gaiwan use

Cowboy -

I use gaiwans all the time and find them very practical. But to do so one has to generally like bitter notes in tea because teas tend to oversteep in gaiwans a little unless you pour out. Another use I have for gaiwans is "experimental brewing" of new teas. I put tea in gaiwan and brew it there while rolling it inside with a lid and watching it steep. Watching the color of the tang and smelling the lid is also very informative - usually when the lid starts to smell the best - the tea is at its best. And the range and dynamics of tang color combined with a sip while it brews gives you a good idea of the ways this tea can be brewed. Two-three times I brew a new tea that way and I start getting a better understanding of how to brew it best. I also never use anything but white or pale celadon gaiwans (inside) for these purposes.

Sasha.

Absolutely, its all the matter of personal taste. But attaching motives is wrong. What I mean is hating the way my sauce for chicken Kiew smells is perfectly fine. Saying that its probably because I save on washing hands is not. Regards from my daughter.

Sasha.

Re-read yourself: "Roy also never just bring wenxiangbei because they confuse people who have no idea what to do with them and feel stupid"

The placement of "also" in that sentence implies that it modifies *the reason* he doesn't bring wenxiangbei, and does not mean that he "does not bring wenxiangbei in addition to not bringing teacups". Maybe if you noticed your own awkward phrasing ("Roy also never just bring" is confusing and improperly conjugated) you'd realize how confusing your writing style is. I'm aghast that you, with such a poor understanding of writing, are telling me how to interpret my own!

Don't put words in my mouth. I made no such accusation that Roy is a bad host. You just did. Do you have something against Roy?

Again, men don't wear dresses or blouses. Perhaps your comment is as sexist as you accused mine of being racist, assuming only women are clumsy enough to spill on their expensive clothes? Or am I putting words in your mouth? Gosh wouldn't that be a shame!

Look up the primary definition of "facetious." In fact, I'll do it for you:

1. not meant to be taken seriously or literally: a facetious remark.

Quite obviously, you took it seriously--your fault, not mine! You're a poor critical reader, Sasha, with a poor understanding of facetiousness, or a sour sense of humor. Or maybe you're just stubborn: even when someone tells you what they said was facetious, you still refuse to see it!

Condescending is spelled with an "o." Authentic is spelled with an "h" Sorry to be condescending about your spelling--oh wait, that was condesdcending of me! Or am I being facetious? Obviously *you* can't tell!

I never said I had a bad experience at ITC, nor did I say that I don't like them. The amount of words you'd like to shove in my mouth is appalling. It's as though you want me to hate ITC, even though I never said anything bad about them!

Don't tell me what's facetious. Facetiousness, like sarcasm, is in the intention of the author, not in the perception of his (angry, irrational, has-an-axe-to-grind) reader.

Postulating that I said something that comes off as racist is a passive way of accusing me of racism, so I'm not fooled. It's entirely unfounded. In fact, Sasha, do you even know my race?

It sounds to me like you have an axe to grind, but I refuse to be its victim.

No, Sasha, *you* tell me. You obviously wrote this response in a flash of anger, misinterpreted many of my statements, and assumed a lot about who I am and what I think of ITC.

I don't have the audacity to suggest that I know what you think, so don't you dare do that to me. If you want clarification, you can ask for it. But your assumptions and accusations are false and presumptuous, and your anger unwarranted. Hence the reason I asked how your foot tasted, Sasha, because you put your foot in your mouth by taking something seriously and reacting angrily when it was meant in jest. C.f. Definition of Facetious, above.

For the record, I had a great time at ITC. And, as I mentioned, I saw people drinking tea out of gaiwans without cups in Beijing. I'm not contesting the "authenticity" of the practice at all. I have no qualms with his teahouse's authenticity. If you read my post and see that there, it's your own invention.

I won't be responding to any more of your idiocy on this thread. I know my position on ITC, I know the facetious nature of my own words, and I don't need to justify them to someone with anger management problems and an axe to grind.

If someone made a _joke_ about "washing hands" at your dinner table, would you stab them with your knife?

Cuz that's how you responded to me.

~j

Alex Chaihorsky wrote:

Oh my God, someone stabbed poor you with the knife??!! In cases like that I usually just kick their ungrateful ass.

Sasha.

1. Funny how the more you try to wiggle out and the more awkward and chaotic half-arguments you throw around, the more it is clear that you do feel guilty. So all is not lost for you. But I especially loved the childish ending of that lengthy tantrum of yours: " I won't be responding to any more of your idiocy on this thread".

1. Your race? I know its not Chinese.

Sasha.

You know, you're right. I'd never thought of that. Gather ye gaiwans while ye may! Thanks, Jim.

Some might think I'm joking, but those who know me know I'm not.

