Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Taking Tea With The Master

Great Tea Master Chae Won-hwa

I've been focusing on far too many little things this month and completely forgot to urge you to rush out and snatch a copy of the May edition of 10 Magazine (though it's probably too late now, unless you plead with them for a back issue). I was fortunate enough to snag the cover story (The Way Of Tea) and a chance to interview Brother Anthony of Taizé.

In my delightful chat with Brother Anthony he talked about the Great Tea Master Chae Won-hwa and with the Tea Gods smiling down upon me I was given the chance to meet her a few weeks later at her studio in Insadong.

I spent a couple of hours in the company of Master Chae and two of her students. We sat cross-legged on the floor of the small room where she teaches The Way Of Tea and talked about her life, her passions and about tea itself. It was a wonderful experience and a meeting that I'll remember for a very long time to come.

Here's just a few shots from my time with Master Chae, if you ever get a chance to meet her then be prepared for intelligent passionate conversation and a magnificent cup of Panyaro tea.

Great Tea Master Chae Won-hwa

Great Tea Master Chae Won-hwa

Great Tea Master Chae Won-hwa

Great Tea Master Chae Won-hwa

Great Tea Master Chae Won-hwa

4 comments:

JIW said...

Where can one get 10 Magazine...casually? Without trekking to the Itaewon area.

Paul Ajosshi said...

Hmm... They're available at some of the places listed here (http://www.10mag.com/about/find-10-magazine/), but they are mainly Itaewon based.

My advice would be to head to one of the global village centers nearest to you and pick up a copy (at least the Itaewon Global Village Center and the City Hall Center usually have 10 Magazine in stock). There are several global village centers around Seoul, you can find more info here: http://english.seoul.go.kr/lh/support/scof2.php

Anonymous said...

Do you know if its possible to take a class with the Master of Tea? Do you know of the times, cost, process (if any) needed to learn?

Paul Ajosshi said...

Good question Anonymous,

Your best bet is to email the Panyaro Institute for the Way of Tea at panyaro@naver.com.

You can also try calling them on 02 763 8486. Classes are normally on Saturdays as far as I know and students tend to study over a fairly long period of time (a year or so). I hope that helps.