2012年9月30日 09:45
Isogashii, ne.
Yesterday was full of events. We had two large groups visiting Tondaya: one of 18 persons and another of 26, later on. Again, lots of new methods, patterns and checklists bombarded me.
I hadn't participated as an assistant in a traditional tea ceremony before. More common nowadays, ryūreiseki ceremonies take place while both the host and the guests are seated on chairs. I was grateful to be taught by shachō-sama and Sawada-sensei the proper etiquette for the traditional style tea-ceremony, which always takes place on tatami mats. There are a lot of things to pay attention to (subtle or not very much so, but it's really difficult to get rid of some habits) and I wasn't really capable of remembering them all at first.
Also, I'm afraid I might never be able to replicate the graceful and seemingly effortless way that these ladies are moving about. Every single motion is wonderfully delicate, yet exquisitely precise. Nothing is redundant, and yet it all looks so refined. Next to them, I am, of course, extremely clumsy and awkward.
Nevertheless, all my mistakes were forgiven, and shachō-san was so extremely kind as to reward me with a visit at a takoyaki place. This was, of course, a diametrically different experience from the calculated ceremony that preceded it. I could just relax and enjoy the food, which was delicious. Choux pastry filled with cream followed. Gochisōsama deshita. (This is an expression used to show gratitude after having received a meal.)
I'm really looking forward to the moment when I'll become able to get a better feel of the tea ceremony and understand it more, so I' ll be less rigid and more in tune with it. It's really entirely fascinating to me, and one of the things that got me interested in the Japanese culture in the first place.