March 25-31st: Glenn-sensei visit, Rikyu-ki, sempai departure
March 25th:
Met Glenn-sensei in the morning and wandered around the city with him, which is always a pleasure :) Didn't get back early enough to hang out with Johnny, and had to go to the boys dorm at 6 PM to talk to Yuichi and Talon about plans for the chaji Yuichi was planning for the sempai. Afterwards I headed to Johnny's room and had tea with him and Ben, which is always nice :) I finally got to try on a men's kimono! I will have to post pictures soon, because it was awesome. Ben claimed that I looked better than him in men's kimono, but I think this is not true. I want to get better at it so I know how to do everything properly in case I ever have to teach anyone in the future. It is amazing how much less complicated it is than a women's kimono.
March 26th:
Woke up ridiculously early and shoved myself into a kimono to go to zanrei at Konnichian at 8:45 AM for Rikyu-ki on the 28th. As I was running downstairs I ran into Yamada-san who was also going to do aisatsu for the gakuen tetsudai, we ran down the street together and talked about the Seinenbu experience. I spent all of 30 minutes in kimono, and then changed into normaly clothes, ran to the office to pick up transportation reimbursements from Seinenbu and ended up speaking with Hamana-sensei for a while about mizuya toban, etc. It was a very useful discussion.
Afterwards I met up with Glenn-sensei and Kikuko and we ran all over the city again :) I enjoy walking around with them because they know everybody and everything. That night Johnny and I had dinner with Glenn-sensei at the fabulous Italian restaurant...oh it was so good. Sangria and pasta and pizza + sweets and ice cream makes for a very happy Cone.
March 27th:
Yuichi's chaji for the sempai. I woke up late, so I was a little distracted in the morning, and we left at about 8:15. The chaji was held at a tearoom called Moan near Yoshida-jinja in the Higashiyama area. It was really beautiful, and a really far climb up! For some reason I was feeling really out of place that day, so I was more quiet than I needed to be. I wasn't really sure what my role in this situation was, so I tried to just stay in the background and out of the way as much as possible. Watching everything unfold was so unreal to me though. Yuichi did pretty much everything himself, and only Talon, Mari and myself were there to assist him. I have a great deal of admiration for everything he accomplished this day. Every time I heard our sempai talking in the tearoom they were happy and laughing, and they smiled every time I walked into the room. The atmosphere was good all day, and in the end I think this is what really matters. At the end I noticed everyone was getting a little teary eyed, and after everyone left I walked into the tea room and saw the flower arrangement for the first time. It was sakura and yanagi, with one yanagi tied in a musubi. I had a teary moment myself at that point. This place keeps drawing all of these emotions out of me, and sometimes it's difficult to deal with.
After we all got back and cleaned up, everyone gathered in Johnny's room where he made chai tea and we played cards and had a nice relaxing evening. I almost curled up and fell asleep on his floor, again...like I do. :)
March 28th:
Rikyu-ki! I'm going to have to come back to Rikyu-ki later, there is too much to try to write about now.
After the event ended I took Glenn-sensei to meet Matsumoto-sensei, which was a lot of fun! I haven't been to see her since the Hatsuchakai and I feel kind of terrible about it. It was a lot of fun though, and I spoke with Tanaka-san for a while as well! Glenn-sensei liked her keikoba and the atmosphere in the room. She served us many tea and sweets, which were still awesome even after everything we had at Rikyu-ki!
Following this I was going to go back to the dorm, but when Glenn-sensei contacted his friend Yoshimi I got invited to dinner with them as well, and I was rushed off again (still in kimono) to the Chinese restaurant Tenjiku in Gion. So much food. So much liquor. So amazing!
March 29th:
After so many great events and experiences with our sempai in the last week it was time for everyone to part ways. Mamahen and Elena both left today, the day after Rikyu-ki. It was really, really hard to watch them go, even more than I thought it would be. I woke up in the morning and cleaned my room and made sure it was ready for everyone to come and drink tea. Mamahen was leaving just after noon, so Murata-sensei came over at about 10 AM to check her room. After that we sat in my room, with Johnny and Talon, and made bowl after bowl of usucha and all shared a bowl of koicha together for the last time. Suddenly, out of no where, Hamana-sensei appeared in my doorway! Shock! He looked around and appreciated the size of my room, but I didn't get a chance to make him tea that day. Throughout the day I kept being overwhelmed by the thought of not having Mamahen and Elena down the hall from me anymore. I cried a lot when Mamahen left. It's hard to describe what a positive influence she has had on my experience here. I will visit her in Germany. I will.
