The Storm Settles

I apologize for my lengthy absence from the blogosphere. It was primarily due to 1) the fact that the last couple of weeks at school were fairly uneventful and 2) I've spent enormous amounts of time ensuring my life is in order before I enter a black hole called A Real Restaurant Kitchen.

Our last days with The Chef were fun and memorable. Hard, for sure, but it seemed like we were finally getting the hang of it all. Our lunch service consistently went out on time and the final market basket was proclaimed, "Zhee bhest I've tasteed en zhee easetorhee of zhee skghoul" by The Head of Everything.

I was most thrilled by the final market basket because my fiance attended! At 12:30, exactly one hour and thirty minutes after he began his journey into the suburbs on public transportation, he popped into the tasting room, eager and excited to see if the chefs, the students and the experience were everything I promised. My partner and I were first (and the appetizer was 100% mine) so he immediately saw a round of Me vs. Judges.



Our first secret ingredient was ahi tuna. Everyone was going Asian, and since I'm already Asian, I didn't want to go there. Instead, I went old fashioned tuna salad. I pounded the tuna thin to make a carpaccio, served it with onion and mayonnaise mousse, pickled celery, garlic croutons, and a mustard vinaigrette.



"Zhis deesh is zhee clowsist tu phearfict yhou can geet," commented The Head of Everything. I was THRILLED! My peers later told me that I couldn't stop jumping up and down and smiling. Brian reported I even executed a few fist pumps after The Head of Everything spoke.

We took our Phase II final last week and since then I've been tying up loose ends at my part-time consulting gig. As I walked my final commute this morning, I evaluated the differences between my life now, and my life 6 months ago. Back then, I was organized, independent, stable, comfortable and well-paid. Now, I am frantic, nervous, anxious, tired and totally broke. Am I happier now than I was before? The jury is still out on that. However, I believe I'm certainly more satisfied.

Today, maybe for the first time, I truly realized what I've done to my life; I've done IT - taken the plunge, broken ground, gotten the ball rolling or whatever you want to call it. And, so far, doing IT has been one of, if not the most difficult storm I've ever weathered. To ignore logic and accept uncertainty is plain old uncomfortable - in every way. It takes unadulterated faith.

As I thought about where I was and where I am, a wave of serenity and satisfaction hit me. I remember smiling, a big toothy smile, not at someone I knew or because I saw something funny, but at myself. I had finally found the calm after the storm.

Tomorrow, when I start my externship, a new storm will begin to brew; I'm okay with that. Without a storm, there is a complacent, anticipated, everyday kind of calm. The ordinay calm can be nice, but the calm after the storm...it is far more breathtaking.