Tuesday, January 5, 2016

The first Tea of the year!

So much has been happening I havent had time to write so this will be at least double post!
Today I went to class, Lynn expected that it being the first tea of the year class would be busy and that Sensei would not have time for dressing etc., so I left my kit in the car. As it turned out this was not the case, however, I do think it best I didn't wade in to today's craziness.Today seemed to be a gifting day with Lynn and lucia having made cookies, miso, and mini books. Sensei also gifted me a pair of extra long koshi-himo ties for dressing.
First the two senior tea students practiced God Tea, which is an offering tea rather than a drinking tea. As with all teas it has it's own particular set of movements etc. After that practice tea was served which was wonderful. Lucia had come as she is in town on vacation which was wonderful. We got to chat and it was fun. One of the other students had their young daughter with them who was dressed up and full of beans. This of course made for a very entertaining tea.
Also at the class were two kimono students, they were both lovely Japanese ladies. and both quite further advanced than I in their studies. One studies shamisen and is studying kimono as she needs to wear kimono for her practice. The other lady is younger and very nice and helpful. Needless to say, there was a lot of Japanese spoken and that always makes my head swim a bit, however, I learned a lot through watching the obi's going on and coming off multiple times. I am going to have to get used to the waves of Japanese language as this will be going on all month, next week I am just going to need to dive in and enjoy class, but I an quite glad I didn't have my kimono with me this week.

New Years sounds like it was a blast, there was a fashion show in Little Tokyo that I didn't hear about until it was too late., but everyone had a blast, here is a picture of the obi tying demonstration...


Sensei is in the middle explaining the finer points of tying a fukuro obi. I really wish I had made that one.

And now for the final part of this post. For the holidays this year I was gifted a variety of wonderful kimono gifts from my famiy. 
irst my dad bought me a wonderful kimono... 



 It was unlined but my dad covered that too. 
Here's a detail...



My husband very kindly chipped in with me to buy an okiro heater...



It is Omotesenke style as that is where our school traces it's roots back to.
This gift of course was to go with my moms gift to me, an okiro...


Mom also gifted me a beautiful kimono... 



It reminds me of the night sky...



Here is a closer detail...



I am now completely set up for tea. I may set up for practice and I plan to make tea this weekend.
Wish me luck!




3 comments:

  1. My goodness Cat this has been such an amazing post with Kimonos and all the accessories .. so BEAUTIFUL !
    What wonderful gifts you received too .. you are so fortunate to have such a thoughtful family : )
    I wish I could have seen this demonstration .. I am always in awe of how intensely (that is the only word I can think of that describes such layers of clothing in such detail) the Japanese and Chinese and other Asian women dressed in past history and still keep the tradition going. How did you become involved in it ?
    Rain ... believe it or not we are having a heavy rainfall warning today .. it is plus 5 degrees but shoots down to minus 6 tomorrow so everywhere will be a hockey rink !! This is not typical Canadian weather at all !
    Having two wonderful events happening at the same time is a bit stressful .. but be sure to enjoy them both!
    Take care
    Joy : )

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  2. Cat, I forgot to mention a strange warning comes up when I go to your blog ... that it is adult content and I have to acknowledge that before I continue to proceed .. you should look in to that .

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  3. Hey there Joy, sorry I was down swapping out my old computer for a new one and have been crazy busy with that.
    I became involved in Tea after my car crash a couple of years ago. I wanted to prove to myself that I could still learn new things, so I did. I love kimono, but the layers are intense, sometimes I feel like I am getting claustrophobic just getting dressed, it is quite an intense practice.
    As for the warning, it is there incase I want to do something on kimono underwear so I can avoid complaints from casual browsers.

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