I was wanting to post something this week, but nothing to crazy is going on so I thought I would share a little bit about one of my favorite parts about Australia so far. Sure the beautiful sites and lovely people are great, but having a morning or afternoon tea brings me a lot of joy. So, I guess that seems kind of strange for me to be so jazzed about some black tea, but the best part is, having a morning or afternoon "tea" has very little to do with tea and everything to do with eating and chatting with friends. Let me give you an example.
During my first week at Byron, Steve mentioned in the morning on our drive to work that a recently retired faculty member named Vicky was going to be stopping in for the day and he thought it would be nice if we picked up some stuff for afternoon tea. So we stopped by the local grocery store and I figured he'd pick up some tea and maybe some biscuits (cookies) to go with it. What we walked out of the store with was: a block of cheese, crackers, grapes, and a whole white cake (notice no tea was involved so far). We get in the car and finish the drive to school and I am just imagining that there is tea in the science faculty room and that we will just make due with what is there. So it gets to 11 am when the whole school goes on recess (just a 20 minute break, enough time for a snack), and Steve asks the faculty to hang around for some morning tea. Not only do we break out the goodies I mentioned before, but another teacher has brought some passion fruit cheese cake. So we sit around and chat with Vicky and her husband Mick (also a teacher at the school) and have a lovely time. I got a chance to share with all of them my experience to that point, and Vicky told us some great stories from years gone by. We feasted for the whole 20 minutes devouring the cheese, crackers, cheesecake and grapes. Oh yeah, no tea involved whatsoever...
Another time we were all called for morning tea was also during recess last week. I'm told to bring 5 dollars for morning tea. Seems a little pricey for a simple cup of black tea, but wait morning "tea" has deceived me before. So we walked into the staff room, I pay my five dollars and before me is a beautiful bevy of chocolate cake, platters of fruit, cheese, veggies, sausage rolls and so much more. There were three full tables of food for the staff of the whole school (around 60 teachers). For about 10 minutes I followed the lead of the other science faculty and completely stuffed my face with some amazing coffee cake and fruit, and then it was time for the main event. The real reason people were at the morning tea (though I was happy with the delicious food) was for the raffle. The prizes were a few bottles of wine, a week of parking in the deputy principle's car park, and having the principle of the school teach one of your lessons. The prizes started to dwindle and by no surprise I hadn't won anything, but then suddenly, "Next up, number 29!" Hey that was me! I quickly scooped up my bottle of wine and decided morning tea is the greatest thing ever. Oh yeah, also no tea at this one either.
After the first morning tea with Vicky and the Science faculty I asked Steve about what exactly the criteria for "morning tea" was, as there didn't seem to be any tea present at the gathering. He said something like, "Oh yeah, morning tea is all about cakes and cheese and delicious teats, the tea isn't so important, so long as everyone is happy and having a nice time". So there ya go, apparently if you've got tea at your "tea" that just an added bonus. At Steve's house we usually have tea or coffee for breakfast (or brekky), usually a cuppa (cup of tea) right when we get home after school, and then one immediately following dinner. I've now learned the difference between having tea and having a cuppa, and I love both because it's all about settling down, even for 10 minutes, to catch up with everyone and relax. Aussie really love the connections they make with people and sometimes you just have to share a cup of tea with each other to make that connection. I'd recommend anyone who feels stressed or busy to take 10 minutes and have a cuppa with an Aussie, it really is a wonderful time.
Cheers!
During my first week at Byron, Steve mentioned in the morning on our drive to work that a recently retired faculty member named Vicky was going to be stopping in for the day and he thought it would be nice if we picked up some stuff for afternoon tea. So we stopped by the local grocery store and I figured he'd pick up some tea and maybe some biscuits (cookies) to go with it. What we walked out of the store with was: a block of cheese, crackers, grapes, and a whole white cake (notice no tea was involved so far). We get in the car and finish the drive to school and I am just imagining that there is tea in the science faculty room and that we will just make due with what is there. So it gets to 11 am when the whole school goes on recess (just a 20 minute break, enough time for a snack), and Steve asks the faculty to hang around for some morning tea. Not only do we break out the goodies I mentioned before, but another teacher has brought some passion fruit cheese cake. So we sit around and chat with Vicky and her husband Mick (also a teacher at the school) and have a lovely time. I got a chance to share with all of them my experience to that point, and Vicky told us some great stories from years gone by. We feasted for the whole 20 minutes devouring the cheese, crackers, cheesecake and grapes. Oh yeah, no tea involved whatsoever...
Another time we were all called for morning tea was also during recess last week. I'm told to bring 5 dollars for morning tea. Seems a little pricey for a simple cup of black tea, but wait morning "tea" has deceived me before. So we walked into the staff room, I pay my five dollars and before me is a beautiful bevy of chocolate cake, platters of fruit, cheese, veggies, sausage rolls and so much more. There were three full tables of food for the staff of the whole school (around 60 teachers). For about 10 minutes I followed the lead of the other science faculty and completely stuffed my face with some amazing coffee cake and fruit, and then it was time for the main event. The real reason people were at the morning tea (though I was happy with the delicious food) was for the raffle. The prizes were a few bottles of wine, a week of parking in the deputy principle's car park, and having the principle of the school teach one of your lessons. The prizes started to dwindle and by no surprise I hadn't won anything, but then suddenly, "Next up, number 29!" Hey that was me! I quickly scooped up my bottle of wine and decided morning tea is the greatest thing ever. Oh yeah, also no tea at this one either.
After the first morning tea with Vicky and the Science faculty I asked Steve about what exactly the criteria for "morning tea" was, as there didn't seem to be any tea present at the gathering. He said something like, "Oh yeah, morning tea is all about cakes and cheese and delicious teats, the tea isn't so important, so long as everyone is happy and having a nice time". So there ya go, apparently if you've got tea at your "tea" that just an added bonus. At Steve's house we usually have tea or coffee for breakfast (or brekky), usually a cuppa (cup of tea) right when we get home after school, and then one immediately following dinner. I've now learned the difference between having tea and having a cuppa, and I love both because it's all about settling down, even for 10 minutes, to catch up with everyone and relax. Aussie really love the connections they make with people and sometimes you just have to share a cup of tea with each other to make that connection. I'd recommend anyone who feels stressed or busy to take 10 minutes and have a cuppa with an Aussie, it really is a wonderful time.
Cheers!