back at the tea space
meeting old friends and new friends
this moment is all
-on attending “Hatsugama”*
Hatsugama / 初釜 / boiling of the first kettle tea ceremony
This meeting is seen as something very special. Hatsugama is the only time when the tea teacher him or herself prepares tea for all her students. In most cases this tea ceremony is a complete Chaji meeting with Kaiseki meal, Nakadachi breaks, and the whole ritual done the way it was learned during classes. It is impossible to teach the whole Chaji at once, therefor it is always broken up into practicing how to prepare Usucha, Koicha, and arranging the charcoal in Sumidemae. Only this time will the whole ritual be performed by the tea teacher with some help of his or her students. It is an opportunity to meet all the other students whom might be studying on different days and for the teacher to point out some of the details about the flow of a full Chaji meeting. Typical for this meeting is the festive mood, exquisite cuisine, and the curved braided willow branches hung in the alcove.
Source: http://japanese-tea-ceremony.net/types_ceremony.html