** suzuki says**
- In reference to Suzuki-Okeiko-2024-04-10 where I mention that Suzuki-sensei’s hibashi handling is different:
- He says to treat the hibashi like ro hibashi, e.g. ones with handles. You do not want your fingers to extend past the handle, so first you move your left hand down the handle to make space before reholding with R.
- Hishaku always comes out of shakutate at 3 o’clock. Hibashi always comes out at 12.
- Even for Shin no Gyo with pull-pull, it’s still 3 o’clock.
- In Shin no Gyo at the end when futaoki moves to L of kensui: it should be biased slightly toward the front of the ji-ita (like 7:30), not right at 9 o’clock on the kensui. If it is at 9 o’clock, you may hit it with the hibashi when you return them. (At least in furo).
- When eating omogashi out of fuchidaka, do not wait for everyone to get their sweet and go-isshou ni itadakimashou. Eat as soon as you get your sweet.
- (Glenn does this, Suzuki-sensei was observed doing this). Do not pinch the bottoms when wiping chashaku. Only pinch at the kaisaki. Leave it completely open when coming down and back up the chashaku.
- Instead of holding meimeizara from the sides (which looks silly when it’s small), hold it like senzara with it on your palm.
- To open chawan shifuku in Shin no Gyo and Daien no Shin:
- Usually, we open it up with our fingers (spider hands!), like inserting a balloon into the shifuku and blowing it up.
- You should still do this, but just keep your fingers low. Hide your hand inside the shifuku. That way, nobody will see you do spider hands, but you will still achieve shifuku opening.
- Reason why we put our thumb on top when pouring mizutsugi:
- It’s for sound, not for keeping it from falling. Ceramic lids rattle.
- Because of this, he says, you should not put your thumb on for mage-mizutsugi.
- About shin-chakin folding with senzara:
- As we know, shin-chakin are folded in thirds when sitting on the senzara.
- However, when in the bowl, they are treated like normal chakin!
- When wiping the bowl, drape chakin over the side so it’s half and half, just like normal chakin. (Instead of thirds). It will not follow the existing folds.
- Then when pushing over the mountain and doing i-ri, also fold just like a normal chakin. Ignore the thirds.
- After you take the chakin out for tatami-kae, then you refold into thirds.
Other
- Normal chakin is indeed folded just one-third on the last fold.
- You only say okashi wo douzo once during usucha. For all other ones, guests are left to fend for themselves.
- Second guest onward should say okashi chodai itashimasu when they are just about to eat.
- But the host saying it every single time is too much. Also, if there are guests behind the host, e.g. 3rd guest in a yojohan during furo season, the host would need to turn around to see if they’ve had their sweet yet or not.
- For sho-iri, you do not need to perfectly synchronize the kama-guest and tokonoma-guest standing at the same time. They should be approximately at the same time, given that they need to make space for each other, but not necessarily in sync.
- And in general, Glenn’s preference is not to do things in perfect unison. “Don’t make it look like you’re doing synchronized swimming.”