Final Post!

And so this blog comes to an end… It’s been a long six weeks over which I have learnt many new ways to look at my activity! I have thoroughly enjoyed going out for coffee as much as I did and don’t think I’ll be cutting down on these outings anytime soon! In NZ we really are spoilt for choice when it comes to places to go out with friends for a good coffee! There are more coffee roasters per capita in NZ than anywhere else in the world! A NZ tourist website that I stumbled across explained how over the last couple of decades NZ has undergone a coffee revolution. This is because many Kiwis have become judges of the wonderful drink. This in turn has increased the standards and quality of coffee in NZ as well as the popularity. Many new cafes have popped up all over the country, so as I said before, we really are spoilt for choice for coffee destinations! Here’s the website if you want to have a bit more of a read:

http://www.newzealand.com/travel/media/features/food-&-wine/food&wine_new-zealands-coffee-scene_feature.cfm

This coffee culture that we have in our country has added to my experience of going out for coffee over the past six weeks and I think that it has made my experiences more exciting and easy to carry out! I would encourage you, if you have the funds, to grab some friends and make time to go on your own social coffee outings and explore the many cafes in Dunedin!

To finish off, here are the links to the other blogs that I have commented on:

Grace

Kendyl

Jasmine

Shilmoni

Georgina

And below are my 5 references and all the ones that aren't from our class material have been explained within the posts!

Caulton R., & Dickson R. (2007). Whats going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Occupational Therapy (pp. 87-114). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Caulton, R. F. (Ed). (2003). The best of occupation 1993-2003. Dunedin: Rogan McIndoe Print Ltd.

Friends Quotes. (2004). Retrieved October 18^th 2011, from http://www.livesinabox.com/friends/quote.shtml

Lesly, K. (n.d.). Coffee, my old friend. Retrieved 12^th October 2011, from http://cocoajava.com/java_poetry.html

Visser, M. (1992). The rituals of dinner. London: Viking, The Penguin Group

Also, if you’re a little confused about how my blog actually works and what posts belong to each week, here is a wee guide to prevent any confusion. The dates may be a little out of order however as I saved my postings in word and then posted them on here when they were completed. 

Week 1: Introduction to Social Coffee (incl. practical considerations)

Week 2: Story #1 + Ergonomics

Week 3: Story #2 + Affordances

Week 4: Story #3 + Affordance Continued

Week 5: Story #4 + Ambience

Week 6: Story #5 + The Need + This Final Post!

Thanks for reading, and goodbyeeeeee :)

The Need!

Occupation is a necessary and very critical part of human life, without which I can’t imagine what life would be like, or if that’s even possible! Without occupation the lives of humans would simply be empty and without purpose.

Caulton and Dickson (2007) below talk about what it means for us as humans to be occupied.

“Being occupied is putting our minds to something and doing it. It is having something to do that contributes to the practical human world, to the exploration and discovery of things about the world we see, and/or to the imaginary world we construct" (p. 110).

Occupations can be divided into three categories (as we discussed in class this semester), these are; food/labour, craft/paper/work and plays. Going out for coffee falls under the category of food, obviously, as coffee is something that we consume. This week, the need for occupation was discussed in relation to the activities of my classmates and I under each of the above categories. The need for all of our activities differed quite considerably which highlighted to me that the need for occupation itself is very broad and a lot of the time the need is individual to the person carrying out the activity.

In saying this, i’m quite sure that the need for going out for coffee with others varies from person to person. The needs for going out for coffee differ slightly from those of food, however, even though the two fall under the same category. Although some people might like to argue this, we don’t need to drink coffee for survival like we need to consume food. Going out for coffee, like food, does however, bring people together and satisfy individual needs.

In my opinion there are three needs in particular that I think are most prominent. Firstly, it provides an opportunity for social interaction. It gives people the chance to build relationships with others, time to talk and a time to create new memories. Secondly, it gives people a chance to take time out. Going out for coffee can be a perfect opportunity to take a break from other stressors of life and to simply relax and enjoy ones self. And thirdly, the need is for the caffeine from the coffee itself. Coffee wakes you up, gives you a boost and can be especially helpful when you want to stay awake! These are only a few of the needs that I feel are important and I’m sure that going out for coffee is needed by other people in different ways.

In regards to myself, the need that going out for coffee meets most in my life is that of developing and sustaining social relationships. Going out for coffee presents me with the opportunity to give my undivided attention to an indiviual (or small group of individuals) where we can connect and purely spend time together over a drink. And, of course I love the coffee itself!

Below, Visser (1992) talks about how we humans have turned consuming food into a way of engaging in relationship with one another and creating community.

