Those who have come to this page for the first time, welcome! I'm so glad you're here. :) Before we go on, I would like to kindly direct you to the "Tea Ceremony" category to the right of this page. I have previously uploaded a number of blog posts on my experience in Japanese Tea Ceremony classes. If you would like to get a more thorough idea of my experience, please refer to this category, where all the episodes are located!
To the friends that have seen my page before, welcome back! Now that I am out of school, I can dedicate some time to begin my tea ceremony training again. I had my first class in months this week! I was excited to return to my studies, though I did make many a frustrating mistake. However, I am glad to say that my memory did not fail me entirely-- I had been taking classes from time to time in college.
For those of you who are endeavoring to learn the art of Japanese tea ceremony, I would recommend filming yourself. This is a great way to review each specific detail in a way that's difficult to express in words. If you'd like, click here to see me perform the ceremony. I would encourage anyone with even the slightest of interest to take a class! While it seems improbable that an opportunity would be nearby, there are tea ceremony associations that have offices all over the nation. It is a fascinating, cathartic experience. Please check out online what tea ceremony association is located closest to you!
My class today was a simple review of bonryaku temae, a certain way to serve tea that can be considered to be the most basic level. I may be able to try the next "level," usucha (thin tea) next week! Please stay tuned :) I was also lucky enough to receive a gift from one of my teacher's students! The gift is a beautiful, Japanese-style ceramic plate that the student made herself.
To the friends that have seen my page before, welcome back! Now that I am out of school, I can dedicate some time to begin my tea ceremony training again. I had my first class in months this week! I was excited to return to my studies, though I did make many a frustrating mistake. However, I am glad to say that my memory did not fail me entirely-- I had been taking classes from time to time in college.
For those of you who are endeavoring to learn the art of Japanese tea ceremony, I would recommend filming yourself. This is a great way to review each specific detail in a way that's difficult to express in words. If you'd like, click here to see me perform the ceremony. I would encourage anyone with even the slightest of interest to take a class! While it seems improbable that an opportunity would be nearby, there are tea ceremony associations that have offices all over the nation. It is a fascinating, cathartic experience. Please check out online what tea ceremony association is located closest to you!
My class today was a simple review of bonryaku temae, a certain way to serve tea that can be considered to be the most basic level. I may be able to try the next "level," usucha (thin tea) next week! Please stay tuned :) I was also lucky enough to receive a gift from one of my teacher's students! The gift is a beautiful, Japanese-style ceramic plate that the student made herself.
I was also able to take a look at some of the tea bowls, or chawan that she made in the classroom. They were extremely well made, and very comfortable to use during the lesson. After the guest drinks the tea, we are to "observe," or haiken the tea bowl to see how the remains of the tea has coated the bottom of the bowl. These particular bowls made the tea look like green leaves painted against a blue sky to me. I'd honestly never seen a keshiki (view) so beautiful.
As you can see, I am thoroughly impressed with her work! I am hoping to see if this student will allow me to watch, or even take a lesson from her in ceramics! If so (fingers crossed), I will most definitely blog about it. Tea ceremony has allowed me to appreciate Japanese ceramics, so I would be ecstatic if I could understand the philosophy behind its beauty.
Thank you for reading!
Until next time,
justajae