Tea has slowed Sally Schurko down.

Mrs. Schurko used to work 80-hour weeks in her job in corporate finance. Now, she spends hours performing a leisurely -- almost meditative -- traditional Japanese tea ceremony.

"I was like a spinning top. This has calmed me down," she said.

Mrs. Schurko and Yoko Motoyama spread that calm to a dozen eighth-graders recently when the Brookline Regional Catholic School students spent an hour at South Park Library learning the history and etiquette of a basic Japanese tea ceremony. The students branched out from their usual Spanish language class to learn some Japanese language and customs.

Although it was a far cry from a traditional tea room, several bonsai trees, donated from the Pittsburgh Bonsai Society, a scroll with Japanese calligraphy and the demonstrators' traditional kimonos with elaborate obis -- a kind of brocade sash -- helped set the mood.

Teaching others about the ceremony by performing it and serving the traditional matcha, or green tea, is how the women, both from Fox Chapel, met eight years ago.

Mrs. Schurko said she "begged" Mrs. Motoyama to teach her the intricacies of the four-hour ceremony after seeing Mrs. Motoyama perform it.

Mrs. Motoyama, a native of Komatsu City, Japan, began taking tea ceremony lessons in Japan when she was 15.

"We take [tea ceremony] classes like you take piano lessons," she explained. She said it is common in Japan for mothers to send their daughters to classes in tea ceremony and flower arrangement to "learn discipline."

Now the two women demonstrate the ceremony for the public about half-dozen times a year. Mrs. Motoyama also gives classes.

It takes at least 10 years of studying before a person can host a tea ceremony, she said. Mrs. Motoyama has been studying for 17 years.

"You don't have to be a master. But you have to have a vast knowledge to be able to answer any questions on utensils and the calligraphy and the flowers," she said.

The ceremony is often referred to as Chado, or "The Way of Tea."

"It's a spiritual thing," Mrs. Schurko said.

Chado has close ties to Zen Buddhism and embodies harmony, respect, purity and tranquility. Its rituals, precise movements and slow pace is considered a form of meditation.

"The act of cleaning isn't spraying on a little Pledge," Mrs. Schurko told the students, explaining that Mrs. Motoyama uses a painted silk cloth to clean the bowls and tea utensils.

Tea was introduced into Japan from China by a Buddhist monk in the ninth century. Another monk, during the 12th century, began the style of tea preparation that Mrs. Motoyama demonstrated -- pouring hot water over matcha and whisking it together. The tea was first used in Buddhist monasteries for religious rituals before eventually making its way, by the 16th century, to all levels of Japanese society. A traditional tea ceremony is usually held only a few times a year and may be used to celebrate a wedding, a new year, funeral or a new moon.

Tea ceremonies differ from country to country.

"I once observed [a tea ceremony] when I was at a Chinese hotel. It was completely different. Even though the source for everything came from China, [other countries] have all gone off in their different directions and reflect their cultures," Mrs. Schurko said.

Tea can be served thick or thin. Each guest gets a bowl of thin tea. Thick tea, which has a consistency "like honey," is shared in one bowl. To show the students how to properly make, receive and drink a bowl of tea, Mrs. Motoyama served Mrs. Schurko a bowl of thick tea.

Mrs. Motoyama "purified" her instrumentsby using a pink silk cloth that was carefully folded and delicately touched to the item she was purifying. After adding the matcha to a bowl, she used a bamboo whisk to stir the water and tea together until a froth formed on top. Each movement, whether purifying, pouring or whisking, was carefully made.

"It's like dancing with your hands," Mrs. Motoyama said.

As with making the tea, drinking the tea comes with its own set of rules -- apologizing to your neighbor for drinking first, turning the bowl twice clockwise before drinking and politely slurping the last sip.

The women warned the students that most people dislike the tea when first tasting it.

"It's not really Lipton. It's going to be a little stronger," Mrs. Schurko said.

The students, however, had positive things to say.

Alex Dattilo, 14, of Brookline, said he liked the texture.

"It was more pasty than liquid," he said.

Megan Jones, 15, of Beechview, said the tea was "bitter at first but good at the end."

And it had the intended effect. She said she wants to learn more about Japanese culture and the ceremony was "very calming."

For more information about taking a tea class, which costs $10, e-mail Mrs. Motoyama at yokohm@comcast.net.

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