tea time

there are times in life when you step back from the situation you're in and see it as if it were a week, a month, a year, or a decade ago. it is in such a moment that i found myself sitting among 7-8 early-thirties women in a hotel room that had been converted into a makeshift classroom pouring tea. as i sat listening to the teacher discuss the characteristics of pu'er tea, i realized how weird it was that i was sitting here. not china, but here.

it started the first week of classes. ACC has about 30 teachers for 3rd year students. thus, everyday during our 1-on-1 class with a teacher we have a new teacher to work with. my first day i was with zhu laoshi. probably the nicest, most gentle, and attractive teacher at ACC. i was lucky to have her as my first 1-1 teacher. i was nervous and perspirating. she offered me a kleenex to wipe off my sweat and told me to "forget the word, nervous". the class was good. later that day there was a reception for the students and teachers to get to know each other. i saw zhu laoshi there, and we began to talk along with my roommate. she kept telling my roommate how good of a student i was and how i had a knack for correcting my own mistakes. honestly, i've never had a teacher be as enthusiastic yet gentle. she must be related to mother nature.

i blushed my way through the conversation, and eventually got to some good old talk. i told her how i always drank coffee in the states, but now that i was in china and coffee (good coffee) is quite expensive by chinese standards, i was gonna do as the romans do, and drink tea. i used the word "pin" tea (something i learned in my pomona chinese class) instead of using the word "he" (drink) tea. i explained i wanted to understand good "pin cha" which rather than "drink tea" translates better to "taste tea." much how wine connissuers "taste wine."

thus, about a week later, zhu laoshi approached me with various ideas about tea. (honestly, the teachers here really do go above and beyond, they work outside of class and really take what we say to heart). she gave me a sheet of paper with a number on it and explained that it was a class on tea. of course, i just wanted to drink tea like i drink coffee: heat, drink, chill. but out of respect for all her efforts (she had already contacted the place, let them know that a foreigner might call, and even got them to give me the first class for free) i told her i'd call.

after calling, i managed to write down the address after a long discussion about exactly which characters she meant. this is always a problem if on the phone b/c there about 100 characters for one sound. and because my vocab isn't very extensive it's kind of hard to explain which ones. anyway, i got it all settled: saturday, 130-330.


today, i woke up to a phone call from the my tea teacher ensuring i would be coming. i yawned, and asked who it was about five times, and hung up. i saw it as a good experience. practice chinese. learn something about the ancient tradition of tea. and learn a cool talent. i got to the address provided, and had no idea where i was. in front of me was a hotel that was under renovation. i called again to make sure i was in the right place, and was told to go up to the 6th floor.

so i hesistantly entered the hotel, whose interior looked much better than the exterior. on the 6th floor i walked around the hotel hallway until i found the room. inside, the room had been converted into a semi-classroom with a table. on the table was a pile of various hard-packed tea. and around the table were a bunch of chinese women staring at me as i walked in 10 minutes late. and i joined the circle.

the class was interesting but not something i was looking for. i was surprised at how much i understood, but i also realized i was out of place. it was as if i had joined a sewing circle or something. a 20-year-old male just stood out, no matter what. it didn't help that i was a foreigner. but they were all nice, and i learned the art of pouring green tea although i can't remember it now. i chatted it up with the woman next to me who worked in LA for a year with China Press, and she explained how i could get tickets for the olympics next year. i gave her my email, if she had any job openings. the teacher was really nice and spoke extremely clearly. i'm not sure if it was because i was there or if she always like that. and she really didn't mind that i said i wasn't coming back.

but in the midst of this sewing circle of two mothers of under-1-year-olds and others in their early thirties, i suddenly saw where i was for what it was. i was talking with a generation that i don't usually interact with and never really have before. they were the generation between my parents and me, they rarely cross paths with me. when i was high school they had graduated from college. when i was in college they were starting their first real job or traveling the world. i had no reason to talk to them. but here i was talking to women in that generation wondering why exactly they were here and why exactly i was here. were they housewives of rich chinese business men with nothing better to do on a saturday than go to a snobby tea tasting class or simply interested or were they learning a skill important to their lives. i was there to explore, to push myself. it was that i was specifically in china that mattered. any place that you're in you can find a environment of familiar comfort. here, it is my dorm, my room. but the knowledge that i am in china forces me to challenge myself. there is an expectation that i must experience the new, that i shouldn't be comfortable all the time, that this is a period of challenge. and thus i seek out new situations.

back home i could easily seek out a new situation to challenge myself, to help me learn, to grow. i could volunteer at a nursing home, walk around a new neighborhood, or just talk to the guy next to me on the subway. but that's home. there's no pressure to push myself. but china, reminds me that i need to explore. the dorm is nice, the colleges area is very modern. but there is so much more. the fun is in the exploration not the comfort.

so as i sat, with my these career-budding mothers sipping tea and pondering what in the world i was doing. needless to say, immediately after the class i ran to starbucks for a cup of coffee.


搔首踟蹰- to scratch one's head in great perplexity