Das Japanische Teehaus

Kon'nichiwa!

Nothing happened of major excitement or importance happened this week... until today. Today was a plethora of events of which I will begin listing at the very beginning.

First of all, the host mother was at a friend's house this morning, leaving the host father, children, and me. The host father said he wanted to take the children out, and the children really wanted me to come along with them, so I said yes as long as I could leave around noon. We ended up going to the school where the oldest will be attending starting this fall and will continue to attend for the next eight years. (That's how the school systems work, it's like a combination middle and high school for the States.) There was a summer festival going on there and the children brought along the dog... wait. I never mentioned the dog to you... FREEZE!

Three weeks ago on Monday, the family brought home a three or four month old mixed breed dog that had originally been rescued/otherwise retrieved from Greece. The puppy is likely a Boxer/Rottweiler mix and is a boy. They named him "Kyon," which is the Greek word for "dog," and I actually thought that was kind of neat. Why wasn't this mentioned before? I actually don't care much for dogs. As in, the puppy is not housebroken, chews on things, and provides additional work for me to do. I have literally been instructed to not leave the house if the dog is here alone. I do NOT hate dogs. They are just NOT my chosen house pet. I prefer, largely prefer, cats or pretty much any other animal. That is all.

UNFREEZE! ... the children brought along the dog to play with and explore with them. I had fun with the children even though the weather was a bit chilly and had the occasional rain drop involved. I left about 12:05pm or so and made it to the train station by about 12:17pm. I eventually made it to the Japanese Tea House at about 1:25pm and had to wait until 1:55pm for the doors to open. When they finally did, I felt as though I was in Japan. It was marvelous. I had an authentic Japanese experience where I was shown what a traditional tea ceremony was after being given a brief history on the tradition. I was in awe during the experience and even received a small, almost a cross between a wafer and cracker, ceremonial cookie, and a Japanese mug of matcha tea. (Oh look! A link!) Below I have shared with you extensive pictures on my experience. I hope you can enjoy them as much as I enjoyed the experience. A truly unique, one of a kind experience to have.

This is the stone that acknowledges the establishment as an official Japanese Ceremonial Tea House.

I really didn't need to post this picture but I liked it nonetheless. It's only the sign that states that the traditional tea ceremonies will be held this weekend, but I liked that it was in Japanese and German.

That little hut that sits out there on the river? Yeah, that's the Tea House, and it sits on a little island. Cute!

This is the entrance gate.

This was directly to the left as you walk in towards the door.

This is the ceremonial room which they use for the demonstrations of the tea ceremony. This building was built in 1972 during the year of the Olympic games in Munich.

Japanese sign. It was explained to us what the significance of it was, but I honestly forgot.

Woman in traditional kimono.

During the ceremony. All of the movements were so swift and quiet... it was so graceful. It was almost like watching a ballet to me.

Also during the ceremony. I happened to know that in Japanese the boiling water "teapot" is called the furo.

I actually took this picture after the ones below, but I forgot to take a picture of my cookie. I'm not sure what they made this out of, or what the symbol/thing is on the cookie, but it was truly delicious. It was almost sweet, salty, and savory all at the same time.

Everyone received a traditional Japanese mug to drink from. Mine was beautiful.

This here is jet fuel, a.k.a. matcha tea. If you clicked on the link earlier you have a brief understanding. The caffeine content is on the low side, but I'm sensitive to caffeine. But however the tea is processed doesn't make the caffeine bother me as much, plus it has additional healthy chemicals which probably helps the digestion of the caffeine. It makes me very, VERY hyper-alert... and then I sleep like a baby...

After the Japanese Tea House, I decided I knew what I wanted for dinner. So I headed back to the Tollwood Festival, sought out an organic Indian food stand and then bought myself...

... some type of Indian dish! I cannot remember what it was called, but it had a type of naan (Indian bread) shredded at the bottom, layered with chicken, chickpeas, lentils, some light herbs, and I threw on some red pepper for good measure. Man, it was good.

Afterwards, I did some very minor grocery shopping, including the purchase of a mango lassi (oh look, another link!), and some other things. I only have two other things I would like to see and you'll just have to be surprised!

I have 17 days left as of today... but my day's almost over so I would feel comfortable saying 16 days! Packing will prove to be a challenge with all of my new things, but I'm sure I'll make it work.

I'll write again soon!