Tea Ceremony? Sure, I'll give it a go...

So I was invited by a lady whom is also in my English conversation class, as well as Yosakoi group, to join her and a few older ladies in their Monday night Tea Ceremony practice. Shigeko and I arrived fashionably late at 7:30, where we were immediately rushed in to get started. There were about five other ladies there already, all dressed in beautiful kimonos and sitting in the seiza-style that all Japanese women can do so well.

Overall the experience was very enjoyable, minus the constant throbbing from my legs. No matter how I sat they just weren't happy :( Tried my best to sit seiza, but after ohhhh 2 minutes my legs would go numb and would end up sitting cross legged for the rest of session. It's okay, they said, cause I'm foreign hahaha Oh the things I get away with because of that! Everyone was so nice and complimented my Japanese pretty much the entire time, which can be a little tiring, but I know they mean well.

My favourite part was definitely the treats. We ended up going through three different styles of tea ceremony in the two hours we were there, and each time brought with it a new way of receiving and drinking the tea, which was a tad confusing. Trying to remember what we did during the previous time, and then they would tell me to forget that and just watch the women before me. But, more elaborate sweets! Lots of red bean and mochi, so needless to say I was over the moon~ :) Then at the end they gave me what was left and invited me to come back again next week. I don't know though...if I keep on like this then all my exercising and 'attempts' at eating healthier (which is already going extremely poor by the way) will all be wasted. Will power..where are you when I need you?! hahaha  I  haven't decided if I'll keep on with tea ceremony though, since I'm busy the rest of the week, but I haven't really done too much with it up until now, so why shouldn't I? Besides, if it means more free treats... :P Plus, there's also the chance of getting to wear a kimono, which is always fun. They were saying that by wearing one it changes the entire mood of the session, and they were right. I felt kind of out of place (nothing new there haha) in my normal clothing. Oh well, fingers crossed on that free kimono next week!