It's already furo season again.  Somehow sakura season has already come and gone and we are back to May...which means pretty soon I will be enjoying ajisai kinton again.  Excellent ( Read more... )

So much to write about at the end of the year.  Every year I always think I will have time to get things done, and then December comes and goes so quickly.  2011 is over already.  It's unbelievable.  I started this year looking at fireworks over a snowy landscape in Vaasa, Finland with my Midorikai classmate Mereca.  I will end it here in Kyoto, ( Read more... )

2011-12-05 - Midorikai Christmas Chakai

The Midorikai Christmas chakai!  It was so great to be able to attend as a guest :)  I have met this year's group several times at events and various gatherings, and it was really special to see the culmination of all of their hard work.  When I walked in I saw two of the girls and Hamana-sensei.  I signed my ( Read more... )

2011-11-26 - Chabako ( Read more... )

Gion Matsuri - Kikusui Boko Chaseki

Back in Kyoto, I started back to work in tea about a week after I arrived.  I arrived in Kyoto on July 5th with no place to live and no plans, and on the 14th I was helping out at the Kikusui Boko Chaseki with Matsumoto-sensei’s group.  Kyoto in July is brutal.  I arrived to help out at the chaseki in a packed ( Read more... )

After Midorikai ended for me in July 2010, I returned to the states in August, spent some time back in Boston before moving to Ann Arbor, Michigan to start a graduate program in Japanese Studies at the University of Michigan.  I was fortunate enough to find a teacher and a group to practice with in Michigan, taught by Nabeta Soyu-sensei.  Being in ( Read more... )

When I started writing this blog, just a little over two years ago now, I had no idea what I would end up writing about or what purpose it would serve.  I wasn’t particularly writing for anyone else, I mainly wanted a record for myself to remember the amazing year I spent in Midorikai.  Recently I thought it would be nice to continue writing about ( Read more... )

So, now you have read about my one year in Midorikai. I have debated about posting everything up until I leave Japan, but I cannot. It took me this long just to write about graduation because it has been such an emotional process, and everything since then has been equally dramatic and emotional and crazy. It is hard to be in this life and ( Read more... )

July 6th ( Read more... )

Seichu Enno Mugenki. My last memorial event of the year! This one is to memorialize three previous Urasenke Iemoto: Ennosai, Gengensai and Tantansai. The weather was clear and very hot, but I honestly didn’t notice the heat so much during the day. We started the day as usual, changing our zori and leaving our bags at Urasenke Center, and then ( Read more... )