Sonia
Christina Coman, already an accomplished haiku poet at 12, the age
when she attended these events, wrote the following remembrance on
her own. They are a personal journal of her experiences at WHC's
World Haiku Festival 2000, London/Oxford. During the conference
she was given the title for life, Ambassador of World Haiku.
Sonia
Christine Coman and her mother, Mrs. Maria Coman in London for
WHF2000
The
World Haiku Festival 2000
a Participant's impressions
Sonia
Coman
Contantza, Romania
On a chilly day in June, on my way back home from school, my
parents gave me the wonderful piece of news that I was invited to
take part in The World Haiku Festival 2000 from August 25th to
30th, in London and Oxford, an invitation sent by Mr. Susumu
Takiguchi, Chairman of The World Haiku Club.
The
World Haiku Festival 2000 took place under the patronage of His
Excellency, Mr. Sadayuki Hayashi, The Ambassador of Japan, and Sir
Peter Parker, Kbelvo. I was thrilled and honoured thinking of the
personalities I was going to meet there, and also of the
experience I was going to pass through. Shortly after that, my
summer holidays started, and until August 24th 2000, there was a
time full of feverish preparation. Reviewing and studying more
about both the Japanese poems and English language, getting the
necessary visas for The U.K., having plane tickets booked,
examining maps and folders about England, packing my luggage, all
represented moments of real happiness and unforgettable holidays.
Both
my mother and I were getting ready for our first journey to
England: at Otopeni Airport, near Bucharest, our excitement was
printed on our souls and it could be readily seen in our eyes.
Everything
was a lot simpler than I had thought, and soon we were in our
plane to The U.K. When the plane took off I was somehow
afraid because that was my first flight. However, everything was
O.K. and we landed well. I can even say that I felt "above
the clouds". At our arrival on Heathrow Airport, as big as a
city, I was speechless with amazement because, in part, everybody
was speaking English. I was in an "ocean of English"!
The fact that I could hear English being spoken everywhere around
me impressed me very much. Nevertheless, I awoke quickly and dived
into this "ocean of English", very confident and
optimistic, feeling encouraged by those around me. My mother
couldn't speak English fluently on our entire stay in The U.K.,
although she understood it very well. She was my
"bodyguard" instead!
The fact that no one came to meet us at the airport made me very
ambitious and I took over the "leadership": we had
brought maps from a travel agency in Constantza, and,
therefore, we knew exactly where and what to ask. This time, I had
to thank my father because he foresaw the possibility of not being
waited for by anyone at the airport and having to manage by
ourselves.
I headed to the "Information" Office to ask about the
underground. Also, we bought two "One Day Travel Cards"
and then we got on. Everywhere we went, we
couldn't help noticing that everything was extremely neat and that
the young people were very decent in their clothing, haircuts and
behaviour.
At Piccadilly Circus, we asked where Bakerloo Line was in order to
reach Lambeth North Station. Once we got on the surface, we asked
two nice old ladies which
was the way to the International House, the hotel that was to put
us up for four nights. We bought two natural cherry juices from a
little boutique and we walked along Lambeth Road admiring the
city. My mother's cheeks turned rosy again.
The British accent was echoing even from the red bricks of
the English houses. During the last few days, I was already
speaking English fluently and the English people were amazed at my
good accent. The "ocean of English" let me in. I could
"swim" and "play" as I liked; everything
I could hear around me no longer gave me a feeling of insecurity,
unknown, fear...
After being put up at the International House, we visited Saint
George's Cathedral. Then, when we came back, I was introduced to
Mr. Georges Friedenkraft from France. I showed him my book, as
well as "Albatross" magazine, published by Mr. Ion
Codrescu. He was impressed by them all. I also met Mrs. Inga Uhlemann,
who lives in Japan, the winner of the First Prize at Mainichi
Contest,
senior section, a special lady whom I will never forget.
The next day, August 25th, Mr. Georges Friedenkraft and Mr. Jean
Antonini took us to Daiwa House where, to my surprise, we were
welcomed by Mr. Ion Codrescu himself, the President of The Haiku
Society of Constantza, and his wife, Mrs. Mihaela Codrescu. There
I had the great privilege of meeting Mr. Susumu Takiguchi,
Chairman of The World Haiku Club, a special person who gave me as
a gift his latest book ''The Twaddle of an Oxonian, Haiku Poems
and Essays". This book is a jewel for the haiku domain, a
valuable book which every haiku writer and every haiku admirer
should have. I also met Mr. Takiguchi's wife, Mrs. Diana
Takiguchi, a real lady.
On that day, I met also two special persons: Mrs. Visjna McMaster
and her husband, Mr. Graham McMaster, from Croatia, whose kindness
and friendship I will always cherish. Mrs. McMaster offered me the magazine of The Haiku
Poets Association from Croatia, a magazine which is edited by both
Mr. and Mrs. McMaster. Mrs. McMaster told me interesting things about the
children in Croatia who write haiku poems.
Until the conference and papers program started, we took a walk in
Regent Park, near Daiwa House. At that very moment, the
royal mounted guard were riding
by. I was impressed by the vastness of the park, the emerald green
of the trees and the great variety of flowers. Mrs.
McMaster's
paper " How the Haiku can help children - a Study case from
Croatia", impressed me a lot and made me think of the
advantage brought about by teaching haiku poems in schools.
Another
paper of Mrs. Noriko Yoshida, "Teaching the Haiku and The
Haiga in Schools", comprised interesting things about the
analyses of a haiga work.
