Relax! It Might Not Be An Expat Thing

by Michelle Garrett

Perhaps it was the very specific Northern Mother-in-Law who first instilled the fear of tea in me. If she were in a good mood I would get lots of jokes about an American’s inability to make a cup of tea, or if she were in a bad mood it would be ‘just let me do it.’ I learned from her that there are as many ways to make a cup of tea as there are tea drinkers and so I understood early on in my expat life that offering to make a cup of tea for a British person I was in a no-win situation.

Or maybe it’s just me. Not all Americans have this fear (or inability) or perhaps some expats are just thick skinned. There is some value in a thick skin, as an expat anyway (I think the proper term for it is ‘emotional resilience’: the strength to deal with the howling gales of frustrations in your new life without becoming ripped apart).

I asked my friend Julia, another American to see if I were alone. Julia lives in London and blogs at I Carried a Watermelon.

“I know what you mean. James (her British husband) always tells me my tea is crap. I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING WRONG! And now I have a complex about it. We need to start a club.”

Then I wondered what a British Expat in the States did to survive being surrounded by people who grew up without ever making a pot of tea. I asked Toni, fellow Expat Focus columnist and blogger at Expat Mum.

“I never thought about how stressful it must be making tea for Brits in the UK. My kids can now make a decent cup of tea.

They used to barely dunk the tea bag in the water, so I showed them what a real cup of tea should be. My 18 year old now takes a PG Tips teabag to school every day for lunchtime!”

So at least Toni can train her family, which helps...

Read More