U-Life: Tea ceremony

Oct.18, I went to a Tea Ceremony at Vanier College. This event was organized by JISA-the Japanese International Student’s Association – which is a club at York University. I found this event information advertised on a flyer at Steacie Library by chance.

On the day, the tea ceremony was small event. There were thirty people in the hall. Most people were non-Japanese. The atmosphere of the hall was like Japan because some furniture was changed into Japanese furniture. There was some equipment for the tea ceremony. Three Japanese women were wearing Kimonos. One of the women is a professor of Japanese culture at York. The other girls are students in that course.

At first, they introduced Japanese culture and what the tea ceremony is. They were all knowledgeable and also they had good English. After their explanations, they picked two volunteers from us for doing the tea ceremony. The tea ceremony was similar to a real Japanese tea ceremony. A total of four people, two Japanese and two Canadian volunteers, did a demonstration. The two volunteer people did not know how to do the tea ceremony, so the professor and an assistant helped them. It was really interesting to me. I thought that is culture exchange. The two volunteers and also others in the audience were really enthusiastic. They sometimes took a picture or noted something during the demonstration. Moreover, after the demonstration, they asked many questions to the professor. The professor answered politely.

Today, some Japanese people don’t understand about the tea ceremony because this culture is really deep and difficult. However, I was proud of Japanese culture that day. Moreover, I realized that I need to study about Japanese culture.

The Tea Ceremony is a kind of Japanese culture that is a really traditional event. A long time ago, in Japan, people sometimes got together in a tea room to enjoy Japanese tea. It has so many traditional rules: how to make a Japanese tea, how to drink it, how to enjoy it, how to feel it. Today, the tea ceremony is part of Japanese formal and historical culture in our life.

Here are some photos of the Tea Ceremony demonstration:

http://www.yorku.ca/jisa/old/photos/2005-2006-teaceremony.html

And here is a short essay about the tea ceremony:

http://buna.arts.yorku.ca/japan_week/tea.html