I waitress!

Yes, I waitress. A Master's degree holder waits table. It is not a very proud thing to talk about but the job helps me live through these days. Even though I have more than two year experience in the food service industry, working in a school cafeteria is totally different from waiting tables in a fairly fine restaurant. That is how I get to learn new things every day. I have learned the name of the food we serve and what is in it. It sounds simple because you think that is what I eat at home. No, it is not simple. Only about 10 percent of these dishes is home style cooking, by that I mean what Vietnamese moms would cook for every day meals. The remainder I have tried or heard of in Vietnamese restaurants. There are some dishes I had no idea what was it about. Southern style cooking is different from what I am familiar with, so some names and tastes are different. And I have to learn all that. Other waiters and waitresses who are more senior than me showed me how to hold a plate, where to locate a dish in the ordering system, how to make drinks, and so on. As it is warming up, we have opened the patio area. And today I just learned the number assigned to the outside tables.

Lesson: My dear old professor who is a very disorganized over-achiever and a caring person always reminded us to be a life-long learner. He was so proud that he could learn a little computer trick I showed him. I am now happy that I learn a new thing every day. I am keeping my mind working, not academically (for now) but more vocationally. I am accumulating my life experience.