Michael

Yup, points well taken. It's all in the spirit in which it's given. And taken. Seriously, I've spoken with Roy on the telephone, had e-mail correspondence with him in the past, but never met him. Reports coming back consistantly suggest that his staff is not knowledgable and that there are problems he ought to address in the way tea is served, and so on. We get bitey when we get angry, feathers fly, and unfortunately flying feathers sometimes land in the tea cup. Yuk. But, then on the other hand, flying feathers might taste better than some teas I've drunk lately. (No, I won't share what; no need to ruin the reputation of otherwise fine vendors.)

Say hi to your lovely daughter. She is charming. How's school going?

Michael

I use the squatty styrofoam soup cups with more of a surface area when I'm curious about the color of a tea. Another thing I find impractical about gaiwans is the smaller leaf teas like bop,ctc,fines. I drink teas by the pot(8oz+) and not shots(3oz-) which for me is the bottom line.

PS My last observation on modern China. Gaiwans and bicyles don't mix. There is a buck to be made there is someone can figure that one out besides the water bottle strapped to the frame.

Jim

Michael Plant wrote:

That's right: we know you never kid around.

This seems an appropriate time to remind the world of an idea that hasn't yet been implemented: a gaiwan that, on its outside, would use the famous artwork that graces those takeout coffee containers from Greek diners and luncheonettes, including the slogan "It is our pleasure to serve you". Sasha: the interior would of course be white.

/Lew

Lewis snipped-for-privacy@panix1.panix.com9/21/06 10: snipped-for-privacy@panix.com

But, if they were made in Japan, the interior would be black. I don't know why they do that. How about paper gaiwans? We've seen paper underwear why not paper teaware? I'm sure it could be rendered impermiable to water. Any engineers out there? Michael

Michael Plant answered:

Oh yeah, he's right. Most of my students and several of my colleagues are Chinese. They seem to have this air of vague amusement about my using gaiwans at work or speaking of brewing gongfu style at home. Most of them drink coke [speaking generically, as a Southerner] or coffee. Some might use a teabag. The most traditional put a few leaves of Chinese-grocery-store tea in a mug and microwave it.

I think they view me using a gaiwan as I would if they came to work in a suit, tie and fedora carrying a brief-case: a quaint, quasi-anthropological holdover.

Wait until my queue grows long enough to braid.

Best,

Rick.

REI has plastic, collapsible plates, bowls and cups for backpacking. Perhaps we could suggest they find someone to produce a collapsible gaiwan?

I don't suffer ridicule. I've experienced so much that I've come to enjoy it.

USENET is a particularly poor medium for transmitting humor. Sarcasm and facetiousness are not always clear, as they depend upon the comprehension of the reader. Given that many who may post on USENET in English are not native speakers and that humor differs by culture, it can be asking for trouble. Plus, humor isn't even universal within a given culture.

For example, it wasn't all that long ago, and in this very group, that someone took me to task for a perceived insult because that person took my .sig quote personally, even though it was randomly inserted by my newsreader. No direct offense was intended, and yet it was taken.

The point being that one can cause offense without intention, and one can be offended and yet miss the point.

To some degree this is correct, but it also goes the other way. I have a number of friends who are Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese... for the most part all of them readily admit I am more Asian than them. Their parents love me as the son/daughter they wish they had which I find funny. But my house, decoration, literature, and tea/teaware have turned many of them onto their past and their heritage. Which I think is great. I have a great connection to my Italian heritage and my families history and tradition, and I think that helps people stay grounded and understand themselves better. It gives people a sense of belonging and significance that is missing from the homogenized-white-bread existence that everyone shoves down our throats. I'm not Italian-American, I'm Italian... I *live* in America.

I find it is a subtle challenge to them to "Out-Asian" me. Whether to prove something to themselves, their parents, or to me I could care less, but if it gets them thinking beyond what Paris Hilton did yesterday or what the current "hawt" look is or what Starbucks tea is "the best" then my job is done and I feel great. I take some flack, always have, it is tough to not to when someone finds you are a big, tough, former hockey playing 100% Italian who follows the philosophical teachings of Taoism, that collects Yixing Teapots, enjoys Asian culture, very deep into tea, and can cook better Chinese than their moms/grandparents (an honor to me).

Your students may laugh outwardly, but I would venture to guess it has more impact than you will ever know. Even if it only affects one student, that is a great thing in my eyes.

- Dominic Drinking: Upton's Ancient Maiden Puerh

snipped-for-privacy@gwinn.us/21/06 11: snipped-for-privacy@gwinn.us

LOL, ROTFLMAO, Hehehehehehehhehe. Good one, Derek! Michael

Michael:

Here [erhem]. Technically no prob, you could even boil water in a paper pot, but ... ???

Karsten

Michael Plant wrote:

HEY! That's NOT funny!