3) At the age of 30 you are not old at all, but today you are, not only as a dancer. How was that…read morefor you, being "old" at a relatively young age?
Form that has never ever been really difficult, because I have known right from the beginning that I would not be able to dance for the rest of my days and I have early known what I would do later on, after my dancing career. Some people wait with their decision about their future too long and fall then in a deep hole. With that was not at all the case. One of the reasons why this is just today a big problem is the fact that in former days there were also ballet roles for older people. That means that people really did needed older dancers. Unfortunately today you don't dance these roles any more.
As far as it concerns me the change was just the right thing to do.
4) For starting up such a small, fine shop you also need beside taste and style quite a lot of professional knowledge (many, very good, different, not quite common types of tea). How did you manage that, as you are coming from a complete different field of business?
Professional knowledge, that's good. There is not anything like a tea sommelier. You cannot learn that anywhere. But I always liked to drink tea, read a lot and I have got lots of specific professional experience by my work with Haas & Hass. I also used the Internet. Besides the tea suppliers also offer workshops that I certainly attend.
By also tasting all my types of tea and tea creations I know how they taste and that helps with advising my customers.
I offer 60 different types of tea, 1-2 special ones. The types of tea you also get at other shops, these are not that spectacular, but I have got my unique concept. The cominbation is crucial.
Question: Which special types of tea have you got?
"Tewje" - Milky Oolong
This unbelievable beautiful Oolong from the Fujian region in China is produced in a very work-intensive procedure. The leaves are wilted under milk vapors and after that they are bathed and roled many times in milk essences. That gives the tea an unbelievable mild and light taste, as if you laced the tea with milk.
"Matcha Tea"
According to Japanese way of production - high class green tea, grinded to powder fort he Japanese tea ceremony that has been beaten until fluffy in a Matcha bowl.
I create tea drinks with passion. I believe that it is the passion that you can also feel.
5) What would you give young people to take with them on their path of life?
It seems as if today young people don't have any guidance and orientation any more, they don't know in which direction they should go. I am going to be a mother in 19 days, that's why I cannot say what I can offer to my child. But for me it is clear that, if I watch the world around myself, discipline, regard, respect and trust simply belong to a functional living together. It can only work like that, in former days it has worked much better by applying exactly that.
Trust in children, trust in the parents - only works both ways.
The children have to make their own mistakes, this is the only way that they learn, but they also have to have the trust in their parents, that they have already been a little bit long leaving on this planet and have already seen lots of things. The parents have to have trust in the children that they should also manage things by themselves and also have to do so, in order to avoid mistakes later on.
Thank you very much for this very enlightening Interview!
