Darjeeling to Gangtok

Stopped @ a picturesque Tea Plantation en route to Sikkim ...from Darjeeling

TEA CULTURE

Different Tea Cultures & Ceremonies

CULTURAL DIPLOMACY THROUGH TEA

Another way of interpreting culture is through tea ceremony and brewing of tea. There are different tea cultures and tea ceremonies in the world. In the village in Mie, I started the process of connecting with people through tea parties.

 In my first month, I realized that the only way to break the ice and bridge cultural differences would be by inviting people over for tea. My informal tea parties became quite famous and by the end of my tenure there, my team teachers also started preferring to discuss lesson plans over a piping hot cup of tea with some delicious chocolate cookies.

In Chicago as well, my mother and I encouraged cultural interaction between people and demonstrated fine traits of cultural diplomacy at it’s best over endless cups of tea. Tea parties are the best way to connect closely with people and understand them and their tea culture. The relaxed atmosphere combined with the rich aroma of hot tea somehow makes people feel at ease and erases the reservations one may have had with each other in terms of culture or related to work. Something as simple as tea brings people closer.

Whenever I’m travelling, I always carry tea bags, sugar and dairy whitener with me along with some mouth-watering goodies like chocolate brownies. I host small tea parties wherever I travel to. A conversation over a cup of tea makes the trip more interesting and enhances one’s knowledge about other cultures. This helps to weave a beautiful friendship with people I meet on my journey.  Sometimes I am offered tea at the shops I visit when I'm travelling. Tea really works wonders... 

From the JET Conferences in Tokyo to the visit to Ladakh and Rajasthan, tea has helped me to convert the initial formalities into long lasting friendships. A tea ceremony also provides a platter of knowledge regarding culture. It deepens cultural interpretation too. Such is the power of tea. Tea ceremony gives an insight in to the culture and the different tastes as well as methods of making tea and tea ceremony customs. Every week I’d readily accept invitation to a Japanese Tea Ceremony. It introduced me to various Japanese Tea Ceremony etiquettes. I learnt a lot about their culture through the formal tea ceremony where ladies dressed in kimonos would get together to perform the traditional elaborate ritual. In the beginning, I did feel a bit intimidated by the formality of the tea ceremony and was afraid that I may not remember the sequence in performing this ceremony….But gradually I started enjoying the quietness in which the Japanese Tea Ceremony was conducted and the various etiquettes it included. I actually started looking forward to the serenity of the atmosphere the Japanese tea ceremony offered in the form of the sound of boiling water or the quiet conversation and whispering that accompanied it while waiting for the tea to be brewed. Such occasions helped me bond with people and gave me an opportunity to inform them about my culture too.The tea ceremony proved to be the best way for effective cultural interaction.  

 I still fondly remember the time when the Principal of the School and I would have interesting long conversations on both cultures over green tea. That was the best way to promote cultural exchange. The other foreign teachers from nearby villages and I would also normally enjoy endless cultural talks over tea. In winter, we’d also add more charm to our small, intimate tea parties by sitting under the cosy blanket of a ‘kotatsu’ table ( a table with an electric heater attached underneath it and a quilt over it that surrounds all sides) while sipping Indian or Japanese tea with spicy hot French toasts.