Any one for tea?

Toady I went to a Tea Ceremony. Tea Ceremonys are very important rituals in Japan. There is nothing quite like it, that I know of, in our culture, it is a ritual for preparing special powered green tea for guests (matcha), and it takes years of practice to perfect this art.
We were welcomed into a traditional Japanese room with a tatami floor and shooji walls, as well as a special area called a Tokonama, for placing your sacred items such as scolls with caligraphy.
This is a traditional room for tea cermonys, there are even special places that you should sit.

Our host was dressed in traditional kimono and performed a short ceremony for us. A proper ceremony can go for up to 4 hours. It is very important that the person making the tea follows the correct procedure and moves in a precise way. To make the tea you add hot water to the green tea powder in your tea bowl, then you use a bamboo whisk to mix the tea until there are lots of bubbles and it look slightly thick.
The tea is slightly bitter so you are given something sweet to eat before you drink it. We had biscuits that contained a sweet bean paste. When you drink the tea you have to hold the bowl in a certain way, rotating the bowl before and after drinking, as this is all part of the ritual of the tea ceremony.

We also got to dress up for the event... I am not sure I had quite the right size or colour kimono (Although it did match my sunburn!) I am sure you can decide for yourself! Yikes! Not really my thing!