Hello, this is Nathan from TeaTime Chinese. I am writing this text, first of all to reassure you all that I am well, and secondly, to speak about things that I have been pondering for the last couple of months. A lot of things have happened in my life in the past year or two I can say, which ramifications I do not fully comprehend, and might take years for me to see, just how much I am changed by a series of events.
Apart from my personal mischiefs (which happened very soon after the Christmas of 2024), I thought I needed time to step aside TeaTime for a while, just as a painter eloigns himself from a painting so he can later come back from a fresh point of view. In a world when every app, every video on YouTube, every Tik-tok clip is shouting for attention and retention, I wonder sometimes if I was doing the same. I have always kept TeaTime away from all forms of social media probably at my own demise. I feel like in order to have a voice in the world, you need to deserve to be heard. I am no language expert, nor am I a hyperpolyglot, a journalist, I am none of these, but I also detest labels such as “podcaster”, or “youtuber” or worst of them all, “influencer”. I started TeaTime primarily because I, like everybody else, was under the Covid lockdown, and I wanted to create something. I was teaching Chinese online, and it was frustrating how it was close to impossible to find good content aimed for intermediate learners of Chinese.
I still sense the voice within myself that yearns to be heard. Instead of being an industrialist whose commerce depends on selling cars or tea or cat food, to which I am attracted but on a lesser extent, I am more inclined to spreading knowledge and ideas, and to bridge people and cultures and enable conversations. I have been a big podcast listener for the past couple of years, and some, notably the Jordan Peterson podcast, changed my life for the better. I am aware of my inadequacies in eloquence and in knowledge, and I hope that with time, the TeaTime Chinese podcast will ameliorate to the standard that I envision it to be. TeaTime has been an enormous source of joy for me, and an enriching learning experience. It was never about the money, nor about being known, though I am reassured and deeply touched every time people cite TeaTime on some language learning forums. TeaTime will live on, and the dream is to be a media company that seeks truth. In the world where a computer can in seconds generate a narrated text about any topic, we want to defend the authenticity of human conversations. I will try very hard not to fall in the trap of attention seeking or putting financial gain above the integrity of the TeaTime brand. I want it to last, and be remembered.
It always brings much joy when thinking about long-term projects. Just last week, I talked about TeaTime with some of my friends, and they all thought it was a good cause to be supported. The long-term goal will happen in a couple of years, and that involves:
1. Having a professional studio of our own for video and podcast recording.
2. Having a dedicated team of journalists, film crew, tech people…
3. Making a documentary or a movie
4. Publications of books and newspapers abroad and in China
5. Interviewing people that know what they’re doing
… and much more
The TeaTime podcast will be back very soon. The frequencies of publishing might be reduced, since first, I want the podcast to be of higher quality and that requires proofreading and much editing by me and my friends, and secondly, because I am starting a new career in France, and that is going to occupy a large chunk of my time for the next couple of years. If you are thinking about volunteering, or working with me, please write me an email at nathan@teatimechinese.com. If you are in Paris, we can meet, and that’s always preferable. If you are elsewhere in the world, we’ll meet online, and see how we can work together, and build something that’s relevant and beautiful.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Nathan