Japanory

Sogetsu Ikebana

Monday 14^th May 2007

Today is a ME day. Well, I deserve it after last week…

Unfortunately it is also half term. For some ridiculous reason, this half term is only two days long, when the children are exhausted and could really do with a week off.

Tim's taken the day off work so Rhiannon will be spoiled rotten and will have a lovely day with Dad - at Disneyland again... while I spoil me.

It's my first Ikebana lesson today and I'm very nervous. It's held at the Tokyo Union Church Women's Society in Omotesando and starts at 10am. Tim needs the car so I catch the bus and hop off at Harajuku to walk down the road to Omotesando.

The church room the class is held in is obviously a children's classroom too, and the walls are decorated with painted stained glass windows and quotes from the bible. I felt very out of place. Until a wonderfully outgoing, warm and friendly Texan lady called Maria walked in and made me feel very welcome. Over the next couple of years, she became a very good friend and always brightened up the lessons with her repartee. The other members of the class were very genteel Japanese ladies so Maria and I often reduced ourselves to giggles with muffled swearing when branches fell out of the vase and so on.

Our Sensei appeared. Yoka Hosono is a Master Instructor of the Sogetsu Headquarters and a very famous lady in the Ikebana world. She travels the globe giving talks and demonstrations, even though she isn't very young. She will not reveal her age; she looks about fifty but is actually rather older than that - apparently.

I am told to buy a text book and a pair of snippers. For today, she lends me hers, but has come prepared with a new text book.

Although she teaches me and Maria in heavily accented English, there are times when she lapses into Japanese, especially when there is no readily available English alternative. It's terribly confusing.

She hands me a newspaper wrap of branches and three flowers and points to page one of the book. Page one is at the back of the book - because this is japan and everything is back to front.

There's another American woman student who demands Sensei's attention for every cut of a plant. Which means Sensei leaves me to make my first attempt with minimal assistance! EEEK!! I have NO idea what I'm doing at all. Maria points me in the direction of the vase cupboard, kenzan (needlepoint holders) and water and gives me a few hints and tips.

After an hour or so, I have a pretty passable copy of the picture in the book although I feel there are far too many flowers stuffed in there for Ikebana. I'd always pictured this discipline as minimalist.

(Apologies for the photo - I haven't got to grips with fading out the background. But this was my first Ikebana arrangement so it needed a prosperity picture)

 
Sensei is delighted with it! Apparently I have "a gift and an eye". I am absolutely amazed and rather pleased with myself. She also said it "looks like an English country garden". Oh. Not quite my intention, but she meant it as a compliment. So if she's happy, then so am I.

She's also rather taken with my looks as I'm not a "normal Sogestu student". At this point, my hair was pink, by the way, so I can see her point! Another source of fun for her is to compare her diminutive stature to my six foot frame…

Class over, it's time to reluctantly dismantle my arrangement and plod back up the road to catch the bus. But on the way, I visit a nearby Ikebana shop for a suiban - flat basin for flower arrangements, snippers and a kenzan, so I can attempt to redo the flowers at home. It's a gorgeous shop so I also bought a few more vases and a special bag to carry my flowers in.

On the return bus journey an elderly gentleman struck up a conversation with me and explained that Sogetsu means Sun, Moon and Earth. He congratulated me on starting this course and urged me to continue. I certainly intend to!

My "Me" afternoon continued with a rather fabulous facial treatment at Boudoir where I was treated by the beautiful Australian boss.

A lovely day :-D

Sea Cucumbers, TV & a Sushi Walk...

Monday 7^th -Wednesday 9^th May 2007

A non-photo-prompted post!

Tim's flown to Seoul (South Korea) on business. Rhiannon always plays up when he's away, so I'm not looking forward to the next couple of days. Mind you she plays up while he's at home too; it's just 100 times worse when he's away.

Luckily she's got a school trip to Shinagawa Aquarium planned for the Monday as well as Aikido after school so hopefully she will be exhausted enough to go to bed early. She is hugely fascinated by any kind of aquatic creature so this trip was a massive success. She got to walk through a glass tunnel under "the sea". But the highlight of her visit was the set of touching tanks. Her favourite creature was a large starfish that she held which entwined its legs around her hand. She believes it was hugging her, bless her! She also stroked a sea cucumber which "felt soooo soft and velvety, just like Nana's coat"!

Nana's coat is now affectionately referred to as the sea cucumber coat. It's OK, she understands and laughs. One day I'll write a book about my Dad and his ever changing menagerie. It's hard to explain our outlook unless you personally know me and my upbringing.

Anyway, I was wrong about her being tired and wanting an early night. She's the sort of kid that get more hyper the more tired she is, so Monday evening was fraught, to say the least.

But once she'd finally finished tantrumming, in bed and staying there, I finally had control of the TV remote.

Recently we got some sort of special box and satellite dish with a package of TV programs. After an hour, I finally worked out roughly how to use it. Most of the channels are "greyed out" which means I can't view them. These are all the ones with decent films on. Not fair to be shown what I can't watch. Other English language options include a few American stations showing things I don't recognise and Animal Planet, National Geographic and The History Channel. The History Channel is only in Japanese, showing Japanese history. I eventually watched an old episode of Sex and the City. It makes nice change from Tim's usual choice of programmes entitled temptingly as "How to Build a Submarine" or "100 Most Deadly Plane Crashes". With the amount of flying he does, you'd think the latter type of viewing would be off the list, wouldn't you?

On Wednesday, I agreed to help escort Rhiannon's class on another trip. This time they were walking from school to a local sushi bar in Omotesando as part of their Japanese lesson. Even though there are only about 16 kids in her class, they seem to triple in number once outside the classroom. Ugh. Walking with a group of 5 year olds… Rhiannon objected jealously to me talking to any other child and threw a complete wobbly when another kid held my hand…"That's MY Mummy, not yours. Let her GO!"

Somehow, we got them to their destination safely and retired for a much needed coffee before the return shenanigans. Rhiannon loved taking food from the conveyor belt but didn't eat a thing.

Then I made the day worse by having a playdate here. The invitee was a right little madam and it was bloody hard work with two strong characters trying to get one up on each other all afternoon and evening.

I was very glad when the madam's father came to collect her, albeit over an hour later than we'd agreed.

Finally Tim returned home! With presents! (OK, he's not quite THAT thoughtful and romantic - I told him he had to bring presents) We got Korean chopstick sets which are made of metal rather than wood. Very beautiful.

A stressful couple of days. But at least I got to see some girly TV for a change. And a present :-)