by Mars
A
regular day serving tea
As soon as we spotted the FREE TEA sign, Chris
and I smiled at each other, then raced towards the school bus parked
across the street. Could this be some sort of joke? Curious, we took a
peek inside: there was a library, a kitchen, a bed, and a very diverse
group of smiley, tea-drinking strangers. Turns out this was CouchSurfer
Guisepi Spadafora's
cozy little home.
A self-claimed hobo and social adventrepreneur, Guisepi is the man
behind the Free Tea Party, a non-profit that cultivates community
through the serving of free tea. For him, tea parties are a way to
bring people
of different ages, backgrounds and beliefs together - much like
CouchSurfing!
Smiley
strangers inside
The beauty of living and serving out of a vehicle is that my living
room can be anywhere.
CS:
When did you start exploring the world of tea?
Guisepi: I wasn't that much a fan of tea when I started serving it. The
connections that tea created between people, the shedding of
outside worries, the warmth, the beautiful simplicity of it, that's
what drew me towards it. I didn't even realize that it was going to do this
when I started. It wasn't until a couple years after my first tea
serving experiences that I started reading books on tea and herbs, got
into the culture of tea, looked up the medicinal properties of
different herbs, and began to see the free tea party as an almost
universal happening.
CS: Could you tell us a little about
the "way of tea"?
Guisepi: I believe that tea is not only a drink, but a way of life too.
Kakuzo
Okakura, author of one of the most essential pieces of literature on
tea - The Book of Tea - would call this Teaism or The Way of Tea.
Teaism to me is finding greatness in small things, beauty in
imperfection, efficiency in slowing down, focus and patience in
practice, and poetry in ordinariness.
Strangers
share music and stories in a tea party
CS: What does one need to host
a tea party?
Guisepi: Sixteenth century tea master Sen no Rikyu says, "Tea is naught
but this:
First you boil the water, then you make the tea, and then you drink
it." Coming from the father of the modern Japanese tea ceremony, which
seems so strict and formal to outsiders, this may seem like a surprise.
But the truth of the matter is that tea can be made and served by
anyone. I encourage anyone and everyone to experience the magic of
serving free tea, especially to strangers.
CS: Who's the most interesting stranger you've ever picked up on your
tea bus?
Guisepi: People are always asking about interesting people. There have
been the
folks who are interesting because they are different - like the guy who
was blue (like Shiva incarnated), the guy with a house on his head, the
crackhead who sang as good as Al Green. But, the truth is that those
who tend to be the most interesting are the average looking folks who
open up and share truths about themselves that they rarely or never
share with anyone else.
An
interesting passenger
CS: What’s the most amazing place you
have ever parked in?
Guisepi: The beauty of living and serving out of a vehicle is
that my living room - the one that people get to sit in and enjoy tea -
can be anywhere. It can be the edge of the ocean, on the side of a
mountain, on a dreary gray cracked sidewalk. Some of the most amazing
places have been high up on Mt. Shasta, on the side of Pacific Ocean in
Shelter Cove, CA, on the Walk of Stars on Hollywood Blvd.
CS: Do you CouchSurf much? How are the Free Tea Party and CouchSurfing
connected?
Guisepi: Because I’m often on the road and in properties and houses of
folks I
already know, I tend to CouchSurf in an informal way. CouchSurfing and
the Free Tea Party connect in one of the most important aspects of
social and environmental change: community. When the tea bus pulls up
to a sidewalk, event, or park and serves tea, it’s doing the same thing
as when CouchSurfing brings together a surfer and a host.
To learn more, check out the very resourceful Free
Tea Party
website.
