Yesterday for Memorial Day, we had our first virtual chakai at Issoan. The theme was “Then and now.” Since we are still on lock down for the Corona virus in Oregon, we had to do it via Zoom. There were many innovations since the students cannot come to Issoan for lessons, and creative interpretations of …
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Graduation from school brought with it the same feelings I have always gotten: joy from completing something I set my mind to do, anxiety for things that are out of my control (like anything related to the future), nostalgia for the beginning memories and anticipation for the wonderful things just over the horizon. It’s such …
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The final week of classes was spent relishing our remaining time together. Our last jitsugi was spent doing shaza, a teaching exercise that combines flower arranging, laying of the charcoal, incense appreciation, making koicha (thick tea) and making usucha (thin tea). It’s a really fun one, as everyone has a task that they are responsible …
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The day of the chaji arrived. The four sempai and Makela-sensei headed to Nashinoki temple, one of Rikyu’s most convenient famous water locations (and the same place where I got water for my chaji). Then we headed to Toin-seki and unpacked our groceries and remaining implements and started our preparations. We each had our tasks …
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The weather has become warmer (thank goodness!) and the plum blossoms are waning as we look forward to coming full circle and some of the early blooming cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom. I’ll be doing a lot of bike riding around the city when school is finished on my brown “Waffle” bike to go …
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