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wakeiseiyoFweedle.
So, today's one of those BPAL mix-n-match days. Today I'm wearing #20 Van-Blockbustin'-Van Snake Love Oil. Because I need the boost, dammit. [The #20 Love blend in there is because dammit, Thursday is V-Day and... yeah. I'd rather not be drinking alone.] (I would love to feel calm and confident today, because thinking about the fact I have a Tea lesson tonight? Is bugging the piss out of me. I really miss the days when I looked forward to lessons.) Today/tonight, I intend to establish a few clear boundaries. I will NOT be loaning out my gear, I will NOT be filling in the gaps in other students' kits and *hope* I see my things again, and I will NOT be running errands to the local asian markets just because I live closer. I don't have the money, time, or patience - in that order - for any of the above. I just may point out (though I need to keep my communication of the above to a clear, concise minimum) that the kimono-wearing is a hobby that is 95% separate from Tea for me, which means that it is NOT my sempai-responsibility (GAG me, that hierarchy is bullshit) to train, dress, pamper, or otherwise coddle the students taking Tea who are interested in kimono. They can use the same stores, websites, and books that I did to learn, and if they're willing to devote any sort of time to it, it's NOT THAT HARD. Really. It isn't. It takes practice, just like playing scales and Chopsticks on the piano. Hell, most modern kimono stores have so many tools and gadgets to make it easier, I'm honestly surprised. (I will gladly concede the obi, when not of the 'easy' variety, can be tricky, but women in Japan have been wearing some incarnation of it for the last 300-400 years, daily, so it can't be that impossible to learn. And again, there are numerous gadgets out there for this particular dilemma.)
Bought a book at B&N's bargain rack - "Working With You Is Killing Me" - if you cross out all the instances of 'work' and replace them with 'Tea' and 'boss' with 'Sensei', it's a pretty helpful little thing. (I'm also, for the sake of getting the most out of it, crossing out 'manager' and putting in 'sempai' and 'co-worker' with 'student'.) Most of it is common-sense stuff, and I'm mostly nodding my head going "I know, I know!", but it's nice to see things I know put into clear, black-and-white print that I can refer to as a neutral third party source, rather than skimming old journal entries and trying to sift through what's me being angry and hurt and what's actually something hurtful. So.
We'll see how tonight goes.
And for the record, the company 'Tea' is small enough that there is neither an <s>employee</s> student handbook nor clear financial policy, and it's all subject to the <s>boss'</s> whim. So.
So, today's one of those BPAL mix-n-match days. Today I'm wearing #20 Van-Blockbustin'-Van Snake Love Oil. Because I need the boost, dammit. [The #20 Love blend in there is because dammit, Thursday is V-Day and... yeah. I'd rather not be drinking alone.] (I would love to feel calm and confident today, because thinking about the fact I have a Tea lesson tonight? Is bugging the piss out of me. I really miss the days when I looked forward to lessons.) Today/tonight, I intend to establish a few clear boundaries. I will NOT be loaning out my gear, I will NOT be filling in the gaps in other students' kits and *hope* I see my things again, and I will NOT be running errands to the local asian markets just because I live closer. I don't have the money, time, or patience - in that order - for any of the above. I just may point out (though I need to keep my communication of the above to a clear, concise minimum) that the kimono-wearing is a hobby that is 95% separate from Tea for me, which means that it is NOT my sempai-responsibility (GAG me, that hierarchy is bullshit) to train, dress, pamper, or otherwise coddle the students taking Tea who are interested in kimono. They can use the same stores, websites, and books that I did to learn, and if they're willing to devote any sort of time to it, it's NOT THAT HARD. Really. It isn't. It takes practice, just like playing scales and Chopsticks on the piano. Hell, most modern kimono stores have so many tools and gadgets to make it easier, I'm honestly surprised. (I will gladly concede the obi, when not of the 'easy' variety, can be tricky, but women in Japan have been wearing some incarnation of it for the last 300-400 years, daily, so it can't be that impossible to learn. And again, there are numerous gadgets out there for this particular dilemma.)
Bought a book at B&N's bargain rack - "Working With You Is Killing Me" - if you cross out all the instances of 'work' and replace them with 'Tea' and 'boss' with 'Sensei', it's a pretty helpful little thing. (I'm also, for the sake of getting the most out of it, crossing out 'manager' and putting in 'sempai' and 'co-worker' with 'student'.) Most of it is common-sense stuff, and I'm mostly nodding my head going "I know, I know!", but it's nice to see things I know put into clear, black-and-white print that I can refer to as a neutral third party source, rather than skimming old journal entries and trying to sift through what's me being angry and hurt and what's actually something hurtful. So.
We'll see how tonight goes.
And for the record, the company 'Tea' is small enough that there is neither an <s>employee</s> student handbook nor clear financial policy, and it's all subject to the <s>boss'</s> whim. So.
