Saturday, October 25, 2008--Before the Tea Ceremony

I had a very frustrating learning experience this morning. The post office was closed but I needed stamps for my postcards. There is a 7-11 near the hotel so I took my postcards and tried to gesture that I needed stamps. The clerks were so sweet and kept apologizing but they didn't understand. One man even walked me to the post office only to realize that it was closed. (I tried to tell him that but I didn't get that across either.) I felt so bad that I didn't know the Japanese word for stamp--I kept apologizing too. The postcard had a little square in it and I pointed to it and finally after what seemed like an eternity, he pulled out a book of stamps. Sweet relief!!

I thought that I was sensitive to my non-English speakers in the past--I speak a good deal of Spanish and understand that newcomers don't speak out loud very much etc., but this trip made me very aware of just how hard it is to go through the day not understanding what is being said and not be able to get your message through. A couple of us talked about how tired we were at the end of most days and we think it's because we concentrated so hard all day to understand our translator and to try to pick up on visual cues of what was being said. After my experiences, I know will be even more sensitive to any non-English speakers from now on.

We went to the city museum for a "local craft experience." I wasn't excited about it at first because I don't consider myself "crafty" in any sense of the word. I was pleasantly surprised. We had a local artist who helped us use watercolor paints on woodblock postcards. I had fun doing that. We also sanded stones beads or magatamas. Mine didn't look anything like it should have. The top picture is outside the museum. Like the one in Fukushima, this museum was in a gorgeous setting that included a stream. I stole about 10 minutes outside to enjoy it.

After that it was off to the tea house for our tea ceremony that I'd been looking forward to. Most of you who know me know that I thoroughly enjoy English high tea and I was thrilled to get the chance to experience the Japanese tea ceremony. I'm pictured here with the lady who is considered a tea master. She leads classes for the others in the ceremony. The whole thing was so great that it deserves its own post.