Tea Ceremony in the Garden

If you don't know already... I have what I like to think as a 'healthy' obsession with Japanese culture, gardens, and especially the tea ceremony. It started as a child when I was innocently watching Sesame Street and then all of a sudden, they showed a tea ceremony and I was hooked like Velcro ~ I could not take my eyes away from the screen.

The motions are controlled, precise, and delicate. The ritual is mesmerizing, and the best thing is that it involves food. You had me at 'snack.'

Lucky for me, my parents had decided  to participate in an exchange program with our local church and take a Japanese student into our home. Ritsuko, how I adored her! She melted my little 5-year-old heart and opened my big blueberry eyes to a world beyond my own. She dressed me in a kimono and cooked for my family. Rice, miso soup, and the sticky-as-glue mochi. You know how cool it is to eat mochi icecream now? Well, I was cool like over 20 years ago.

Last week, in the Japanese Friendship Garden, they were performing a Tea Ceremony in front of the majestic koi pond. I cannot tell you how geeked-out I was. When she asked for volunteers to participate, my hand shot up like a lightening bolt ~ just like a kid asked who wants to do show-and-tell? I didn't even think twice. It was a sudden impulse and I didn't even hear the question. I raised it when she barely said the words 'who wants...'

The tea ceremony is called Chado in Japanese (pronounced Sado). She made each cup individually with meticulous and special care. A few scoops of dark green powder are put into the cup, and then whisked with a bamboo utensil with vigor. She prepared thick tea which has a very smooth and frothy texture. Not bitter like other green teas.

She says to her honored guest, Please have a sweet. And then the preparation begins. The vestibule (emblem or design) of the teacup is pointed towards the guest. When you receive it, you view the cup, take it in the left hand, and then turn it twice clockwise so that the vestibule is faced once again towards the person who prepared the tea. This action says 'I am honored, but I humble myself and honor you instead.'

Just as the she prepares the tea... I prepare this blog and picture vestibule for you ~ Domo arigato gazaimasu