Tea at Home

My day has been slightly more interesting that yesterday. Again, we had two lessons, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. There was one word on a listening exercise sheet in the afternoon that we had not yet studied. This was senbei and is a type of Japanese cookie, or rice cracker. Thus, she brought some in for us all to have: an unnecessary action, but very welcome. They are made of various things, e.g. rice, but these ones were made from flour. They are not cookies, supposedly, since they are not made from batter (whatever that means!). These ones had peanuts embedded in them and tasted good.

I went to tea in the afternoon, at 3.30. Big Bird came along too as my translator, or maybe more for someone for the teacher to talk to! She showed us the flowers around her house; she has a little face on a wall whose mouth constantly spouts water into a little pool. It is quite calming, as I think it is meant to be. I seemed to have forgotten most of what I was meant to be doing, or maybe I was just disorientated. She made me change my socks before going into the tearoom! Next week I will take my own. She has a six tatami mat room, though she says most are even smaller, with the standard size being only 4.5 tatami mats. There is barely room to move! The one in Cambridge House is much bigger. I will count the mats next time I go, as there are too many for me to remember, but at least 12 mats.

Before I left, she gave me a book (in Japanese) on how men should perform the tea ceremony and a magazine with different pictures of the equipment for performing the ceremony. Also, she gave me my own little guest set: a silk cloth, some pieces of paper off which to eat, a fan, and an ivory eating stick. So many things, none of which I expected. She is very kind to me. I am getting a little better at the ol’ Japanese as well, which obviously helps with the communication. I can rattle of a few good sentences automatically now, though I still become stuck sometimes.