Journal-20th Day

Monday, June 13th 2011.

月曜日、２０１１年０６月１３日。

こんにちは、みんあさん。ここは私の先週の活動です。月曜日の午後、生け花と茶道の講義がありました、私たちは生け花の歴史を勉強しました。私たちも生け花を作りました、面白かったです。生け花の講義が終わったら，茶道の講義があります。その講義は地下の１階にありました。私たちは茶道をしました。そのとき私たちお茶を飲んで，お菓子を食べて，しました。面白かったですがお茶の味は苦かったです.

Hehehe.. that is my activity on that day on Japanese, just learn to use the japanese language. And what was i'm saying ? Last monday afternoon, we have a lesson about Japan Culture, it was Ikebana (Flower arrangement) and Tea Ceremony. Ikebana is a ceremony for arranging flower, in the past time it was done in Shrine, to honor God. In this ceremony man or woman who had the ceremony have to wear Japan traditional clothes, which is Haori for woman and Hakama for man. We were watching the video of the ceremony. After the class lesson, we also make some ikebana, all of us separated into some group which consist 2 people, each group have to make some ikebana using the flower provided. There's some rule in ikebana :

• Ikebana should be beautiful in every direction we're looking.
• Every flower used must not have the same height, because if the flower's height is same, it seems that the flowers is compete each other, and it's wrong. In this flower arrangement, the basic principe is harmony, just as Japanese people used to avoid competition each other.
• The shortest flower must be pointed to main direction of viewing.

And this is the Ikebana which I and my friend have made.

After the Ikebana lesson, we have a Tea Ceremony Lesson. This ceremony usually held when guest come to our home in the past time. In this ceremony we learn and practice to honor the others. At that time, we go to the Basement which have a traditional Japan room, we were doing the ceremony on that room. Inside this room there's Tatami (japanese traditional carpet), the guest have to sit in the area outside the inner line. The arrangement and sequence of sitting process also important, we can not just come and sit everywhere we want, there's a rule, on each side of Tatami, normally there's only 4 person sit there. After we sit, our teacher and her team serve cookie, it was a sweet cookie.

We have to take the cookie one for each of us, and there's a direction when we take the cookie, we have to take the cookie from the top side and then the right side. After we take, we put the cookie in the tissue which has provided, and than eat the cookie.

After the cookie has served, the tea is served. It was a green tea, and very bitter. We were served tea one by one. After they give us tea, we have to say thanks by bow down our head. Before we drink the tea, we have to rotate the cup twice clockwise, I also don't know the purpose, but I think it's due the decoration of the cup, each cup has it's decoration, and I think this decoration have to face front of us. When we drink the tea, we should not drink it in one time, we should drink it in several times. And after we finished drinking we also have to rotate the cup twice, but this time in counter clockwise direction.