Welcoming Guests from Chicago: Cultural Exchange and Lifelong Memories
Standing in front of Arashiyama Station with an American flag print, I waited for my guests. Soon, five young people with bright smiles approached me. I asked the woman at the front, “Are you Kayla?” She nodded with a grin and said, “Yes.” I was overjoyed and greeted them with a big “Welcome to Kyoto!” They all live in Chicago and are friends.
When I was 25, I was studying English at the Ohio Wesleyan University Extension. During the summer vacation, I took a Greyhound bus alone to Chicago. I was overwhelmed by the sight of the modern skyscrapers. I even went up the Sears Tower, which was the tallest building in the world at the time, and the feeling of awe I felt when I looked out over the city of Chicago is still with me today.
I said to them, “Chicago is the setting for the movie ‘The Fugitive’ starring Harrison Ford,” but they didn’t seem to get it. It’s no wonder, since ‘The Fugitive’ was released in 1993 and they weren’t even born yet. I felt a sense of time passing.
Previously, we noticed that guests wearing kimonos found it difficult to wash their hands while crouching in front of the tsukubai (stone water basin). Therefore, this time, Naoko used a hishaku (ladle) to scoop water and allowed the guests to wash their hands while standing.
Everyone was so bright, cheerful, and polite. They asked me all sorts of questions: ‘Did you live in Seattle?’ ‘Yes, for a year with Naoko 18 years ago.’ ‘I have friends in Seattle.’ ‘You were also in Ohio?’ ‘Yes, in Delaware over 40 years ago.’ ‘Delaware? I don’t know that one. I’m from Cleveland.’ ‘I went to Ohio Wesleyan University.’ ‘Is that a small school? I know Ohio States University, though.’ Such conversations continued.
My greatest joy in starting the tea ceremony workshop is to introduce people to the Japanese cultural art of tea ceremony, and the conversations I have with the guests afterwards. It’s like a new world opens up to me with each workshop. Could there be anything more exciting? My joy is even greater than the joy of my guests when they enjoy their tea ceremony experience. My treasures are the over 100 photos I take at each tea ceremony and the conversations I have with them.”
