Ikebana: Final Edition

On Thursday, I had my last ikebana class/Going Away Party with my ladies.  Although it was just one of the many “goodbye” parties I’ve had in the past few weeks, it was definitely the hardest.  We arrived early to do our flower arranging (Lilies, Okureruka leaves, and Kemurisomething-or-other, which translates to “smoke something or other”) and then cleared the way for a veritable feast.

Two kinds of tempura, three different cuts of maguro (tuna), hand rolls, fried squid!, tamago yaki (sweet egg omelet), chawan mushi (steamed, eggy custard), pickled veggies, and seaweed salad

My Sensei made the kanpai speech, and we ate for awhile, and then I was asked to say a few words.  Normally nervous in situations where I have to speak Japanese in front of a rapt audience, this case was different.  I spoke about how I had always wanted to learn ikebana, and how it was one of my main desires and goals this year in coming to Japan.  How I told this to as many people as possible, until someone finally took pity on me and introduced me to this group of ladies.  I talked about how, at first, I was hesitant to commit to a weekly class because of time constraints and prices, but how gradually, it became one of my favorite events of the week.  How on days that I was down or anxious (like Thursday), coming to class, working with the flowers, but more so, just being in the company of such women was a relief, and a respite.  How they welcomed me into their group, fed me tea and taught me bad Japanese.

Often, in Japan, I have felt a need to act a certain way; play a certain role.  This was exhausting, and sometimes resulted in an intense desire to hide from “Japan.”  Ikebana, however, was the one place where I felt completely at ease.  That there were no preconceived expectations of me, and that I was free and accepted to, in fact, be myself.  And in doing so, I weaseled my way into the hearts of these older Japanese ladies – my obateria.  Safe to say, they’d never met anyone like me ever before, and as strange and foreign a creature as I am, they accepted me.  And I think they even liked me, too.  There were tears when I said goodbye and drove away.  That next week, they will be meeting same time, same place without me, feels wrong and sad and lonely.  But so it goes.

The mango was placed there for express, comedic value

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Ikebana: Week 24

For my second to last ikebana class, we did flower arrangements rather than ikebana.  All the flowers, instead of being purchased from a flower shop, were donated by my ikebana ladies, grown in their gardens or “borrowed” from who-knows-where.  Very colorful and a nice change of pace from regular classes, as there are no set rules for flower arranging!  Also, the hydrangeas are off the hook in bloom up here, which I remember from my arrival last year.  It’s nice to see them indoors now, too, brightening up my genkan.

I had so much fun I got to make two arrangements!

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Ikebana: Week 23

One of my last few ikebana classes.  We continue to work on Sideways flowers – yesterday we focused on the angular lines of the Futoi stalk (1st), Leaves whose name escapes me right now (2nd), and Sunflowers (3rd).

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Ikebana: Week 22

Another week of Yoko no Hana (sideways flowers): Kakuriko leaves (1st); Shocking! Pink! Carnations (2nd); and something that I can only translate to Hybrid Cheese (3rd).  End of June here – only three more ikebana classes left!  So sad!

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Ikebana: Week 21

It’s no secret: yesterday was an awful day.  I had slept badly; was anxious; no patience for my kids; taught a lesson that in all regards should have been a hit yet fell flat; it was 40-some degrees and rainy, so I couldn’t run outside; was (am) overwhelmed by my Japanese test cramming studying and feeling guilty that I haven’t yet embarked on my economics online course.  All I wanted to do was read my book, drink tea and be warm.  (Arizona, here I come.)  Instead, I dragged myself to ikebana somewhat grudgingly and pitiful, expecting the further exhaustion that sometimes comes with focusing hard on Japanese and the flowers.

We embarked upon a new style: Yoko no hana (sideways flowers) with Yamashida ferns (1st), Gladiosa flowers (2nd), Baby’s Breathe (3rd), and Futoi stalks (4th) as accents.  My mind was a mess; I couldn’t focus.  The ferns proved to be tricky to maneuver and keep in place.  Where I usually am the last to finish, painstakingly arranging everything just. so. yesterday, I slapbanged my way through and was rewarded with only one change from my Sensei. Just goes to show, no?

