Family Visit

Here are just a few pictures from my parents and my Godfather, Uncle Neil, and Aunt Francesca's visit. I didn't take pictures of everything we did. We had a private tea ceremony demonstration and instruction in the teahouse at the Entente.

The teamaster was Tamura-sensei. She teaches the tea cermony to the high school students at the Canadian Academy. She brought her apprentice with her, whose name I can't remember. The tea cermony starts with eating sweets. Actually, it starts with crawing though a literal hole in the wall, but mercifully we have no pictures of that. The samarai would crawl through a hole in wall too small for them to fit in with their swords. This was a sign everyone entered the teahouse unarmed and would conduct the ceremony at peace and as equals. No word on if TSA agents were at the portal to give a full hands-on pat down.

Ater practicing some bowing and eating the sweets, we learned how to pass, take up, observe, and drink form the tea bowl.

Each guest prior to the last says "Osakini" which means "pardon me for going before you." Actually, there is a more elaborate phrase, but I don't remember it. "Osakini" is used by Japanese in everyday coverstation, such as at a restaurant. Small kitchens are common so food doesn't often come out for the whole table together. Typically, those served first may start eating and say "Osakini."

We all seemed to struggle with the phrase "Otemae chodai itashimasu" (even though it was written on a signboard). This means "I will join you in drinking tea / or thank you for making tea." After the ceremony, we took some pictures with the tea-master and her apprentice.

We also went to Koyoto for the day and evening. In the early part of the day we took a boat ride down the Arishiyama River. We then toured a zen garden in Asishiyama. Finally, we had a dinner and show with a Maiko (apprentice geisha).

All in all, it was a very fun visit!