My First Kimono Lesson

Today was memorable for me as I feel honoured to have been fortunate enough to partake in a special piece of Japanese culture-learning to wear a kimono....
Rie, Hono and I pulled up to a house in Sapporo...the garden was immaculate. The bonsai were perfectly trimmed, the flowers luscious and bright as if plucked from a movie. In the doorway of the house stood a woman with jet black hair hanging loosely to her shoulders. She wore a kimono that was picturesque accompanied by a perfectly tied obi. She welcome us in-dozo. We followed her into her living room-we drank matcha. Her living room was very traditional and we sat on our knees on pillows. She told us that she used to be a leading person in the tea ceremonies in Sapporo a few years ago. After we finished our tea, she asked us to follow her upstairs.
We climbed the solid wooden staircase and came across a room with tatami (sp) mats, busts of mannequins wearing kimono`s and a large wardrobe.
She opened the wardrobe, took out a few items and asked Rie and I to change into the kimono undergarments...we did. As we did she took more layers of kimono from the wardrobe and closet. We were ready to begin. Our kimono`s took 15-20 minutes to tie. We watched her every move to ensure we were doing it correctly..she reassured us that we were: `hai, hai, hai.`
When we were finished we looked beautiful in our yukata`s (summer kimono`s: sp). I took a lot of photos as I want to remember this moment. It was so rich, so surreal...
Hopefully I will be able to load a photo soon to share with you...
I was excited to tie my own obi..it is difficult and takes patience but, with the right sensei, anything is possible. I have another lesson before I go home and I cannot wait

<3