After the long school day my International counselor ( Ayu sensei, who handles all four of us international students) escorted me from my lovely classroom on the third floor ( WE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE THE ELEVATORS. I climb up and down the stairs everyday, and PE is on the seventh floor) to the building we call Seiko hall. To my surprise there were so many Americans ( 9 from New York, and the girl i go to school with,Rose) waiting, along with around 10-15 Japanese students who attend my school. After I arrived the Americans ( including Rose and I) were told to take off our shoes ( Wabaki (school slippers) for rose and I) and shown into a tiny room i didn't know Seiko Hall had. There was a thin blue carpet covering the edge of the tatami mats for us to sit on.
Since i've never been to a Tea Ceremony before i was extremely nervous! I kept thinking I wouldn't be able to sit on my knees long enough. I did though!
Soon after we were all escorted into the room, a member of the Tea ceremony club came in and bowed to us. She said ( In japanese) that the club is honored to have us attend their Tea Ceremony. Another member of the tea ceremony club brought in a tray filled everything she would need to make a (1) bowl of tea.
All of us watched her carefully as she filled the bowl with water and added a 1/2 scoop of a green powder. She used her whisk and mixed the powder and water together for at least a minute, her final whisk being the Japanese Character for no. I idiotically thought she was going to make us all a bowl individually. But as soon as she finished four more members of the begin to bring in bowls of Ocha (tea). As they sat the bowls in front of us they bowed to us and we bowed in return. Picking up the bowl with our left hand, supporting it with our right we were told to raise the bowl in the air to show respect to our host. Using our thumb and index finger we all turned the bowl clockwise twice then took a drink.Most of us finished our bowl in one gulp! The tea was bitter, but it tasted good at the same time.
Doing as we were prompted we wiped the part of the bowl our lips touched with out thumb and index finger and turned the bowl counter clockwise twice. The members of the tea ceremony club then bowed to us once more and took the bowls out of the room ( presumably to wash them). It was such a formal ceremony and i am honored that i was included in it! Hopefully some of you will be included in a tea ceremony too and see that my writing this just doesn't do it justice ( I left out a lot and i am just a terrible writer)
PEACE!Strawberry
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