Japanese Tea Ceremony

We have been learning all kind of facts about Ancient Japan, Ninjas and Japanese Tea Ceremonies this week. Last week, when we came back inside from recess the students had to prepare to enter our "tea room" (classroom) We learned all of the rules for the Japanese Tea Ceremony; Rule #1: All guests must wash their hands before entering the tea room. Rule #2: All guests must take off their shoes before entering the tea room, since everyone sits on the floor it is important to have a clean space. Rule #3: All guests must bow to the host to show respect. Rule #4: Only the host makes the tea. No one touches anything until the host gives them their tea cup!

We had some mixed reviews about the green tea (decaffeinated of course!) We learned that the guests ALWAYS had to say that the tea was delicious, even if they didn't like it because it was the polite thing to do!