Monday, January 16, 2006

Kitsuke III

I had a five (that's right, FIVE) hour lesson today with Eiko-san. My brain hurts. Poor Masako-san, who is the translator, got to be the drive-by Kitsuke victim.

On one hand, my brain hurts. On the other hand, I got to grope an absolutely gorgeous Japanese girl (sorry guys) and on the other hand...wait, that's three hands...anyway, it was a long lesson and hopefully some of the more advanced stuff sunk in. Uh, guys, let the whole "grope" thing go--it was a joke. Guys? GUYS!

My kimono looked a little sloppy at first, mostly because I'm used to working on a mannequin and not a living person, so I was terrified that I would hurt Masako-san by tying the himo (the cords that hold the kimono together) too tightly. As a result, my first few attempts didn't look so great.

Masako-san was so funny and gracious, despite having to stand up for five hours and listen to Eiko-san scold me and have me do the same thing ninety bazillion times. By the end of the lesson, my kitsuke was looking almost respectable. Almost, but not quite.

Especially after today's long lesson, I would like to do something nice for Masako-san, who really is an integral part of my study. She's only 22, so there's no way she could afford a kimono of her own, so maybe I will suprise her with one. I wish I could introduce to some massively rich, handsome dude who would take really good care of her, but she'll have to settle for a kimono--it's the best I can do.

Speaking of presents, Eiko-san had a gift for me--a beautiful brocade-covered photo album. Eiko-san is going to help me make a Kitsuke portfolio, so that I have a photographic record of the different kimono and obi techniques that I know. As I mentioned in earlier posts, I'll be trying for my license in June of this year.

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