Hi ! I’m Fiona and I’m assistant manager #19!
After some unexpected delays in my arrival, I’m very exited to have finally made it to Japan. From Spring to the end to December I’ll get to experience all seasons of tea here at Obubu, but I’ll also get to experience Japan for the first time.
I fell into tea a few years ago during my time at university, through a friend, Jean, that was actually previous Obubu intern #107 and also AM #2! . After finishing my degrees in agriculture & in traditional food products I joined the main office of a French tea company where I got to learn a lot from the tea buyers. However, I’m someone who really enjoys working very hands on with the product, and I’m always up for a new challenge.
So, I packed a bit too much and flew to Japan to learn more about tea, but also to experience directly what it is like to help manage a company that balances hospitality, farming, food processing, intern coordination, retail and wholesale. Everyday is a new challenge, but is also truly fulfilling. And being surrounded by such inspiring people, may they be interns, AMs, staff and even guests, means that I am not only learning professionally, but also as a person.
A few highlights of spring
- Learning how to farm in a different way
- My father is a cereals farmer back in Normandy, France where I grew up, and since 2016 I’ve helped him during the harvest nearly every summer. Here farming is very different, the terrains make it so that we have to be less mechanised and more manual. The teaching of Miwako-san and Akky-san make us work on the precision and dedication such farming requires.
- Experiencing my first Sakura season
- Needless to say, it is absolutely stunning, especially when you get to experience it with amazing co AMs and interns! If you are up for a hike I do recommend doing up Mount Yoshino during this period
- Discovering and learning more about tea every day
- Through the knowledge of our very knowledgeable staff, or the many resources available to us, the many different worlds of tea are starting to open up to me. There is still so much more to learn, but everyday brings a new taste or fact that I’ll never get tired of.
Special mention to many amazing tea tour guests, the beautiful lush green of the spring new shots, pizza nights, Wazuka hand picking & hand rolling event, beautiful Miyajima Island and many post work tea drinking session.
Special special mention to having one of my dearest friends, and previous AM, Alix, come and visit us during spring. When we met nearly 10 years ago, I don’t think either of us was expecting to ever work on a tea farm in Japan, much less to get to harvest and process tea together!
New and exciting things to come:
- Slot 2 interns arrived at the farm and nearly left by the time it took me to write this blog, new opportunities to learn and get to know people from all around the world brought together by their love or budding interest in tea
- A first experience for a more of hot and humid Japanese summer.
- More trips to come to discovers new parts of Japan
