| Summary: | CONCORDIAN CAMPUS NEWS FEBRUARY 13, 20093 the GRANTS: Grant cut to have minimal eff ect on 2009-2010 tuition prices AUTHOR: Children’s presentation well-received Continued from Page 1 Continued from Page 1 In the heart of downtown Fargo, Trung Nguyen can be found hard at work behind the counter, producing copi-ous amounts of a savory com-bination of jasmine green tea, an assortment of rich natural fl avors, raw sugar, and non-dairy creamer. Behind the walls of an Asian-inspired venue, Nguyen is the mas-termind behind the opera-tion as owner and designer of Teaberry. The authenticity of the Zen-like atmosphere, Nguyen feels, brings warmth to the frozen tundra of Fargo. In the midst of a national recession, Nguyen left Min-nesota with his medical de-gree, ventured to Fargo, N.D., and began soul searching for another passion. Transition-ing from surgeon to business-man, Trung opened Teaberry on June 6, 2008. The tea shop now occupies the space where the Salad Express used to be at 119 Broadway. Originally a native of Viet-nam, Nguyen and his fam-ily moved to Seattle, Wash. Nguyen then made his way to the Midwest for further education, where he gradu-ated with a bachelor of arts in biology from the Univer-sity of Minnesota – Duluth. He continued on his medical path through the graduate program at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities in downtown Minneapolis, pur-suing his career in surgery at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. Nguyen followed his wife, Gaolee, to Fargo, N.D., where she began the six-year pharmacy program at the North Dakota State Univer-sity. Wanting to try some something outside of the area of medicine, Nguyen took on the assignment of opening his fi rst small busi-ness in downtown Fargo. “It can be risky to build your business,” Nguyen said, concerned about initiat-ing his own customers. “To make the business success-ful, you need location, a place that’s clean and comfortable. Downtown has the best fl ow of traffi c.” When asked why he picked Boba, or bubble tea, as the product of choice to introduce to Fargo, he fi nds the healthy, natural product a popular treat, and refresh-ing as well. His favorite Boba drink you may ask? Nguyen enjoys his Boba with a mix-ture of pineapple and honey-dew, and a Jasmine green tea base. “It makes you feel good. And it’s good for you,” Nguy-en said. Available in 27 fl avors, Boba tea is Teaberry’s biggest seller. A large, striped plastic straw is wide enough to suck chunks of tapioca in the form of a pearl at the bottom of the Boba drink. In addition to the bubble tea, this tea shop also pro-vides citizens of Fargo with a variation of herbal teas. The “Teaberry Special” consists of organic, whole-leaf tea, served with honey, a hint of mint, and lemon. Milk tea, a Hong Kong-style blend made from scratch, con-sists of black tea, spices, and milk. White Gourd cold tea is like a sunburst of citrus in the mouth, as a hint of sweet plays with the natural fl avors. Teaberry also off ers a twist on traditional hot chocolate or hot cider, which becomes a novelty during the winter months. Finishing off a menu is French Press Vietnamese coff ee is a popular treat for coff ee lovers. The shop has begun to branch out to sand-wiches as well, with pastries soon to follow. If fresh and fruity isn’t your thing but you want to try a Boba, you still have op-tions. Jake Winchester ‘09 strayed away from his old favorite of watermelon to try something new. Winchester appreciates having unlimited access to a Boba while study-ing in the unique shop in downtown Fargo. “I really like taro,” Win-chester said, revering its earthy, authentic herbal fl a-vor that also resembles the aftertaste of a graham crack-er. Gabriel Hertler ’08 is a loyal fan of the healthy treat ever since it was introduced to Fargo in June. Hertler could spend hours in Teaber-ry conversing with Nguyen about the day, future goals, or anything in between. Hertler also enjoys a refreshing Boba to wind down from a hard day’s work. “My two top favorites are red bean and mango-peach; they’re nice and refreshing,” Hertler said. “Red bean is a good staple. I also like the big, comfy couches. You can sit, stretch out, and read a book for awhile.” In the left-hand corner near one of the infamous tan couches Hertler enjoys sits a bonsai tree, not much more than knee-high. A sec-ond sofa dominates the right side of the room, enveloped in lantern lights, a glass table, Asian art wall panels, and a plethora of board games. A third sofa lies closest to the counter off ering a great pan-oramic view of the room and creating a comfortable place for the customers, or provid-ing a perfect nook for getting lost in a great book or carry-ing an intense conversation with a close friend. In ad-dition, chairs made of rich, dark mahogany wood invite a stressed spine to sink into their backs. The table you choose can