That night Johnny's lacquer man friend had a farewell party for him that I was lucky enough to go to. I hadn't been to his shop before so I felt a little hesitant about going, but I was really glad that I did. It was a lot of fun, and although at first I was a little lost in thought by everything that happened that day, by the end I was really enjoying the mood and the beautiful surroundings. Sadly, I had to leave early because of curfiew. I ran back home, only to find that the third floor was empty and the rooms were open and swept clean. Then I saw our messages to the sempai from graduation and their messages back to us, and I was very sad again. It was a strange feeling to sleep in the empty dorm.
March 30th:
I was surprised to find Murata-sensei knocking on my door in the morning saying that one of the new students had arrived! WHAT?! They weren't scheduled to arrive until April 1st. Wendy, the girl from Australia, arrived to drop off her luggage and then fly to Korea for a day for visa issues. So we got to meet her a bit early and serve her a bit of tea and chat and I took her off to the train station. I was just surprised to see a new kohai so soon after my sempai left! Afterwards I met with Glenn-sensei for a bit and we had lunch at the soba place that Johnny really likes, and then I said goodbye to Glenn-sensei who was leaving for Boston the next morning. Everyone is leaving at the same time!!!
During the afternoon Mecca and I went to town cleaning the entire 3rd floor in preparation for the kohai arriving, and in the evening we went to Johnny's room where Yuichi cooked dinner for all of us and we watched The Last Samurai. Our last food night together. TOO MANY LASTS. As usual, Mecca and I had to run back for curfiew, and we ended up drinking more and watching Interview with a Vampire and then going up to the roof and listening to loud music and acting silly. Like we do.
March 31st:
Johnny left in the morning. On his bike. Like he does. More sadness. But it was kind of fun to watch him ride off on his bicycle. He is riding it from Kyoto to Tokyo and flying from there, which seems pretty fantastic to me. Yuichi gave me the things Johnny had left for me (pillow and broom) but I did not see the water heater. WHERE IS THE WATER HEATER?!?! YUICHI STOLE IT!!! I WILL KILL HIM! Not really, but I was a little frustrated since it was a Midorikai item...whatever.
Apparently Mecca saw him later that day and told him that I actually was angry about it and he took her seriously, so I ended up getting the water heater in the end. I don't know if I should feel guilt or happy about that. Probably both.
That night there was tea in Talon's room for Ben, who was a little delayed in getting out. I think it was my first time in Talon's room :) It is hard closing this chapter.
Met Glenn-sensei in the morning and wandered around the city with him, which is always a pleasure :) Didn't get back early enough to hang out with Johnny, and had to go to the boys dorm at 6 PM to talk to Yuichi and Talon about plans for the chaji Yuichi was planning for the sempai. Afterwards I headed to Johnny's room and had tea with him and Ben, which is always nice :) I finally got to try on a men's kimono! I will have to post pictures soon, because it was awesome. Ben claimed that I looked better than him in men's kimono, but I think this is not true. I want to get better at it so I know how to do everything properly in case I ever have to teach anyone in the future. It is amazing how much less complicated it is than a women's kimono.
March 26th:
Woke up ridiculously early and shoved myself into a kimono to go to zanrei at Konnichian at 8:45 AM for Rikyu-ki on the 28th. As I was running downstairs I ran into Yamada-san who was also going to do aisatsu for the gakuen tetsudai, we ran down the street together and talked about the Seinenbu experience. I spent all of 30 minutes in kimono, and then changed into normaly clothes, ran to the office to pick up transportation reimbursements from Seinenbu and ended up speaking with Hamana-sensei for a while about mizuya toban, etc. It was a very useful discussion.
Afterwards I met up with Glenn-sensei and Kikuko and we ran all over the city again :) I enjoy walking around with them because they know everybody and everything. That night Johnny and I had dinner with Glenn-sensei at the fabulous Italian restaurant...oh it was so good. Sangria and pasta and pizza + sweets and ice cream makes for a very happy Cone.
March 27th:
Yuichi's chaji for the sempai. I woke up late, so I was a little distracted in the morning, and we left at about 8:15. The chaji was held at a tearoom called Moan near Yoshida-jinja in the Higashiyama area. It was really beautiful, and a really far climb up! For some reason I was feeling really out of place that day, so I was more quiet than I needed to be. I wasn't really sure what my role in this situation was, so I tried to just stay in the background and out of the way as much as possible. Watching everything unfold was so unreal to me though. Yuichi did pretty much everything himself, and only Talon, Mari and myself were there to assist him. I have a great deal of admiration for everything he accomplished this day. Every time I heard our sempai talking in the tearoom they were happy and laughing, and they smiled every time I walked into the room. The atmosphere was good all day, and in the end I think this is what really matters. At the end I noticed everyone was getting a little teary eyed, and after everyone left I walked into the tea room and saw the flower arrangement for the first time. It was sakura and yanagi, with one yanagi tied in a musubi. I had a teary moment myself at that point. This place keeps drawing all of these emotions out of me, and sometimes it's difficult to deal with.
