The highlight of the day was undoubtedly the first proper Tea Ceremony lesson! In a building nestled away in a shady grove of the campus stands the tea room, which looks very traditional and Japanese-y - tatami mats on the floor, sliding screen doors, the whole shebang. It was a little crowded but we all managed to fit inside, and since we're just starting we didn't have to sit in the proper Japanese posture (which is easy enough to start with but soon becomes murder on the legs). We were each given a fan (small ones for the girls, larger ones for the guys - personally I prefer a bigger fan but resent having it assigned to me) and shown the proper way to enter the room. It's... a bit strange, you sort of swing on your knuckles and scootch in while still kneeling down. Looks rather comical at first, but one has to adjust one's mindset when in a different cultural sphere, after all.
Once in the room, first came sweets (or manju, which I can best describe as being like doughnuts but made from something more squishy than dough), which were unfamiliar in texture but pleasant in taste. Then the tea itself. Did you ever wonder why Japanese tea is often called "green tea" when it's actual colour is a sort of light amberish colour? What I had today was undeniably green - the kind of green that's used on the Starbucks logo, which was a little strange, but it smelled gorgeous! Imagine, if you will, a day spent rambling in the English countryside, trudging over dry earth and occasionally getting snared by gorse bushes. Suddenly, a local inn hoves into view, wherein one is served a deliciously rich and fortifying beef stew. This was the image that drifted into my mind as I beheld the aroma of this tea, and through association that was also how it tasted, aside from a slightly bitter aftertaste.
During last week's Classical Japanese lesson I think I was half dead and a quarter asleep. Not so this week - I must have better regulated my food intake, and a nice sit down and a cup of tea no doubt helped as well! Anyhoo, it was a good lesson, was able to follow it well enough and wasn't shy about asking questions and that sort of thing. Afterwards I had to print off a piece of homework, and discovered the devious nature of printing things at Nanzan - the use of the printer is free but you have to supply your own paper! Then, when I went to the teacher's office to hand the work in, she sprang some tests on me! I can understand her reasoning, as they were tests I missed due to my up-and-down-type switching between classes, but it still felt a bit thick at the end of such a busy day. Hopefully I was still operating at a level appropriate to do me justice.
Oh yes, and today is a holiday of the non-day off variety in Japan - Respect For The Aged Day! I don't consider anyone I know to be aged, but if there are any readers out there who consider themselves "a ripe old age," well done!
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| Japanese Snacks Vol. 3 - Mochi Mochi Cheese: A sort of bun with a spiral of cheese-spread-like cheese hiding just below the surface. Gorgeous when still warm. |
