Another Interesting Tea Story

A short while ago, I signed on for an interesting opportunity called "The Great Interview Experiment." Neil Kramer at www.citizenofthemonth.com came up with this great idea to have bloggers interview other bloggers. It sounded like fun, so I jumped at the opportunity. I signed on in the comments and received some questions from the person who commented prior to me.

I am still in the process of coming up with questions for my interview of the person who commented after me, but wanted to share one of my answers to a question that Leah at www.ciboulette.blogspot.com had asked. She will be posting the answers to all my questions on her blog in the near future, so be sure to check out her blog. (She's also an English teacher, so it made me wish that I could interview her as well - perhaps she'll let me anyway.)

Leah's first question referred to my recent post on tea at Buckingham Palace. She asked if I had any other great stories involving tea. Indeed, I do.

While I was living in London and attending that Salvation Army corps, I met a young Salvationist couple from New Zealand. I was thrilled to meet Andrew and Lynley Stuart and to hear what brought them to London. They were taking a year and travelling the world (apparently a trend with young marrieds in New Zealand at that time). They rented a small flat in the London area for about six months, purchased a small van and secured odd jobs here and there. During that time, they invited me for tea.

Being an American, I wasn't sure exactly what they were inviting me for, so I asked for clarification. Sometimes, people are referring to a cup of tea and a few biscuits (high tea), but sometimes they are referring to a meal (the evening dinner). In this case, Andrew and Lynley were inviting me for dinner. I had a fabulous time and remember standing outside with Andrew waiting for a bus and having great conversation. I also remember thinking, "That is what I have to do when I get married - take a year-long honeymoon and travel all around the world." (This was obviously before I met my travel-loathing husband.)

We got together a few more times and then they headed off for their next destination. I assumed I would probably never see them again.

I returned to the States in April of 1988 and that fall began graduate school at the University of Illinois. As a break from my studies, I decided to take a weekend trip down to Wilmore, Kentucky, to visit my brother and sister. We had a great time and ended our weekend by attending the Lexington Salvation Army corps. I was surprised to meet another pair of one-time visitors - Andrew and Lynley!

We almost shrieked out loud. The reunion was so unexpected. The pastor (corps officer) there took us all out for lunch and I enjoyed introducing them to my siblings. They filled me in on more of their travels. Sadly, they had travelled through Europe without complication and the first day they arrived in the United States, they had all their gear (including their trip photos) stolen at the airport. It was really incredible to see them again.

I haven't seen or spoken with them since. Still, it was a lovely coincidence - an American meeting a couple of Kiwi's (this is what New Zealanders call themselves) in England and then parting, only to meet up again on the one single day that found all of us in Lexington, Kentucky.