After we all got back and cleaned up, everyone gathered in Johnny's room where he made chai tea and we played cards and had a nice relaxing evening. I almost curled up and fell asleep on his floor, again...like I do. :)
March 28th:
Rikyu-ki! I'm going to have to come back to Rikyu-ki later, there is too much to try to write about now.
After the event ended I took Glenn-sensei to meet Matsumoto-sensei, which was a lot of fun! I haven't been to see her since the Hatsuchakai and I feel kind of terrible about it. It was a lot of fun though, and I spoke with Tanaka-san for a while as well! Glenn-sensei liked her keikoba and the atmosphere in the room. She served us many tea and sweets, which were still awesome even after everything we had at Rikyu-ki!
Following this I was going to go back to the dorm, but when Glenn-sensei contacted his friend Yoshimi I got invited to dinner with them as well, and I was rushed off again (still in kimono) to the Chinese restaurant Tenjiku in Gion. So much food. So much liquor. So amazing!
March 29th:
After so many great events and experiences with our sempai in the last week it was time for everyone to part ways. Mamahen and Elena both left today, the day after Rikyu-ki. It was really, really hard to watch them go, even more than I thought it would be. I woke up in the morning and cleaned my room and made sure it was ready for everyone to come and drink tea. Mamahen was leaving just after noon, so Murata-sensei came over at about 10 AM to check her room. After that we sat in my room, with Johnny and Talon, and made bowl after bowl of usucha and all shared a bowl of koicha together for the last time. Suddenly, out of no where, Hamana-sensei appeared in my doorway! Shock! He looked around and appreciated the size of my room, but I didn't get a chance to make him tea that day. Throughout the day I kept being overwhelmed by the thought of not having Mamahen and Elena down the hall from me anymore. I cried a lot when Mamahen left. It's hard to describe what a positive influence she has had on my experience here. I will visit her in Germany. I will.
That night Johnny's lacquer man friend had a farewell party for him that I was lucky enough to go to. I hadn't been to his shop before so I felt a little hesitant about going, but I was really glad that I did. It was a lot of fun, and although at first I was a little lost in thought by everything that happened that day, by the end I was really enjoying the mood and the beautiful surroundings. Sadly, I had to leave early because of curfiew. I ran back home, only to find that the third floor was empty and the rooms were open and swept clean. Then I saw our messages to the sempai from graduation and their messages back to us, and I was very sad again. It was a strange feeling to sleep in the empty dorm.
March 30th:
I was surprised to find Murata-sensei knocking on my door in the morning saying that one of the new students had arrived! WHAT?! They weren't scheduled to arrive until April 1st. Wendy, the girl from Australia, arrived to drop off her luggage and then fly to Korea for a day for visa issues. So we got to meet her a bit early and serve her a bit of tea and chat and I took her off to the train station. I was just surprised to see a new kohai so soon after my sempai left! Afterwards I met with Glenn-sensei for a bit and we had lunch at the soba place that Johnny really likes, and then I said goodbye to Glenn-sensei who was leaving for Boston the next morning. Everyone is leaving at the same time!!!
During the afternoon Mecca and I went to town cleaning the entire 3rd floor in preparation for the kohai arriving, and in the evening we went to Johnny's room where Yuichi cooked dinner for all of us and we watched The Last Samurai. Our last food night together. TOO MANY LASTS. As usual, Mecca and I had to run back for curfiew, and we ended up drinking more and watching Interview with a Vampire and then going up to the roof and listening to loud music and acting silly. Like we do.
March 31st:
Johnny left in the morning. On his bike. Like he does. More sadness. But it was kind of fun to watch him ride off on his bicycle. He is riding it from Kyoto to Tokyo and flying from there, which seems pretty fantastic to me. Yuichi gave me the things Johnny had left for me (pillow and broom) but I did not see the water heater. WHERE IS THE WATER HEATER?!?! YUICHI STOLE IT!!! I WILL KILL HIM! Not really, but I was a little frustrated since it was a Midorikai item...whatever.
Apparently Mecca saw him later that day and told him that I actually was angry about it and he took her seriously, so I ended up getting the water heater in the end. I don't know if I should feel guilt or happy about that. Probably both.
That night there was tea in Talon's room for Ben, who was a little delayed in getting out. I think it was my first time in Talon's room :) It is hard closing this chapter.