Taiwan Oolongs Study Tour (TOST) is an intensive week long tea sojourn, which includes visit Taiwan’s tea gardens, factories, museums, tea-houses, farms and farmers, scientists, and tea enthusiasts alike. Every possible minute is packed with educational tea information.
This year is the 4th year of our TOST program and to be organized by Taiwan Tea Institute with the assistance from the Taiwan Tea Manufacturers' Association (TTMA) and the Tea Research & Extension Station (TRES). This year, besides our instructor Master Steve Huang will guide our members hands on tea making, we also have two volunteers from Tea Talks Group, Tommy and Sunny Tang, so nice to be in our staff and work closely with Josephine and myself.
On our Opening Ceremony night, we have the great honor to have the following guests and friends to be there to support us:
Norman Shu, the Chairman of TTMA;
Jackson Huang, senior adviser to TTMA and Taiwan Tea Institute;
CS Lou, senior advisor to TTMA and Taiwan Tea Institute;
Professor Lynn Lin, adviser to Taiwan Tea Institute;
Ambassador Rex Wang, Taiwan's former Ambassador to Switzerland
These are 2011 TOST members:
Lisa Baughman - Take Thyme Today, LLC
Danielle Beaudette - The Cozy Tea Cart
John Benson - Song Dynasty, LLC
Lynn Benson - Song Dynasty, LLC
Jean Chu
Phillys Chu
Jeni Dodd
Kirsten Kristensen - Tea4U
Michael Lannier - TeaSource
Jeannie Liu - Miro Tea
Linda Louie - Bana Tea Company
Shane Marrs
Maurice Sardella - The G.S. Haly Company
Angela Strach-Gottardt - Secret tea Society
Paula Winchester - Twelve Winds Tea Company
During the ceremony, Norman also presents on behalf of TTMA, a plaque of appreciation to Kirsten for her publishing "The World of Tea, Focus on Taiwan" (based on her trip study of 2009 TOST). The magazine now often used by TTMA as an introduction of Taiwan tea and culture to foreign visitors.
The evening happily concluded with a birthday cake cutting. It is a good day to open our 2011 TOST program alright, as it happens to be Josephine's forever 38 birthday.
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