So this is a bit of a story. I’m having my usual cup of this at the office, relaxing and trying not to be seriously angry over the crap that’s going on. Long story short – morning meeting that would have let me have an afternoon back is now “MAYBE” going to be reshcedule to “sometime” this afternoon and they’ll let me know “sometime” whether it will be or not. So basically i’m sitting at the office, with not much to do waiting for a meeting which may or may not happen…which may or may not make my entire time spent sitting here a waste of time. So i’m annoyed.
So i tried to change my thinking while sipping on this tea and I realised that whatever ends up happening, i have some great moments from my trip here. So i should stop being annoyed and be greatful for the time that i DID get out and the stories shared. Above all else, i have one friend here in China now. I can’t explain it, but there is one woman here with whom we seem to have made a connection. Her english isn’t the best but we managed to laugh and have a great time. And yesterday? Yesterday this happened..
My friend is also here on business – she lives in another area of china, that is a 2 hour flight away. Yesterday she called me out of the room and began to tell me a story. A story about how she was so sorry. How she couldn’t do more. (yes i was confused). She looked at me expectantly and began to tell me that in china, you cannot courier tea. And so she was sorry. She knows that i love tea and she drinks Pu-erh everyday at home. And she was so very sorry. She went on to tell me that she called her friend in Guanzao and had her send a single cake of pu-erh. She could only have 1 sent as a “document” and apologised another 12 times for this. When i realised what she was telling me i nearly cried. She had gone out of her way, to have her friend back home courier a single puerh cake as a “document” so that she could share “her” tea with me. Inside the small bag that she handed me was both the puerh cake and a beautiful pick. There will be pictures eventually but i was floored. How wonderful a gift to have shared with me. That moment alone was well worth the late nights and hours of work that i’ve put in while here.
And so i’m smiling. Drinking my loashan black and thinking about my tea from Ocean. I’ve promised to send her a note when i get back and can try it, to let her know what i think. How wonderful it is to have tea to bring people together.
