Visit to peaceful Kasugai

During Golden Week, I got the chance to visit Katsutoshi Suzuki and his wife Hiromi in Kasugai (Kelowna's sister city), just outside of Nagoya. While I was at thier house, I looked through some photo albums of when their daughter, Rina lived in Nelson 15 years ago while studying at Canadian International College. She stayed at our house for about two months during that time. So as I flipped through pictures of home, there I was! Hiromi had performed a tea ceremony for some friends of the family and my family... I was just 10 years old, but I still remember it!
This Monday, I met Katsutoshi in the subway station and from there we took a train towards the hills. Upon arriving at their house, Hiromi was waiting for us in a traditional kimono. She took me along a stepping stone path through their beautiful little garden to the Tsukubai, a spot with a rock water basin and a ladle for guests to wash their hands and mouth before entering a house.
Hiromi is a tea ceremony instructor so they have a tea room at their house and she guided me through a tea ceremony! It was only my 2nd tea ceremony (the first being when I was 10 of course). Although I can't yet communicate well in Japanese, they speak some English, so between the 3 of us, we were able to communicate quite well.
I kneeled on the bamboo mats and started with a sweet mochi (rice flour) snack, eaten just so. Then came the green tea, delicately served. There is a very specific way to drink the tea including which hand to pick the cup up in, how to turn it, drink from it, look at it, turn it again, look at it, and so on.
After the tea ceremony, I went with Katsutoshi to the nearby botanical gardens. There was a festival for Golden Week and many people. It was so relaxing to wander among the flowers, through the forest and by a pond. It is a beautiful place.
Back at their home Hiromi had prepared a wonderful lunch for us of sashimi, red rice, egg, various vegetables and soup. It was simply delicious! And they made sure to explain what everything was to me, yay! For dessert we had coffee, fruit and ice creammmm... mmm...
I am so thankful to all the wonderful Japanese people who are welcoming me into their homes and cultures, it has been a truly wonderful weekend.