A young woman pours tea during a tea ceremony.
© Fang-Yun Lo
22. Nov 2019

Teatime: Stories about East Asia

Have a cup of tea with us!

Several thousand people with roots in East and Southeast Asia live in Dresden. They have all found a new home in Dresden or are already living in the city in the second or third generation. Behind the very general origin "East Asia" there are many different origins, but also different ways of life that led to Dresden: from former GDR guest workers and their children to fugitives, from students to scientists and artists. A good part of German, especially East German history is also reflected here.

In "Teestunde: Geschichten zu Ostasien" ("Tea Hour: Stories about East Asia"), there is an opportunity to engage in direct dialogue with six Dresden citizens with roots in Vietnam, China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. On the basis of the most beautiful Asian cliché – the ritual of drinking tea – the hosts invite for the duration of a common cup of tea to a very personal exchange. In each case up to five guests sit thereby with a host in each case at a table, and share a hot drink. Here personal stories can be exchanged, clichés can be questioned, and urgent questions can be answered not only to tea. How to deal with "Asian" clichés, how to deal with experiences of violence and exclusion, what does home mean, where is one "at home", how does it live between two (or more) cultures, and how is one's own relationship to these roots? The counter-question is also allowed: where did you move from, from which German city or country do you come, and what is your relationship to it?

Like in a speed dating, the signal to change tables is given after 10 minutes – within an hour you can get to know all six hosts one after the other. Of course, you are also welcome to return to a table and ask further questions!