Blog 2 - English Tea

I want to start this blog off with a picture.

I struggled writing this blog. For the past week, I either had little motivation to write or once the motivation arrived, I felt like I my writing lacked the same voice and enthusiasm as before. That was until I thought of this picture – or really the art style captured in this picture.

I set myself a deadline of 22 September (my one month anniversary of living in the UK) to publish this blog, yet as I woke up today (the morning after said deadline), the only sign of a blog was a couple hundred words of a very rough draft. I scoured nightly journals and scrolled through pictures of the last weeks, in search of some epiphany to spark the desire to write. It felt as if I needed to find some extraordinary thread tying together my recent daily happenings in order to tell a successful story of my time here.

It wasn’t until ordinary breakfast, a brief moment spent enjoying the company of housemates and friends and connecting through a shared comfortability of silence, that I realized how silly I was searching for something more than what I had in that moment. That’s when I thought of the mosaic.

Google describes a mosaic as a “pattern or image made up of small regular or irregular pieces”. Thanks Google for solidifying my hunch that a mosaic is a perfect way to describe my last few weeks and for bringing up the picture of the Kingfisher above (The Kingfisher is an elusive bird native to this area and it is my goal to see one this year). Regular and irregular moments of varying size fill my days, creating an image of my time here – an incomplete image so far because my journey is still really just beginning. Continuing with my trend of fantasy related metaphors, I feel as though I’m in my ‘Luke Skywalker just leaving Tatooine in Star Wars: A New Hope’ phase – like, wow, so much as happened and I’m meeting new people and I’m in this great transition. But also, so much MORE is to come in this story.

The great part about mosaics is that each ‘piece’ can be viewed and appreciated on its own, similar to how I value each and every one of my regular and irregular moments, even if the final image is still a mystery.

I’ll dive deeper into a couple of these moments later, but the following is a list of others from the last few weeks:

- Quite a few walks to a nearby orchard;

- Many moments spent with core members, providing care and supporting their routines;

- Two days in the garden concreting a new porch area and path;

- Being with and mourning with others after learning of the death of Queen Elizabeth;

- Hearing countless stories and thoughts of the Queen;

- Assisting in the kitchen, helping make Sunday Roast;

- Joining a Community Walk with other coworkers and volunteers from around Canterbury;

- Reading, reading, and reading (Feel free to follow me on Goodreads if you use it! My username is just my name);

- Listening, observing, and learning;

- Practicing and appreciating meditation;

- Countless conversations with coworkers, friends, and strangers;

- Working on a puzzle in my room;

- Some days of feeling settled in. Some days of feeling unsettled;

- I’ve been running twice now;

- Learning how to ball a ‘cricket ball’ (that was really just a mushy, fallen apple) from new friends;

- Looking like a fool balling a cricket ball;

- Feeling grateful while experiencing English history as a guest;

- Accompanying core members into town;

- Visiting the Canterbury Cathedral. Wow!;

- Joining a couple friends to the town of Sandwich and ate some sandwiches for dinner;

- A lot of time (yet still probably not enough) spent sitting and being with others.

(Psst: if you were wondering if I’d ever mention the topic of this blog, here it comes.)

Here, along with moments left unshared, is my mosaic so far. Some pieces larger, some pieces smaller. Some regular and seemingly mundane, while other pieces are once-in-a-lifetime. All equally valued and important. And mostly all include the drinking of, sharing of, or asking about making a cup of tea.

(Too much of a build-up?)

Now, I’ve been in the U.K. just over a month and I’ve learned a thing or two about English Breakfast tea (this is only from my experience in the house I’m living/working, I don’t mean to speak towards everyone’s opinions of tea):

1) Honestly, I’m very much in the middle of the road as to whether I like the taste or not;

2) Milk is a must; adding sugar is much more person-to-person – but those who take their tea with sugar, really like their sugar. (I prefer a splash of milk and no sugar);

3) The default is caffeinated, even when prepared in the evening;

4) Offering to make a cup of tea is a great way to offer your support for a coworker in need of a break;

5) There is always tea around; frequently residing on counter tops, desks, and coffee tables. Someone in the house, at all times of the day, is likely drinking tea;

6) Sharing a cup of tea connects us in the regular and irregular, the large and small – the pieces of our mosaic.

As much as I love the last three points, the taste really just brings the score overall down a bit – English Breakfast Tea is a solid 7.5/10.

Maybe I’ll do a English Breakfast Tea, Part 2 to see if my thoughts on the taste change. We’ll see.

Cheers

Ryan

P.S. If you want to hear any more about some of the pieces of my mosaic, feel free to reach out!

Also, today was a shorter blog because I will be writing a Newsletter in the next few days. As readers of my blog, you will all be sent a copy of my Newsletter as well. This will recap and highlight my entire journey so far. You’ll recognize some of the pictures and stories from my blog, but other will be brand new! Talk soon!