided: Diane, Aline, and I would study one chapter of the Hungarian textbook each weekend, just the three of us.

♪　I hope it goes well—fingers crossed!

♪　That night, I even dreamed of eating delicious soba noodles at a Japanese soba restaurant. Maybe I’m starting to miss Japanese food a little. （lol)

But I’ll be all right.

Good night.
(To be continued.)