| | If you ever decided to move in to a nursing home, you’d be very happy to
live at Woodland Pond in New Paltz. There, about 50 of the residents get
together once a month, called “Women’s Tea Talk”, and we were invited to
demonstrate our Tea Ceremony. There was a few men participated as well for
this special occasion.
We did Ryurei (table set-up) style this time. Our server, Yuriko-san, had
studied Urasenke (type of school/style) for over 12 years. Tea Ceremony was
not adopted in the Japanese daily life while it was remained among highly
sophisticated class of people and family, similar to school, and the rest
enjoyed learning as hobby. Unfortunately, it is easy to forget most of the
forms as they are intricately well choreographed besides there are so many
levels of steps to go through. However it is amazing to find out, after
years of break, your body would still remember most “movements”. It is
probably because it simply became natural after many years of training. You
could tell by watching Yuriko-san’s serving, called “Otemae”, that she
had polished her skill to a higher level. After a full demonstration, we
offered all participants time for questions, and we found many had such
extent of knowledge and interest in not only the Tea Ceremony but Japanese
culture over all. Some questions, as a matter of fact, had caught me off
guard as I didn’t even know the name of the item a lady asked about. Some
told us their own experience from having lived in Japan while others worked
with Japanese people. All seemed very nice memories, and we were glad to
share the stories.
Our sincere thanks to Ms. Gretchen Daum, Activities Coordinator - Resident
Services, and the Woodland Pond for giving us the opportunity to meet with
such enthusiastic and intelligent residents of the Woodland Pond. We would
love to bring other culture program there in the future to share and enjoy
their wonderful memories again. Our member, Atsuko-san, also enjoyed her
reunion with an old friend there. Good memories would remain forever. Many
many thanks to our dedicated volunteer members, as always.
Midori Shinye
Project Leader | | もしナーシングホームに移ることに決めた場合はニューパルツにあるウッドランドポ
ンドが大変理想的です。そこでは約50名の住人が月に一度集まって「女性達のお茶
会」をするそうで、私達は茶道デモをする為に招待されました。ただし特別な催しな
ので男性も参加していました。
今回は立礼式のお点前を披露しました。サーバーの由利子さんは12年以上裏千家を勉
強した方です。茶道は一般的な日常生活には取り込まれなく流派の「家」で守られて
きましたが、一般人は趣味のような形で 「お習い事」を楽しんできました。その繊
細に伝えられた順序と流れは実に細かく微妙で数多くの段階に分かれていてすぐに忘
れがちですが、一方では体というものは長年の修業を踏んだ後自然な「動き」として
覚えていることに驚かさられます。由利子さんのお点前を見ていると間違いなく高度
な段階まで修業を積んでいることが分かります。デモの後は参加者に質問をする機会
を設けました。中には茶道だけでなく日本文化一般的なことに随分知識のある方がい
て、私の知らない名前の品に関する質問が出て戸惑ったものです。数名の方が日本に
住んでいた時のこととか、若かりし頃日本人と仕事をした時の経験を話してくれまし
た。良い思い出話をいっしょに楽しむことが出来て光栄でした。
大変熱心で教養のあるウッドランドポンドの皆さんに会える機会を下さったレジデン
ト用行事企画担当のグレッチェン・ドームさんに心から感謝致します。ぜひまた将来
他のプログラムをお持ちして皆さんの素晴らしい思い出話を聞かせて頂けることを望
んでいます。メンバーの篤子さんも古い知り合いに会えて喜んでいました。良い思い
出はいつまでも残り続けることでしょう。会のボランティアメンバーの皆さんにはい
つもいつも感謝でいっぱいです。
新江 緑
プロジェクトリーダー | |
