A Colourful Encounter: Sharing Tea Ceremony with Australian Friends– From Sydney to Kyoto, Sharing Traditions and Creating Lasting Memories
The six Australians looked stunning in their kimonos, adding a vibrant splash of color to our tea room. Naoko and I were delighted to see them adorned in traditional Japanese attire and relished guiding them through the tea ceremony experience. Their presence transformed the room into a breathtaking garden of vibrant blooms. Naoko was a bit nervous at first, but she gradually relaxed as she was touched by their warm hearts, and she left with a smile, saying “It was so much fun!”
They are close friends who live in Sydney. The time difference between Sydney and Japan is only one hour. However, Australia, located in the Southern Hemisphere, has the opposite seasons.
When I asked, “Is it autumn in Sydney now?”, one of them replied, “Yes, it’s about to get colder.” It feels strange somehow. We are spending almost the same time zone, but the seasons are opposite like spring and autumn, summer and winter.
The temperature today was slightly higher than usual. While the tea room initially felt cool, the heat from the boiling kettle and the energy of the participants gradually raised the room temperature, causing some of them to perspire. However, they didn’t show any signs of discomfort, and their enthusiastic responses to Naoko’s every word, with nods, smiles, and laughter, created a truly lively atmosphere. We sincerely apologize for any discomfort this may have caused. We should have responded promptly by turning on the air conditioning or taking other measures to regulate the temperature, but our delayed response resulted in an unpleasant experience for our participants. We deeply regret this oversight and will strive to ensure a more comfortable environment for future workshops. After the workshop, we treated them to potato chips, matcha ice cream, coffee, and other refreshments in another Western-style room. Everyone was completely relaxed and asked us various questions like “How did you and Naoko meet?”, “Do you have any children?”, “What is the secret to your 40-year marriage?” and so on. It was a very pleasant and enjoyable time.
We sincerely hope that their tea ceremony experience at Komurasaki An will remain a cherished memory of their journey to Japan. We sent them more than 100 photos taken during their tea ceremony experience the next morning. We wish them a safe and enjoyable continuation of their travels.