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Ikebana: Week 20

Naname no hana (Diagonal Flowers): Sunflowers (1st); Kurotan leaves (2nd); Tamashida ferns as accent (3rd)

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Ikebana: Week 19

Back to free form ikebana this week, which I elected to do in tate (vertical) form, as opposed to diagonal or horizontal.  (Though horizontal to come next week!)  This arrangement consisted of Tancho – meaning Red Crowned – Ariamu Leeks (1st); Nyusairan leaf (2nd); and Shakuyaku (peonies! 3rd).  Although the peonies haven’t blossomed yet, apparently they’ll be pink when they bloom.

**I should also note that this was one of the first arrangements that my sensei didn’t correct the hell out of.   A brief moment of triumph.

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Ikebana: Week 18

On Wednesday, as I sat around the table on the floor pre-class, sipping tea, sleepy from a long day and only vaguely paying attention to my ikebana ladies jabbering away around me, did I realize how comforting it was.  Just as the taste of shiso leaf is one of home and nostalgia, so is the feeling of being surrounded by the low hum and occasional exclamation of older women speaking in Japanese.  Not a few of my younger years were spent as the only kid around my mom’s friends, as they caught up with one another on our visits home to Japan.  At the time, I’m sure I was bored and antsy, escaping into whatever heroine-protaganist fantasy novel du jour, but when I look back on it, it’s the same warm feeling as falling asleep during a movie in a room full of your favorite people.  There’s a safety in it that’s wholesome and inviting.  And to return to a country with a language that I can’t help but eavesdrop, I know I’ll miss the cozy background chatter that I’ve grown so accustomed to here.

Yellow calla lilies (1st), Gotto leaves (2nd), Steel Glass (3rd).

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Ikebana: Week 17

I thought this week’s shinputai was delightfully playful, with the aptly named Golden Stick as the shyu (1st), Okureruka leaf as the you (2nd), and Leucadendron as the ashirai (3rd).

To update on the previous episode of drama, my ladies asked me tonite if I understood what was going on with last week’s “meeting.”  When I told them that I did indeed understand and thought it was “interesting” to watch them tackle a problem by going around and around it, they laughed and asked if that’s the way things were done in America.  I said, sometimes.  They asked me to not think badly of them or take home “funny” impressions of Japan, and then proceeded to do what some women humans do best: talk shit behind other people’s backs.   And while I felt a little bad for Ikelady-san (who had despite her recent schedule-change managed to come and leave early tonite…) I was more oddly touched by yet another example of how we’re not so different, after all, are we?

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Ikebana: Week 16

After a week’s break, ikebana picked back up again last night, with nearly everyone bringing something tasty to share with the group.  I had purchased some random snacks from China, and enjoyed watching my ladies get a big kick out of translating the Chinese characters into something readable in Japanese.  Comments I especially liked were: Foreign candy is a little scary, no? and It’s not as scary if we try it together and This tastes like China!

Also, it was really interesting to get to do some ‘cultural observing.’  It had come to pass that one of the ladies’ schedule’s had changed so that meeting on Wednesday nights was no longer convenient timing for her.  After a private talk with our Sensei, they returned to our hang-out table where the Sensei spoke on behalf of (we’ll call her) Ikelady-san.  The conversation more or less went like this:

“Ikelady-san’s schedule has changed and now Wednesday night’s are difficult for her.  She does not want to quit ikebana, nor does her husband want her to quit, but she must now work Wednesday nights at their family temple.  While Ikelady-san has not and cannot ask to have the day changed, I am doing it for her.”

What proceeded was silence while the other women mulled this over.  Then, suddenly, everyone seemed to have an opinion, and problems with other days of the week.  (Mind you, without coming out directly and saying that it was a problem nor that other weekdays were impossible.)  Ikelady-san sat there mindfully the whole time.  It concluded with the women saying “Can’t you go back to your husband to see if you can change your schedule?” and “Just ganbare (read: suck it up and deal with it) and come after your temple shifts on Wednesday nights.”  Essentially, it was 10 minutes of round-about annoyance at being put out ending with a simple “There there, now shut up, dear” while Ikelady-san resigned herself to her fate.  I stayed silent throughout and watched the circus.

Anyway, enough talk.  Last night was another shinputai arrangement, in which we were allowed to select our own shyu or focus.  Shyu: Ansurumu, what appears to be in the Calla lilly family, but I’m not certain; You: Taniwatara leaf; Ashirai: Queen Anne’s lace

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