How I came to love the matcha latte from Starbucks

So I lived in Japan a complete lifetime ago.....yet bizarrely that short lived experience shaped the very essence of who I became. 

I literally jumped into it at 18 years old…..no research…..no language training……no clue, just a desire to see a world I had only dreamed of.  And what I received was beyond the imagination.  I learned Japanese.   A whole other language for Pete’s sake!  It was a rather desperate situation as my host family understood limited English and I had to clarify a few things like my aversion to fried grasshoppers, bee larvae and eating all things buggy; octopus and squid on a stick (at first); sharing bath time with the kids and how to say sorry over dropping my chopsticks ten times at every meal.  Apparently it’s bad luck. Yikes!

The culture I encountered was, and has been, such a source of inspiration.  I briefly took classes in “ikebana”, flower arranging.  Apparently I was the worst arranger that my extremely patient teacher had ever taught and with a great deal of relief, she passed me on to the instructor of chanoyu, the Japanese tea ceremony. 

"Ichigo, Ichie" literally translated to "One encounter, one chance" Ichigo-Ichie means that every encounter with someone, even a friend whom you see often, should be treated as if it were a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. (As if today were the last time you might meet) This is the underlying philosophy of the Japanese tea ceremony and the lessons that changed my life.

I learned how to do ballet with my hands.  Every move, every softly spoken word and action had specific meaning.  I learned how to celebrate silence.  I learned how to honor the perfection of a hand crafted tea vessel, it’s history and story.  I attended an awe inspiring event in Kyoto during the only week that cherry blossoms bloom and under such a tree, witnessed a chanoyu master offer his art.

And importantly, I became enamored of matcha tea lattes from Starbucks!  I’m guessing not too many people enjoy the bitter sweet taste of matcha tea.  Thank you Japan!

To make a really long story slightly shorter, there is no time like the present to do a lot of living.  There is an adventure around every corner.