Here is my story:
I grew up in Havana, Cuba, where it is coffee and coffee, and tea
drinking is reserved for people with stomach and other digestive
ailments. But there was always the chance going against the mainstream
and therefore I was all for tea. At the beginning it was sporadic
drinking. Then I started working in a research center where there were
some Russian coworkers, and they introduced me to wonderfully fresh
Indian and Sri-Lankan tea. I got hooked-up forever.
After the collapse of the Soviet empire, things got tough in Havana,
and among other things tea became a rarity. I remember paying
exorbitant prices for a small packed of tea from India or from
Azerbaijan. I came to the US as an immigrant ten years ago and I have
been very disappointed because it is so extremely difficult to find any
kind of decent black tea around here. I have traveled quite a bit in
Europe and Asia. So far, the best tea I had over there been in Madrid,
Spain. But still I have not been able to find again the kind of strong
brew that my Russian friends shared with me back then. I keep trying,
though.

Rufus T. Firefly wrote:
> How did everyone get interested in tea? Many of you have lived in
> Asia, but are not from Asia. Did your interest develop after you went
> to Asia? Why tea when the world is interested in coffee? (I,
> personally, have never liked coffee, but I envy those who do.) How do
> those around you view your fascination with tea (for those fascinated
> with tea)? Do they see it as eccentric? It is obviously not very
> eccentric when you're caught up in it, but I fear most people cannot
> understand this interest, regardless of where in the world one might
> be.
>
> Excitedly awaiting your stories,
>
> Rufus T. Firefly
> Tokyo