might send them a text and say hey you
want to go out for coffee or do you want
to get a beer later tonight and maybe
some of you even say would you like to
come over for morning tea tea plays a
significant role in various cultures it
is used both formal and social events as
you can see here there are three very
different teapots tonight they represent
three diverse cultures Aboriginal
Australian Western cultures and Japanese
each of these pots are different in
shape and size they’ve been created
differently they boil different types of
tea leaves and brew different tastes but
at the end of this process we still find
ourselves holding a cup of tea tea is
kind of like I suggest you could say we
have different worldviews we have
different upbringings different cultures
and different opinions but just like
with a teapot we are all still human
we’re all trying to coexist and we’re
all try to find the perfect brew did you
know that there are over three thousand
varieties of tea taking this into
consideration we can safely assume these
three thousand varieties or taste
different and it’s fair to say not
everyone is going to like the same tea
this is very similar to our world which
has a variety of rich cultures but we
live in a world literally battling to
accept difference our own differences
and those who are different to us civil
wars ethnic cleansing racism genocide
and stereotypes unfortunately our
history is testament to our inability to
accept those who are different to us and
sometimes our differences can clash and
we can find it difficult to maintain
friendships if we look at this problem
on a wide scale of things if we refuse
to create these friendships then our
future will continue to
Peter past but I have the solution and
the solution lies it in three diverse
teapots perhaps if we took the time to
share three cups of tea with someone we
could get to know them a little bit
better and maybe even prevent the paths
from repeating itself so let’s create a
tea drinking revolution this will create
friendships that unify us not segregate
us and this can work if we can
understand and apply the idea that three
cups of tea can create the framework for
a unified future I like you all to think
about your first cup of tea with someone
this is your first introduction what’s
your name where’d you come from what do
you do for work and it’s a little bit
awkward I mean we shake hands and we
might sit in silence and we make a
little bit of small talk and we probably
use this time to carefully observe one
another but we’re probably pretty shy so
we probably so most of our time looking
in our teacups our accents and
appearance may be a bit different and we
move we will need to listen carefully to
what each other is saying but it’s okay
if we ask each other to repeat ourselves
once or twice this is the time where we
need to get used to the tune of each
other’s voices and maybe we might reveal
one thing about ourselves and then you
have your second cup of tea we now start
this cup of tea knowing just a little
about each other we invited to sit down
and we may pass each other smile across
our teacups we know how you like your
tea and we’re more friendly with each
other our accents are being heard better
the tunes of our voices are becoming
familiar we may not discuss the deep
stuff yet but we are slowly drinking
way there and then finally comes our
third cup of tea we start this cup of
tea in knowing even more about each
other when we see each other we embrace
oh it’s so good to see you how have you
been and we know how the other person
likes their tea like the palm of our
hands and we know about their family and
we spent time together laughing and
sharing stories and now our accents are
easily understood we know the tunes of
each other’s voices and we are relaxed
in this atmosphere three cups of tea
that’s all it could take to unite the
nations but although we can drink tea
and although we can spend time creating
friendships there are some things we
need to consider while doing this I
guess you could say it’s kind of like
the milk and sugar we put in our tea
it’s to make the experience a little
more pleasurable just as we drank three
cups of tea there are the three steps
and the first step is to observe when
you enter this space I want you to
answer it with an open mind don’t judge
the differences you are about to
encounter but look at them with an open
and caring hearts expect the person you
meet to be a little bit different to you
but you will also be different to them
and maybe at first this difference will
be difficult to understand but do not
fear what you don’t understand observe
with willing eyes find your similarities
and take the time to learn about each
other’s differences the second step is
to listen take the time to share and
listen to your experiences with each
other this time of listening and sharing
is a crucial step in developing an
awareness of differences but I want you
to remember something you are not the
master when it comes to another person’s
difference they are the masters of their
own difference
they know who they are and where they
come from you don’t yes and in fact you
may be pleasantly surprised for the
story you hear it may not be too
dissimilar to your own and then comes
our last step which is to interact
gently and respectfully ask each other
questions make compromises about what is
appropriate in your friendship and what
is not appropriate keep the space around
the teacup safe with no judgement speak
with a neutral tone and perhaps you
might even review your own point of view
but remember the objective of this
interaction is to get to know each other
it’s not to take on each other’s beliefs
it’s about sharing stories and you know
some of us we might need more than three
cups of tea and it might not even be to
you could be something completely
different I promise you the end result
of this entire interaction is more than
just a full bladder it is a deeper
understanding of someone it’s an
opportunity to understand yourself a
little better is to learn each other
stories but find yourself at the
beginning of a beautiful new friendship
it only takes three cups of tea to unite
the nation’s tea is made all around the
globe those two fat ace it is brewed
differently poor differently presented
in different styles but it’s still a cup
of tea we are all like tea we have
different upbringing upbringing
different cultures different opinions
different world views but we’re all
still human were all China coexist all
trying to find the perfect brew and so I
have one question for you who are you
going to have three cups of tea with thank you very much