When Traditions Become Trendy
When I was living in Japan, there was a distinct dichotomy between the old and the young, tradition vs. modernization. I was aware of it, because it the country was so foreign to me. While the older era tried to preserve Japanese tradition, the younger ones headed to Starbucks, looking for a taste of western life in a take out cup.
Being Canadian, I grew up in an eclectic culture, where race and tradition depends on the family you were born into; the city you were raised in. Changes happen all the time and we’re constantly influenced by the melting pot of our society. Japanese people had a difficult time grasping the diversity of our country. Yet, with young high school girls forcing out the natural black of the hair, to become blondes, they had to accept the integration of other cultures into their own. But it wasn’t a smooth transition; they needed to understand how it worked. My students asked, how was it possible to be related to someone, who looks nothing like you? How could a mother be a red head, and you, a brunette? Not to mention eating habits. They were astonished to learn that although I was not Asian I ate tofu and knew how to use chopsticks. “Ahh so?!!”, they’d say in amazement, desperately trying to imagine how part of the their daily life had become a norm in the western world.
If only they knew. The other day, at Blenz Coffee House, I did a double take, at the newest drink sensation. In a funky font, lime green and white writing, a sign read “Whatcha Matcha”. To anyone who has never been to Japan, it probably sounds like nonsense lingo, but Matcha was very significant to me. It’s a Japanese tea made from the finest leaves on the first day of harvesting. Perhaps more importantly, it is the key ingredient in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. There is a delicate process in preparing the tea, and Japanese women learn how to make it for special gatherings. I was fortunate to learn it from one of my older students. I learned it because the history of it was interesting to me. It was so different than my Eastern European background.
I chuckled. In Japan, mothers had to practically force their daughters to learn this tradition in hopes to keep the experience alive. Meanwhile, the Japanese girls (who were shortening their kimonos so that they became “mini skirts”) were more interested in ordering “Carmel Machiattos”.
I stood there, holding the Chai I had just ordered, looking at the “Whatcha Matcha” sign, listening to another person order a “London Fog”, and I thought. Here we were, surrounded by traditions of other cultures, hoping to make them our own. I sipped my spicy Chai, doubting that the first ancestors of India intended this tea to be trendy. But it is. I also thought about my students in Japan, the older ones who were so excited to have me as an audience as I was eager to learn about the Japanese culture. And my younger students, who were my audience, and eager to learn about the western culture. Ironically, if I were to go back to Japan today I’d have to tell them, well… there is this new, really, cool tea we drink called Matcha, ever heard of it?
© Desiree Daniel March 28, 2005
Being Canadian, I grew up in an eclectic culture, where race and tradition depends on the family you were born into; the city you were raised in. Changes happen all the time and we’re constantly influenced by the melting pot of our society. Japanese people had a difficult time grasping the diversity of our country. Yet, with young high school girls forcing out the natural black of the hair, to become blondes, they had to accept the integration of other cultures into their own. But it wasn’t a smooth transition; they needed to understand how it worked. My students asked, how was it possible to be related to someone, who looks nothing like you? How could a mother be a red head, and you, a brunette? Not to mention eating habits. They were astonished to learn that although I was not Asian I ate tofu and knew how to use chopsticks. “Ahh so?!!”, they’d say in amazement, desperately trying to imagine how part of the their daily life had become a norm in the western world.
If only they knew. The other day, at Blenz Coffee House, I did a double take, at the newest drink sensation. In a funky font, lime green and white writing, a sign read “Whatcha Matcha”. To anyone who has never been to Japan, it probably sounds like nonsense lingo, but Matcha was very significant to me. It’s a Japanese tea made from the finest leaves on the first day of harvesting. Perhaps more importantly, it is the key ingredient in the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. There is a delicate process in preparing the tea, and Japanese women learn how to make it for special gatherings. I was fortunate to learn it from one of my older students. I learned it because the history of it was interesting to me. It was so different than my Eastern European background.
I chuckled. In Japan, mothers had to practically force their daughters to learn this tradition in hopes to keep the experience alive. Meanwhile, the Japanese girls (who were shortening their kimonos so that they became “mini skirts”) were more interested in ordering “Carmel Machiattos”.
I stood there, holding the Chai I had just ordered, looking at the “Whatcha Matcha” sign, listening to another person order a “London Fog”, and I thought. Here we were, surrounded by traditions of other cultures, hoping to make them our own. I sipped my spicy Chai, doubting that the first ancestors of India intended this tea to be trendy. But it is. I also thought about my students in Japan, the older ones who were so excited to have me as an audience as I was eager to learn about the Japanese culture. And my younger students, who were my audience, and eager to learn about the western culture. Ironically, if I were to go back to Japan today I’d have to tell them, well… there is this new, really, cool tea we drink called Matcha, ever heard of it?
© Desiree Daniel March 28, 2005
posted by Desiree Daniel @ 4:39 PM
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