During
the breaks in the afternoon of the first day, I had the great
opportunity of meeting great personalities such as: Ikuyo
Yoshimura, President of English Haiku Evergreen and associate
professor of the school of Business Administration, Asahi
University, who offered me an interesting book, entitled
"Honeysuckle"; Noriko
Yoshida, English and Japanese Haiga Method Instructor; Fay
Aoyogi, from Fay Communications, San Francisco, USA; Akemi
Solloway from Watersound Enterprises Ltd., Brighton Business
Centre, UK; Zinovy Vayman from Kaji Aso Studio Institute for The
Arts, Boston, USA; Brian Tasker, who offered me a booklet entitled
"Four Haiku", UK; Kathleen and Robert Sinnett, USA;
George Marsh, UK.
On our way to the Japanese Embassy, I also met Hanne Hansen, from
Denmark.
To the reception that took place at the Japanese Embassy in
London, came a lot of important personalities from different
countries, all interested in haiku poems. That reception was
inaugurated by Mr.Takiguchi, who was wearing a nice, traditional
kimono. Then, His Excellency Sadayuki Hayashi, The Ambassador of
Japan, and His Excellency Kai Falkman, the Ambassador of Sweden,
were invited to deliver a speech. After that, I was honoured to be
introduced to the refined audience by Mr. Takiguchi. He was the
one who awarded me the title of "Ambassador of the World
Haiku" because of my accomplishments in the domain of haiku.
Beside "Special Award", (Itoen, 1999), "First
Prize" (Mainichi, 1999) and "Arkansas Traveller",
that represent my greatest achievement.
I felt overwhelmed with joy, but in the same time, I felt
responsible. Mr. Takiguchi asked me to stay beside him as the
"Ambassador of World Haiku", and to take part in the
WHF2000 Competition Awards Ceremony. It was an evening ceremony
dedicated to Japan, this amazing country whose civilization and
literature so strongly have impressed me since I was 8 years old.
At the official dinner party, culinary specialities made the
reception even more Japanese. Moreover, the wonderful persons that
I met there encouraged me to be more self-assured and that is why
I would like to thank all the the WHF2000 participants. I
was
honoured to meet also His Excellency, Kai Falkman, Ministry for
Foreign Affairs, Sweden; Natsuishi Ban'ya, a great Japanese poet;
Dr. Angelee Deodhar and her husband, Dr. Shridhar Deodhar, India;
Barbara Law, UK; Amelia Merris, UK; Miyakasa Toyoo, Germany; and
Lizanne Davies, UK.
On the second day of WHF 2000, August 26th, I was impressed by Mr.
Takiguchi's speech about a Japanese haigin who lived in USA.
During his visit in Japan, the country where he had been born, he
was surprised by huge changes such as the excessive use of
technology that caused the weakened importance of true,
traditional values. Mr. Takiguchi meant by this, that haiku tends
to become a commodity, and he urged ''not to let money
corrupt us''.
At the reception thrown in the honour of the Japanese guests, I
was invited to read a gunsaku poem from my book, "The Empty
Cradle''. There followed a
traditional Japanese dance and interesting moments from the tea
ceremony shown by Mrs. Akemi Solloway. Those moments were highly
appreciated by the audience. I also enjoyed the traditional music
that followed. On this occasion, I met personalities such as: Jim
Kacian, editor of the well-known magazine of the Haiku Society of
America, "Frogpond"; Dimitar Anakiev, founder of Hasee,
the Haiku Association of South East Europe; Carmen Sterba, a great
poet who
lives in Japan; Max Verhart, of the Netherlands; Robert Scott, of
the Netherlands; and Jidit Vihar of Hungary.
The next day, we benefited from the excellent facilities offered
by The Big Bus Company, and we were able to admire the view of
London and Thames. On August 28th, we travelled by coach to Oxford
and thus we could admire the beauty of the British countryside. We
visited Oxford and agreed on the saying that "if London is
The Heaven, then Oxford is as seven heavens".
During the conferences, I was delighted to hear Mrs. Kimio
Tanaka's speech. I realized then the growing development of haiku
on the Internet, a fact which represents hope for Japanese poetry.
On August 29, Mr. Codrescu spoke about rules and freedom of spirit
in haiku. His conference impressed me very much. Mr. Codrescu is
my first haiku master.
An interesting proposal was made by Mr. Takiguchi, Mr. Kacian and
Mr. Anakiev concerning the founding of the World Haiku
Association, in order to better popularise haiku on the
international level. WHF2000 ended with a dinner party at which
the haiku made everybody feel closer together. Paraphrasing Mr.
Takiguchi, WHF2000 represented the highest point of a huge
activity meant to promote haiku worldwide, an activity known as
the WHF2000 Calendar. This activity started in Oxford between
April 1st and April 3rd and went on with five great events during
the same year.
In 1999, another 18 events (conferences, symposiums, etc.) were
organized in different parts of the world (UK, USA, Japan). In
2000, 25 such events took place, having as climax, the Festival in
London and Oxford. Then, in May, another conference called
"Epilogue to The World Haiku Festival 2000 & Advent of
JAPAN 2001" was planned; this event marks the finale of the
five-year long project and the start of various activities planned
by WHC under JAPAN 2001, which is a year-long festival of Japanese culture and arts sponsored by the
Japanese and British Governments. This huge activity, organized by
Mr. Susumu Takiguchi, has as its main goal to unite all the existing tendencies of
promoting haiku from the entire world, for a better management of
the haiku in the world, with no constraints to the creation
process in different haiku schools from Japan and from the whole
world.
Read
Sonia Coman's CV
Read
a Page of Sonia's Poetry on Paper Lanterns website
See
Photo Gallery of World Haiku Festival 2000
