Tea Ceremony Club

Yesterday, after school ended, my friends Akari and Rei took me to tea ceremony club, or sadou. Japanese people have been drinking tea since the 9th century, so tea ceremony is very old. There's a certain way of doing everything: walking, the way the bowl is turned, the order in which you pick up certain things, etc. It's all very intricate and particular, and of course very interesting! They gave me a big bowl of green tea to drink, and everyone was really surprised I drank it all because it's supposed to be really bitter. I dunno, it tasted pretty good to me! So I drank tea and ate little tea ceremony snacks while everyone took turns preparing the tea for eachother.
After they finished, I got to try on a yukata! I wish I had brought my own, but since I didn't, I tried on Rei's. It's really confusing to put on, I'm not sure I could do it on my own! It also didn't really fit me...but it was really fun!
Me with Rei and Akari (first) and the older members of the club (second)

After trying on the kimono, they let me make some tea on my own. I'm pretty sure I didn't get the technique and all right, but I successfully made tea! Basically, you take three scoops of tea, add water, and whisk it with the chasen, or tea whisk. When they whisk it, their hands move so fast you can't even see them! I couldn't do it quite as fast, but the result was still the same.
Tea ceremony club was really fun! I wish I'd thought to go earlier, because I would like to go more...
The older students showing me how to make tea, tools for making tea, and Rei (left) and Akari (right) being silly :)