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Tea has taken over Jenny Tse’s life.

Not only did Tse switch from drinking coffee to drinking tea, but she started her own tea business — Sipping Streams — selling teas and tea accessories, teaching a class about tea and staging tea events. In May she will be leading her first tea tour to Guangxi Province in China.

Tse’s interest in tea as more than a relaxing, nourishing drink started a few years ago. After returning home to Fairbanks from Boise State University where she had made the transition from coffee to tea, Tse sat sipping tea and pondering how to relate to her hometown community once again. As she looked around her family’s home she realized her family members were tea drinkers too.

That’s when the dialogue began with her parents.

“They started sharing their experiences of drinking tea when they were younger and growing up in China,” Tse said.

Tea drinking inspired the conversations and excited Tse as she learned more about her parents’ past lives and Chinese culture.

She also noticed that as she drank tea with others, they began sharing stories about drinking tea with grandparents and other inter-generational tea drinking experiences.

Developing community around tea drinking is important to Tse and is one of the reasons she is pursuing her business part-time and is substitute teaching part-time.

Tse’s business name was inspired by a song with the line, “Dip your heart in the stream of life.”

Tse has taken tea classes and continues to study the history and culture of tea around the world. She will be teaching a class on tea in April at the Tanana Valley Campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Last summer, Tse visited Guangxi Province in southern China to learn more about tea and the people growing it. On May 11-25 she will be leading a tea tour there. Visit www.sippingstreams.com to learn more.

One of the smiling faces behind the Big Dipper Ice Arena counter belongs to John Alderson. And if you listen closely, you might pick up on his Aussie accent.

But these days, Alderson is a confirmed Alaskan.

“I’m rooted in here,” he said.

A structural engineer and boilermaker by trade, Alderson plied his technical skills in Australia, Europe and Africa before landing in Alaska.

In the 1970s, Alderson spent two years in Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania, Africa, overseeing the construction of a cement factory using age-old techniques such as hand winching.

A second cement factory project in Tanga, north of Dar Es Salaam, was a gift to Tanzania from the Danish government. The factory came in pieces and was put up with a crane and modern equipment.

By 1980, tired of the hot weather and several bouts of malaria, Alderson looked at a world map and decided to land in Alaska.

“I fell in love with this place,” he said.

He stayed, married and is the father of a 13-year-old daughter.

Retired from the University of Alaska power plant, Alderson embarked upon a second career as a recreation specialist at the Dipper a little more than six months ago. He enjoys the kids and the diverse group of people who use the Dipper facilities daily.

“You see people from all walks of life here,” he said. “It’s always a nice atmosphere. There’s always something different going on.”