“We turn the consumption of food, a biological necessity, into a carefully cultured phenomenon. We use eating as a medium for social relationships: satisfaction of the most individual of needs becomes the means of creating community” (p. ix).

This is what I feel I have done with my activity. I think that I have turned going out to drink coffee into a means of engaging in and building on social relationships. I used to just go out purely for the coffee itself but now I realise that this need has changed and that my activity has become much more than just consuming a drink!

References:

Caulton R., & Dickson R. (2007). Whats going on? Finding an explanation for what we do. In J. Creek & A. Lawson-Porter (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Occupational Therapy (pp. 87-114). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

 Visser, M. (1992). The rituals of dinner. London: Viking, The Penguin Group

Story #5

I always loved going out for coffee with Mum, whether it was to take a break from shopping, alongside a meal or just as a treat, I was up to going out for coffee with her any day! Today in particular, she had decided she was going to take me out for coffee after our morning walk. Our walks had become ritual when I was at home, but going out for coffee this morning was just a special treat! Every other day we had made machine coffees at home and although they always tasted good, there was nothing quite like going out for a ‘proper’ coffee.

So, after our walk we wandered down along the beach before heading into the township to our local café. It looked busy from the outside, but that didn’t stop us. Heading to order we bumped into my aunty and uncle, not suprising as most of my family lived in this little town! We stood by their table for a while and the conversation flowed easily. It was nice to see them and it just made me think about all the other people who have coffee rituals like my mum and I.

It was awfully hot inside the café, which prompted us to cut the conversations, order our coffees and head outside to find a table. It was nice not to have to pay for once, one of the things I loved about going out for coffee with mum. We settled ourselves in at a table overlooking the street and relaxed back to enjoy the morning.

The day was overcast, but not cold. Mum had told me that it was meant to reach 21 degrees but it didn’t look like it would at this stage! Nevertheless, it was nice that it wasn’t cold enough to have to sit inside. As we waited for our coffees we chatted away about our plans for the week ahead and what we were going to do that afternoon. It was so nice to just sit with mum and talk properly, I loved hanging out and it was so nice to be at home with her away from the many study stressors of Dunedin.

Our drinks arrived, and we downed them pretty quickly. Not because we were in a rush to leave, but because they tasted delightful just as I’d hoped they would. It’s funny, as I looked back I thought about how it was only a few short years ago that I used to hate the taste of coffee! Now, however, I would quite happily drink it all day! If only it didn’t keep me up all night…not that this is always a bad thing, especially round assignment times!

Once completely finished, we got up to leave, pushed our chairs in, yelled out a brief thank you and left. We promptly walked through the rest of the township, looking through the shops as we passed by and continued our walk all they way home. It was the perfect way to spend the morning and I hoped that we would go out for coffee again soon!

Ambience

When we’re talking about ambience, we’re really talking about the essence of the activity. So, in my opinion the essence of going out for coffee is primarily to consume the coffee itself and secondary to come together socially with other people! As this activity falls under the category of food, it can be related to the essence of food also. The essence of food is really that its there to be eaten, we need it for survival, so we eat it and then replenish it again! Like food, going out for coffee can replenish us. It fills us up in a physical sense and also in an emotional sense. As we talked about in an earlier post, food, like coffee, can also be used to bring people together, to satisfy needs and create a sense of community. Ambience also refers to the atmosphere related to the activity. Throughout the past six weeks I have had coffee in many, many different cafes, each with their own unique atmosphere and environment. I think that it is the music, the interiors, the smells and the overall friendliness of the staff that make up the pleasing atmospheres associated with cafes. There’s just something about most café’s that make you feel good when you venture into them to enjoy a good coffee with friends! Lastly, I could argue that going out for coffee is essential for survival and I’m sure many people would happily agree with me. But I guess that it really is a matter of personal opinion, so I will leave you to make up your own mind about that one!

One of the readings that really stood out to me last year was Rosemary Caulton’s ‘The Taking of Tea’. I guess that this reading probably relates more to the affordances of my activity but I have only just been able to get a hold of it this week so I felt that it was appropriate to add in here after just having talked about the ‘essence’ of coffee! In this reading Caulton talks about the importance and meaning behind sharing a cup of tea. She illustrates how drinking tea together is so commonplace and prominent amongst our society and all about the satisfaction and comfort that it can bring. Just like tea, I believe that coffee brings about all the things that Caulton highlights in this reading. When it comes down to it, sharing a cup of coffee is just the same as sharing a cup of tea, only a different taste to the drink! To finish off I will leave you with a quote from the reading as I think that Caulton (2003) summed it up perfectly when she said:

 “…this cup, this loving, ordinary, commonplace, familiar cup affords both security and solace. Whether we like it, or drink it, or not, tea has become an archetypal image of humankind’s need-and ability-to provide itself in an instant, with warmth, order, meaning and comfort” (p.45).

