A Guest from Walla Walla City!

This time, our guest was introduced to us by someone who visited Tamba Sasayama for a sister city exchange program last October. The guest is involved in winemaking in Walla Walla, who traveled some countries before coming to Japan to enhance his skill of making wine.

The original person who introduced this guest claims himself as our "eldest son", and since our eldest son is older than my husband, somehow I had assumed the guest was much older. So I was surprised when I went to pick him up at the Sasayamaguchi Station and saw a handsome young man from my kids' generation!😆

This was his first trip abroad, and he had spent some time in the wine regions of Australia (Melbourne and Adelaide) before arriving in Japan via Thailand. After staying with us for about three days, he was planning to go to Tokyo before returning home, to reunite with someone who had stayed with his family about 15 years ago. Fortunately, the cherry blossoms had just started to bloom, so we could enjoy Hanami (flower viewing) at our usual spots, had meals at a buffet-style restaurant. We also took him to a wine shop to check out some Japanese wine. 

Since I don't drink alcohol at all, I'm not particularly interested in it, but he seemed very interested due to his work. During his stay, John and he opened a bottle of wine every night. I took him to Horoyoi Jokagura, where he enjoyed a tasting of various fresh new Sakes. Watching him, the tasting looked so stylish, almost like an art form. I was also amazed at how he could drink so much and not get drunk, while I would definitely be red-faced and obviously tipsy!😅

It's interesting how someone with expertise in a particular field reacts completely differently than the average person. I noticed this while observing his sake tasting. The questions he asked and his perspective were so unique.

Perhaps because Walla Walla is a small city, he seemed to prefer the nature of Sasayama over famous tourist spots like Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo. On his way back, he bought a lot of "Tamba wine (unfortunately from a company in Kyoto, not Sasayama)" and attached a box to his suitcase before departing. (I heard he was going to repack in Tokyo! ^^)

It turned out to be a wonderful new connection and meeting! 
Thank you for coming, hope to see you again.🤗