dictate one’s view of the ever-fl owing hypnotic patterns that fl y across the fl at television screen in sync with the music, setting the mood and exuding warmth throughout the room. The light jade north wall nearest the door is compli-mented by the Asian cal-ligraphy scrolls and a single wall panel, and also serves as Teaberry’s performance venue for the local musicians. From hip hop, acoustic, rap, or jazz, a disc jockey spinning records or a talented and in-spiring musician, you name it, Teaberry will have it. “Teaberry really adds to the growing cosmopolitan of Fargo that is represented in downtown,” Hertler said. Despite the economic downfall, you will not fi nd Nguyen worrying about his new business. Although Nguyen hopes someday to further pursue a career in the medical fi eld as an anes-thesiologist, he believes that Teaberry will continue to be a good investment and points out optimistically that every-one still needs something to keep us all happy. “We stay open late when other businesses don’t. If there’s nothing to do, people come here. The pieces of the puzzle come together.” Cool drinks, hot spot: BY ASHA SAARI Staff Writer Teaberry tea shop PHOTO BY MEGAN RICE Happy Valentine’s Day to Cobbers everywhere! Bring your macho man hunger to Paradiso for a party on a platter – or just a party! Enjoy an original Mexican tradition every time you visit. 801 38th St. South • Fargo www.paradiso.com MACH_CON_08A was maintaining our student scholarship program,” Krejci said. “Rather than passing on that loss of revenue in endow-ments to the students through a tuition increase, we had to look at readjusting budgets in order to make up the difference.” The President’s Cabinet is still working on the 2009-2010 budget, though the board felt it was necessary to alert faculty who had applied for the grant about the decision. Though it’s tough to see a good program come to an end, most faculty are hopeful at the new possibilities that may be on the horizon for other faculty/ student research opportunities. “[The loss of the program] is unfortunate but obviously linked to the nation’s economy and therefore nearly unavoid-able,” personal growth commit-tee member Ross Hilgers said. “This could provide an oppor-tunity for faculty and adminis-tration to consider alternative ways to stimulate research and collaborations. As this oppor-tunity closes we should defi - nitely pry open another.” but Anderson responded that he always knew he wanted to illustrate. His persistence paid off when he was hired by publishing house Simon & Schuster to illustrate Thompson’s fi rst “Little Quack” book, which appeared on the New York Times bestseller list. Since then, Anderson has published 12 books, illustrat-ing all of the “Little Quack” books along with several oth-ers. Anderson has both illus-trated and written four of the 12 books as well. His newest illustrations will appear in Judy Sierra’s, “Ballyhoo Bay” which will be released Feb. 24 with “Hot-Rod Hamster” to follow this summer. Anderson showed many photos of his work in a slideshow presentation. He frequently places his family members, his dog and him-self in hidden places in his books and asked the crowd to fi nd the hidden item. He explained to the children at the fi nal presentation that he gets to put all kinds of fun things in his books since he can create whatever he wants. “Sometimes I just like to reach in the corners of my imagination and paint the strangest thing I could think of,” Anderson said. French professor Gay Rawson attended the chil-dren’s presentation with her son Chase. Their favorite part was the hidden things in the pictures, and even had a special connection with one hidden icon. “Chase and I saw an Ei-ff el Tower sand castle in his new book,” Rawson said. “I reminded Chase about paint-ing or sculptures we had seen in Paris.” Chase then announced that he had seen the real Eiff el Tower, and Anderson responded that he had been there as well but it was scary going to the top. Anderson also spoke of writing about fears in his books, noting his own childhood fears of sharks in the bathtub and monsters in the dark. “Chase and I talked about this a little bit,” Rawson said. “I hope he remembers how to turn his fears into some-thing creative and positive.” After the presentations, Anderson talked to attend-ees and gave autographs, drawing a sketch of one of his characters after his sig-nature for every book he signed. There were also col-oring pages from the “Little Quack” books for attendees to take. Curriculum librar-ian Connie Jones recalls one 7-year-old being so excited to go home and buy a sketch-book right away. “We were really pleased with the numbers,” Jones said. “We’re very happy. We want to do this again.” Rawson’s son agrees that Anderson did an excel-lent job. “I liked the whole thing,” Chase said. “It was awesome.”
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