Tea

I was alone at tea ceremony today as Yuu, Akaya, and Erika have all gone home on study leave until the end of March. That means I get individual tuition on the way of tea.

Today we did a different form of the tea ceremony: we made thick tea (koicha). One bowl is shared between all the guests, which is good as it doesn't taste very good. It's a pity you eat the little cake before drinking the tea as it would be ideal for getting rid of the taste.

The tea is supposed to be drunk after a light meal in a ceremony that can last for three hours, or sometimes more. The implements used to prepare the tea are passed around the guests for examination after everyone has drunk, and then a conversation between the head guest and the presider-of-tea about them should ensue. Needless to say that my Japanese isn't up to it; I barely understood what Kaede-sensei was talking about.

A nice little difference is the pot containing the tea: it is of a different shape and comes in a little cloth bag from which it needs to be removed and later replaced. However, two hours of sitting on one's knees is not so pleasant. I had to give up due to the pain/lack of feeling in my legs.