I've got sadou (tea ceremony) on the brain

Hey all,
Okay, I apologize for the ugly picture layout, and again, I'm really bad in keeping this thing up to date, but I'll try to make up some time with this post. I had made plans to hang out with Aki (she is a student at Nanzan University who studied abroad at UW-Madison last year and lived in the same dorm as me) on Tuesday a couple weeks ago, but I had yet to make a bank account, which I needed to do in short order to receive one of the scholarships, and we didn't have any specific plans, so I asked if she wanted to accompany me while I opened a bank account. The epitome of fun, I know. Well, I tried to hit the bank beforehand, only to find out I had the wrong document from the ward office, and couldn't open an account. Awesome. So I met up with Aki, and fill her in, so we go back to my host family's place and then head to the ward office and get the proper form. More fun, I know. Anyway, my host family was having some friends and extended family over that night, and they invited Aki to stay for dinner. That ended up being a rollicking good time. And Aki, despite having a job interview the next day, was putting away her beer rather quickly, which prompted my host family to make many a joke.
But it was all good, because Aki got the job! So she held a party that next week on Wednesday, and we went to an izakaya, which is bar/restaurant where you order a bunch of small dishes and pass them around between everyone, while drinking of course. Then we hit karaoke, where I managed to find the old Power Rangers theme song. Apparently that song has verses, which I never recall hearing before, but when the chorus hit, I , along with Ken and Chris, rocked out hard.
But the weekend in between those two events was even more memorable. My host mom's friend is a tea ceremony sensei, and she was nice enough to bring me as a guest to a tea gathering at Atsuta Jingu (a famous shinto shrine that holds one of Japan's three national treasures) The weather was picture perfect, and the entire setting, from the old teahouses to almost everyone at the ceremony wearing kimono, screamed 'Japan.'
We participated in three separate tea ceremonies, and this gathering was apparently part of a larger project to conduct 400 tea ceremonies in 100 days. This tour o' tea started at four different points in Japan and the four paths are converging on Kyoto where they'll hold the final gathering of the 'relay.'
The entire experience was rather surreal, and save for the cameras and cell phone, it could have been couple centuries ago. I have developed quite a liking for matcha, which is the type of green tea served at ceremonies. But before the tea, they serve little Japanese candies, which are almost always as pretty as they are delicious. Everything, every motion is predetermined, from how you enter, to how you receive the candy and tea. You rotate the bowl twice before drinking, and there is a specific way to fold the paper after you eat the candy (so as to not spill crumbs). Oh, and you are supposed to sit in seiza style (see picture), which after awhile cuts off the circulation to your legs. After the third ceremony, I couldn't feel my legs, and had to wait a bit before I could stand. Also, that night I noticed my leg was a little swollen. There is much more but it would take a while to explain.
Probably the most interesting thing I found out was that the entrance to the teahouse was purposely made extremely small so that samurai would have to disarm in order to fit. Without their sword, and thus their rank, they were equals with everyone else when taking tea.
Immediately after that I went to a musical my host Aunt (she's a dancer) invited me to. It was a kid's musical, and one of her friends was in it, so we had free tickets. The muscial was to commemorate the world expo that was held in Nagoya last year, and featured the two furry mascots of the expo helping a group of four kids who were lost in a forest.
The weekend after that, I got to attend another muscial, in lieu of another foreign exchange student who fell ill. Roughly translated, it was titled 'A Dream Borne from a Dream' It was sensory overload. Outside the theatre there was a 'pre-show,' which consisted of a bunch of costumed people freaking out kids and making photo opps. The actual musical was pretty interesting, and easier to understand than I had expected. Probably due to the fact that since it was a musical, they pronounced the hell out of every word.
After the musical we headed to dinner, and stumbled upon Hard Rock Cafe-Nagoya. The food was pretty similar to the U.S. (although apparently the mashed potatoes were instant) but the memorabilia was understandably not as impressive as in the U.S. The prices seemd expensive at first, but taking into account the fact that tax is included in the price, and that you don't have to tip in Japan, it ended up being cheaper than the U.S. Go figure!
In general, life is going well, although I was out this past weekend with a sore throat/fever/cold sort of thing that is still pestering me. I had my mid-term for Japanese class today, which I think went decently despite the illness. Anyway, to repsond to a few of the comments people made. Stevo, yes, I have had sake, there will be pictures on the next post when I detail my birthday weekend. Busha and Sami, as far as nightlife goes, it is pretty much the same formula as Aki's party, go somewhere to eat and drink, then go to karaoke and drink some more. Again, more details will be in the birthday post. Aaron, PLEASE let me know of any places I should check out. Where exactly were you stationed? And it would be awesome if you were able to make the trip (just let me know in advance). Voss, I realize you get the Wii in America before Japan, and I hate you for it. Finally, thanks to everyone for their support and the kind birthday wishes left on my facebook wall, they are much appreciated!!!!