Put On Your Best Kimono

I came home from school today fully intending to sleep, half from exhaustion following Thursday's weekly 2Km morning run which left me feeling out of shape with an acute sense of shame and half from the nightly underground mahjong and pinochle games run out of Kawai-san's basement. Just kidding, Japanese houses don't have basements. However, the run, much like last week's, left the entire class with a robust black-lung hack, transforming into a wheeze by the end of the day. Andee, with rapier wit, quipped that he will be basking in the sun of Malaysia drinking wine from a coconut before I finish my running unit of gym class. I chased after him for a while. On the bright side I did shave my time by 20 seconds. When does the rock climbing unit start?

But "Hell Thursday," as it has come to be called, is not the topic of this entry. Last Saturday, after Andee spent the night, my host mother took us with Saeki-san to their Kimono teacher's house for a photo shoot. This time both of us wore "Hakama" style Kimono, much like the outfit worn for Kyudo or Kendo but much fancier. The Hakama Kimono is customarily donned for wedding ceremonies or other such occasions. The Kimono-sensei showed us how to wear the Kimono, and also how to tie the Obi, or bow/belt/sash around the waist (there are countless methods). Following the dressing both Andee and I posed for pictures beside the teacher's house (with a striking Japanese facade) and in her garden.

After the shoot, the teacher explained the complicated process of folding the Kimono, Hakama, and silk underskirt. We drank tea in her tatami room then took off for home.