Monday, July 30, 2007

Many, many, many, many, many thanks - the bow in action


I have been waiting for the occasion when bowing is totally excessive to the point of both parties continually doing it with no end in sight. It finally happened!

Luke and I went to a tea ceremony with Yasue the other day to learn about this Zen practice. Traditional ceremonies are about three hours long, but our peek into this mysterious art only lasted about 15 minutes.

Upon arrival, we watched the lady (I don’t actually know what they call the tea ceremony teacher) make the tea and then knelt down on the tatami to be served. Before we went, Yasue gave us a preliminary lesson so we wouldn’t screw up too badly.

It’s all very exact, and adhering to the etiquette is extremely important. When you are served you actually have to look at the person on your right and essentially apologize that you’ll be drinking your tea before they’ve been served. Then you pick up your teacup (it’s really a bowl), turn it 90 degrees clockwise, twice, and slurp. And you really have to slurp – two times and on the third gulp you have to finish off the green tea with a really loud slurping noise. This is to show how much you like it.

After that you have to admire the teacup, at length, and offer heaps of compliments to your hostess. It goes on and on for hours, like this, and concludes with kneeling and bowing to no end.

First you thank the hostess by bowing low to the floor, then she thanks you with a bow and you have to thank her again, bowing of course. At this point, I think she thanks you for thanking her (bowing) and you acknowledge this with additional gratitude also in the form of a bow. Mind you, this is all while you’re still on your knees before you even get up to leave.

Then it starts all over again. I became totally lost in the second round and certainly committed a faux pas when I neglected to kneel and bow for like the tenth time at the door. I think Yasue was confused, too. The Japanese bow all the time for sure (they even do it in the car when yielding), but it doesn’t usually go to such extremes.

You always hear about things like this when Americans satirize the Japanese, but to see it first hand was deliciously awkward!

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