Arrival Of Long-awaited Luggage

Finally! At last! Under the clear sky, we rejoiced as our long-awaited luggage arrived by chartered flight. Ohba-san couldn't contain his joy and shouted, "Yee-ha!" The 23 boxes all arrived without any damage.

The long-awaited 23 boxes arrived safely
Now we are all set for the expedition

As we carried the boxes to the youth hostel and began unpacking them, all my anxiety and irritation disappeared. The more actively I moved my body, the more uplifted I became. Ohba-san said to me, "I always marvel at how quickly and easily a woman can switch her mood."

In the evening, we met Arne, the pilot who will take us to the ice cap. He suddenly arrived on the porch of the youth hostel,greeting us with a warm "Hi", just as we were thinking of meeting up with him. He is a large, brown-haired, handsome man. As he was such a likable person, Ohba-san immediately liked him and gave him a pair of socks, a gift from the president of Goldwin Inc.

We needed to check if the 2-meter sleds can be fitted into the small helicopter. If not, then we have no choice but hung it underneath. As such, it was decided that we would go to the heliport on the next day. I asked Arne, "What time is convenient for you?" And he replied, "Anytime." Jackie too always says that. They always say, "Call me whenever you are ready." I think this is a Greenlandic way of life: people are not pressed for time and living their lives at their own pace

Fubuki (hawk) and Ji-chan (hawker)

At night, we prepared a dinner with the food arrived today. As the sun does not set until past 8:00 p.m., a late dinner time was not unusual. We stuffed ourselves by eating porridges of rice and vegetables and fish boiled with soy sauce. As we sat feeling content and safe around the dining table under a dim light, the air of open conversation came upon us naturally.

After the dinner, feeling the tranquility outside the window, I listened intently to Ohba-san's life-changing story of the meeting with a hawker, Mr Asaji Kutsuzawa (a.k.a. Ji-chan). A documentary film "Rojin To Taka (An old man and a hawk)" won a prize at Festival De Cannes, and it is a valuable record of Japan's hunting culture.

Around 7:30 p.m. the outside is still bright

When Ohba, a little boy, saw Mr. Kutsuzawa, an old man, kissing his renowned hawk "Fubuki" that could capture 300 rabbits a winter, he was deeply moved and determined to become like Ji-chan by focusing on what he liked most and becoming an expert.

The little Ohba was totally captivated by the hawk and thinking all the time about it. But his mother strongly objected his idea of becoming a hawker, and she even said to him, "Are you crazy? Remember, you are the oldest son of a farmer." Seeing little Ohba almost on the verge of an emotional breakdown, Mr. Kutsusawa came to the Ohbas to speak to his mother, "Please let him have a hawk, and I will tell him to do the farm work harder than anybody else."

Since then, Mr. Kutsusawa's words of wisdom, "Believe in yourself and go for your honest way." has became Ohba-san's guiding principle, the most cherished motto of his life. And this meeting took place when he was 14 years old at his home town, Mogami, Yamagata.

In the icy cold night sky, floats the moon of Greenland

Noriko Miyashita