Reference:

Caulton, R. F. (Ed). (2003). The best of occupation 1993-2003. Dunedin: Rogan McIndoe Print Ltd. 

Story #4

I knew that the long drive home from Dunedin to Christchurch was starting to take its toll as a wave of tiredness slowly began to sweep over me. My two passengers were fast asleep and we were barely an hour and a half into the journey! We had planned to stop for coffee in Timaru, but I quickly made the decision to shift this stop forward as I knew there was a café just ahead and I needed the caffeine fix! After passing the billboard signs for our coffee destination I quickly pulled off the motorway and swung into an empty slot in the car park. ‘Riverstone’ was a well-known café/restaurant and it was a place I’d stopped many times on journeys to and from Dunedin. Waking the others, we grabbed our wallets and headed in.

Once inside, it was instantly clear how popular this place was.  A line of people paying for their meals stretched back from the counter for what seemed like miles. Unwilling to keep driving another 40 minutes to find another less busy café, we joined the queue. Because of the time we knew it would take to actually reach the counter itself and order our coffees, we decided that takeaway was the best option.

As we slowly began to inch forward, very slowly I might add, we chatted away making up for the lost time in the car when they had been sleeping! When the counter itself finally came into view the conversation quickly changed to the array of cakes and sweet treats laid out on top. Why is it that you are always so tempted to buy something sweet to go alongside your coffee? I couldn’t resist, my mind was made up in a matter of minutes, carrot cake it was. Delish!

Finally, we reached the front of the line and were able to order our coffees and sweet goodies! Within minutes they were in our hot little hands. It seemed a bit ridiculous to have waited all that time when our food and drinks only took a few minutes to make. Nevertheless, I was happy as I slowly sipped away on my coffee. I loved drinking out of takeaway cups; there was just something about it that made the coffee taste better. Maybe I’m dreaming but that’s what I’ve always found!

With each sip I felt the tiredness drain from my body and instead I felt alert and full and ready to get back on the road. Coffee was definitely needed and I’m glad we had stopped when we did! Now I also had two wide-awake passengers, another bonus! We hit the road dinking our drinks and eating our treats and I think I can be safe in saying the coffee lead to the best car sing-a-long ever. As we drove on and sang away I found myself thinking that although we didn’t actually sit down at a table and drink our coffees this trip to the cafe was very much still a social coffee outing. We had chatted in line for a good 20 minutes, even talked to the staff brushing off their apologies for the wait and the coffee itself had lead to a very social next few hours the rest of the way home! In my eyes this pit stop was another very successful coffee outing! 

Affordances Continued

This week in class we continued to look at affordances in relation to our activities. In particular, we broke down our activities into three new and different headings, aesthetics, spirituality and health. These three aspects contribute to the meaning of and help to shape the way we view our activities.

Aesthetics is defined as “of or concerning the appreciation of beauty or good taste” (The Free Dictionary, 2011). In regards to coffee, aesthetics can refer to the presentation, the way it smells, the texture, the taste and even the colour. All the things that make it appealing to you and the way that it meets (or doesn’t meet) your expectations. Not only this, but aesthetics can also include things like the way the environment/café looks, the way that it sounds (e.g. noisy or not, music playing) and the satisfaction that you can get from spending time communicating to whoever you share the coffee with.

When I think of spirituality, I think of religion. Spirituality in this sense, however, is much broader than just religion and it takes into account individuals thoughts and beliefs. It can be about how one feels they are connected to the world through the activity or the spiritual elements the activity may bring about. Examples of ways going out for coffee can be spiritual include things like having a celebratory coffee, when people go out for birthdays or to mark an occasion. Connection to history as going out for coffee may be a ritual. It can also make people feel accepted by being invited/included and knowing that they are part of a group. Coffee can be used as a way of caring for others, taking them out and shouting them. And lastly, going out for coffee can make people feel that they are connected in this world by sharing experiences with others.

Lastly, we need to consider the health aspects of drinking coffee. I’m sure that there is much debate over whether caffeine and drinking coffee is good for you or not and I’ll go into that a bit deeper later on, but one things for sure is that coffee definitely isn’t good for your teeth! If you want to keep them white that is! Its one thing that I know I always worry about and am conscious of. Other aspects include that going out for coffee can be therapeutic, it can help people to relax and it can trick your brain into staying awake! Coffee can also be altered to fit diet restrictions, for example those who can’t drink trim or full milk can have soymilk instead! Most cafes accommodate for this now, as it’s so common!

