Perhaps the very best part of a lifetime being a teacher is having made exceptional friendships along the way. Today was a banner day in that I had lunch and then tea with two of my favorite former students. Both of these remarkable adults at a point in time several decades ago showed up in my classes to play as improvisers. Adam Tobin (one of the founding SImps . . . Stanford Improvisers) is currently teaching screenwriting in the ART department at Stanford. Eva Balint is a physician who also practices and shares improvisation in her practice and with her patients.
Today I had a wonderful lunch with Adam followed by a meeting with Eva. Eva arrived with a tiny shopping bag filled with goodies from Japan. She and her husband had recently returned and she wanted to bring me a gift. In the precious little shopping bag was a glass jar filled with a wonderful Japanese spice that is used over rice or udon or as a seasoning for meat. Just seeing the tiny red and green dust of it reminded me of Japan. In addition to the spice was a box of Sakura or Cherry Blossom tea bags. It seems they harvest fresh cherry blossoms, freeze dry them (or something) and then vacuum seal them in a gold foil wrapper. Along with the tea was a box of handmade cookies with lovely designs on them. The photo at the top of this post shows how the cherry blossoms expand into the steaming tea water. What a charming and thoughtful gift.
The real gift is the special friendships I have with Adam and Eva.
Thank you both for meeting me today.
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