I didn’t know what to write about so I asked Mieke and she told me to write about Matcha. 

The first time I ever had a Matcha was in the early morning before another volleyball tournament just like any other. Just as always the sky was still dark and foggy and we had about an hour of driving ahead of us before arriving at the convention center. It was our turn to drive the carpool. As usual, before we picked up our carpool, my mom and I stopped at Starbucks to pick up the whole group’s Starbucks order. After three years of carpooling every day and just about every other weekend with the same people, I already knew their early morning orders by heart. It was a routine of the best kind. At this point, we were old enough to drive but there was something so innocent and pure about waking up early for a tournament and having our moms drive so we could sleep sprawled across each other in the car’s back seat. It was a part of our childhood we could hold onto for a little longer. 

Recently my mom had begun to start drinking Matcha. Watching her drink, I was never compelled to try it. For some reason that one random morning as we waited for the rest of the order she kept insisting on “taking a sip” until I gave in. It didn’t take her much effort to convince me considering that I would do anything she said. After that moment the rest is history. 

Soon matcha started showing up all around my life. Matcha arrived in between volleyball games at tournaments, before doctors’ appointments, and early mornings on important days. To this day, every time my mom and I go to the airport she carves out a little time to make sure I can get my matcha just because she knows how much I love it. I quickly started loving matcha more than she ever did. 

Just like anything else, Matcha became a part of me growing up. I would go to Starbucks to get matcha and study, before the start of any road trip or drive that surpasses an hour when ditching and leaving school with friends just cause, when going to the beach, and on the days after sleepovers looking homeless with my friends. Matcha has become the drink of every season. 

Although I live at boarding school now, and I can’t bring my mom along with me, the one thing that I’ll always have with me (unless I get really sick of it) is Matcha. Throughout different chapters of life, different friends, different places, different problems, and feelings, one thing that has stayed with me is the Matcha. 

I love you and thank you, Mom.

(Listen to your mom, she’s usually right)

(also if you haven’t tried Matcha yet you should bc it’s really god)