On 26 October, Members of the C&O were the guests of Edmond Aruffo (Hughes Hall, Cantab.) for a thanksgiving dinner at the New Sanno Hotel in Hiroo.

Edmond Aruffo (at right) and Guests The event was held not only to celebrate the survival of the early American settlers with the help of their Indian neighbors, but also to welcome our very own Indian guests, members of the Oxford and Cambridge Society of India (OCSI) who were on a visit to Japan. The evening started with drinks from the well stocked bar and continued with dinner from the sumptuous buffet. Traditional dishes were beautifully arranged on tables along the wall, and included such delicacies as pumpkin pie, wild rice and sweet potatoes ending, of course, with turkey and cranberry sauce.

Fifty-one members of the Society and guests attended the event to provide a warm welcome to the 11 Indian visitors. Following a few introductory words from the honorary secretary, Tim Minton, the President of OCSI, Sumant Dhamija spoke on behalf of the 11-strong delegation. Mr. Dhamija explained the Indian custom that called for a speech of a length proportional to the distance the speaker had travelled, but delivered the shorter version in consideration of C&O Japan members who may have had other matters to attend to within the following week.

Tim Minton introduced three new members, Rasmus Bertelsen (Churchill, Cantab), Miyako Okahara (Newnham, Cantab) & Masaji Takahashi (Jesus, Cantab) all of whom were warmly welcomed and, we hope, will be regularly seen at future events.

Tim Minton's Address alongside O&C India alumni guests
Although the dinner itself was buffet style, there were plenty of tables and members carried their loaded plates to their seats, and continued the social mixing that had started with the drinks earlier. The whole event proved another successful meeting of members of the C&O and their guests and thanks are due to the secretaries who have once again done so well and to Edmond for the invitation and organization of the evening.

After dinner drinks

Reuben Gerling, Corpus Christi Cambridge, 1982