Drinking Green Tea Among the Hibernians in Danbury

If you live in New York City, you’re probably looking for some day trips to get out into the countryside. I have done this myself and I remember one time I ended up in the town of Danbury, Connecticut. It is not big and seemed to be full of Irish people, judging by the large parade they were holding that day and all the flyers proclaiming the marchers were part of the ancient order of the Hibernians.

Danbury, Connecticut town centerI don’t really know what was going on exactly. I had simply gotten up that morning, made myself a large thermos full of green tea and got in my car to drive in one direction. I just kept driving and went through a bunch of towns until I stumbled onto this one, where the parade was being held. I got out of my car and walked around a bit, watching the Irish parade and talking to some people.

I met a beautiful red haired Irish girl who came up and talked to me because she was curious about my tea. See, the thermos I use to brew my loose leaf green tea is made from clear plastic, so you can see the leaves floating in the water. This is not unusual in a country like China or Japan, but here in the US, it always gets looks and comments. Most of the time that can be a bit annoying, but when the commenter looks like this girl, I certainly have no problem with it.

I happily explained to her how I like to brew my tea, usually sencha or Dragon Well which you can buy from most online vendors, in that cup, because it means I can sip on it all day long. Once it’s empty, I simply put a few more dried leaves on top of the wet ones already in the cup and add more hot water and my second cup is ready.

Note: I recently visited Danbury again and they actually have a real tea shop now! And they have other big city things, unfortunately: a lot of break ins. This means you will start seeing more surveillance cameras around Danbury.

In return for my explaining this to her, she explained to me what exactly the ancient order of the Hibernians is and what they do and how they are connected to Ireland. It all seemed really ridiculous to me, to be honest, but she seemed to be into it so I was into it, in the hopes of getting her to soon be into me.

We talked for a few hours and watched the parade go by. Afterwards we had dinner together, before she had to go home and I had to return to the city. We have kept in touch and I often ask her questions about Irish issues, but I’ve not yet had the opportunity to return to Danbury. I definitely want to do so soon, not because I like the town or even care about it, but because of her. Even better, she has expressed an interest in coming to New York to visit me. Let’s hope that happens soon. If she does show up, I will happily prepare her as many cups of green tea as she would like and I will listen to her stories about the Danbury Hibernians as well.

This post was written by a friend and none of the opinions are my own. The girl really is beautiful, though…I’ve seen a photo.