Alright, so back to the effects of coffee on health, Payne (2009) states that “regular coffee consumption may reduce the risk of health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and liver cancer and regular coffee drinkers might even live longer” (para. 1). It’s hard to know how much if this is actually true and I’m sure more research is needed in the future but current research and most health websites agree with the statement. Payne (2009) also states that its important to remember that coffee is not purely caffeine, it has a lot of other components (such as antioxidants and fiber) and it’s these components that are thought to account for some of coffee’s health benefits. On the other hand, the downsides of coffee include that the caffeine is used most widely as a mood-altering drug and that it can increase blood pressure (Payne, 2009). In saying this, however, the bottom line is that for most people there’s nothing bad about having a cup or two of coffee a day, we just have to make sure that its in moderation and we don’t go extremely overboard on the caffeine!

In conclusion this week I’d like to leave you with a poem I chose this certain poem as I think that Karie Lesley summed it up pretty well when she said that coffee is more than just a drink, that in fact drinking coffee IS a way of life. Her poem illustrates that coffee can be extremely meaningful and is often a big part of peoples lives. I know that going out for coffee is a big part of my life and always has been one of my all-time favorite activities!

Coffee, My Old Friend


An aroma that fills the room with warmth brewing gently, steady and calm.


Two friends together in stolen moments sharing soul, heart, life.


Weaving through the years
like a fine delicate lace.


The design unravels details,
simplicity, sometimes flaws.
And even still, meshing together
bonded by each cup.


The tenderness of solitude
occassionally with a good book.


As I take the first sip
of the first cup
I realize again that I am blessed.


To share this cup with such a friend,
sometimes it being only me.


So much more than flavor, roast or blend...
A way of life.

References:

The Free Dictionary. (2011). Aesthetic. Retrieved October 12^th 2011, from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/aesthetic

Lesly, K. (n.d.). Coffee, my old friend. Retrieved 12^th October 2011, from http://cocoajava.com/java_poetry.html

Payne, J. W. (2009). Is coffee bad for you? Actually, drinking coffee may be good for you. Retrieved 14^th October 2011, from http://health.usnews.com/health-news/diet-fitness/heart/articles/2009/06/25/is-coffee-bad-for-you-actually-drinking-coffee-may-be-good-for-you

Story #3

As I was walking into a café to meet a group of friends for an evening coffee date I suddenly realized that this would be my third coffee for the day…addicted much? Oh well, the only thing I was really worried about was the effect that the coffee might have on my teeth! Inside, I found the group of girls I was meeting and we ordered our drinks up at the counter. It was noted how cheap the coffee was here, $3.50 for a decent sized cappuccino was almost unheard of in this day and age. After briefly scanning the café we spotted an empty booth that we were to make ours for the next few hours!

The atmosphere inside the café was warm and busy and particularly noisy. I guess that it was just the after dinner rush. It was also extremely familiar as it was a place that I had been to many times over the past years two years I’d spent in Dunedin. It was the café that I went to on my very first day of study, as it was the only café close enough that my friend and I could find at the time! A lot had changed since then, but the purpose of coming to this place was still the same, to have a break and to get a good coffee!

Once we were all settled in our wee booth the conversations flowed. The group dynamics were a little odd, as some of us knew everyone there and others only knew a select few. This didn’t seem to matter though and we all had managed to find connections to each other in one way or another. I guess that’s one of the great things about having coffee in a bigger group of people, no matter how well you know everyone, you all at least have coffee as a common interest!

As our drinks arrived, presented beautifully I might add, we all quieted down to take our first sips and scoop the foam off the top with our spoons. Whilst messing up the swirling chocolate design on the top of my coffee it made me think about how coffee making really is a bit of an art. Some cafes just sprinkle a little chocolate on top of their cappuccinos, whereas other cafes, like this one, create a nice-looking design on top. This definitely makes the drink more appealing!  

As we all sat there content with our coffees the conversations continued. The noise level had risen considerably, however, as a large group had come in and sat down at the long table next to us. Consequently, we all had to lean in to the middle of the table, forming a small circle of heads above our coffee cups, in order for us to actually be heard above the chatter. From then on the time flew by and before I knew it, it had been an hour since our drinks had been drained and it was time to head home. Other groups of people had come and gone and we all had work/study eagerly waiting for us. We made vague plans to meet again sometime soon before saying our goodbyes and “thankyous” to staff as we ventured out.

Walking to my car and on the way home I couldn’t help but replay the evening and acknowledge how sometimes it was outings like these that kept me sane. It was over coffee that the best conversations are had, best advice is given and new memories are made. Our coffee date tonight brought us all together and for a short few hours gave us all a break away from the stressors study and just life in general. It gave us a chance to relax, have a few laughs together and wind down from the day that had passed. And of course we all had a wee caffeine boost that would surely help us stay up longer and do more work! This was always a good thing in my books and I looked forward to our next date already.