I had a great thanksgiving in Aurora, NE. What surprises me most is my room mate referred me one of her aunt's article. I am the "heroine". I always love to share my culture, especially tea. I decide to follow up some background of the tea culture in China in the coming posts. ---
It's my editor's note for the December issue of the Live Well Nebraska magazine:
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> Charlie Brown described happiness as a warm puppy. For me, happiness could be a hot cup of tea.
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> I grew up in a tea-drinking family, and the taste of hot tea still has the power to transport me home. On page ?, contributing writer Kim Carpenter traces the history of tea and its health benefits.
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> I thought I knew something about tea. Over the years, my husband and I upgraded from tea bags to tea leaves. We have special tea pots. We’ve debated the best length of time to steep various types of tea leaves.
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> Then I met Ling, a college friend of my niece. Ling is from the region of China where oolong tea originated. During our Thanksgiving celebration at my mother’s house, Ling described the tea farms around her childhood home. She talked about how tea is harvested and the history of how oolong was taken to other parts of the world. She described the differences of green and black tea.
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> And she talked about how to make tea. Throw out the first batch, she said, to get rid of the dirt and debris that is a normal part of the tea harvest. Then make a second batch from the leaves. That’s what you drink.
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> It was fascinating to hear Ling talk about tea. She spoke with deep knowledge and appreciation of this product for which her homeland is known. Could I speak as knowledgeably about Nebraska corn? I don’t think so, even though I grew up in Hamilton County, where center-pivot irrigation ensures the corn is way more than knee-high by the Fourth of July.
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> The lesson Ling offered wasn’t just about tea. It was about pride of one’s homeland.
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> I’m waiting until a special tea occasion to prepare the little pouch of oolong tea that Ling brought from China. When I make it -- according to her instructions -- I expect it will carry me in a small way toward China ... and a long ways toward my Nebraska home.
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> What is happiness to you? I wish it really were as simple as a warm puppy or a cup of hot tea.
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> In the midst of the season of joy, many of us can find it hard to be joyous. Appropriately, in this month’s issue of Live Well, contributing writer Judy Horan examines the concept of happiness.
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> Happiness is no guarantee, says Dr. Layne Prest. And once you find it, you aren’t guaranteed of keeping it. "It’s an ongoing journey," he said.
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> Read Horan’s story on p. ?. Then turn to p. ? for joke-telling tips from comedian Vic Henley. A little laughter might help smooth the journey.
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> What do you do to become and stay happy? Let’s talk about it online in the livewellnebraska.com<http://livewellnebraska.com> forums.
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> While you’re on the forums, send us your favorite healthy recipe. Content editor Ananda Spadt and I are starting a healthy recipe feature that will appear both in the magazine and on livewellnebraska.com<http://livewellnebraska.com>. On the forums, look for the Recipes topic under the Nutrition board. Submit your recipes there. We’ll select some to appear in coming issues of the magazine and on the Fitness and Nutrition section online
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> I hope you have happy and warm holidays.
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> Live well!
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