What started as job hunting...

I have always wanted a career; getting married did not change that plan. As Ming and I have some what moved into our new home, finding a job becomes the next thing on my list. I was getting a little bit fed up with summer vacation anyways, what started as "what a great opportunity to take a break!" turned dangerous. As days go by, I felt more and more reluctant to leave the house. I got better at housekeeping and home improvement chores; simultaneous, I got rusty with directions, social skills, and time management. Whenever I think of leaving the house to run some errands, images of me taking the bus in the wrong direction, getting incomplete information at a store because I was too timid to pursue the right answer looms over me like a nightmare. It hit me when the landlord dropped by the other day, but I forgot to address a number of issues with him because I was nervous. Ming was bewildered, "Nervous? You? You used to go to restaurants and ask random people to if they would like to be your research subject!" Yes, I used to, notice the past tense? That was when I figured, I need an attitude change and get some of that fire back.

I know what I am passionate about and what I want to pursue as a career. In college, I loved food cultures, and social justice issues, and that inspired me to look for a job related to food health, education, and community building. In the short term timeframe, securing that job is the end goal, and in the process I need to fix my attitude, build a network around the industry, and accumulate local knowledge. Volunteering for related organizations seemed the best way to start. I get to leave the house, meet people, and observe the dynamics of these organizations. I have a good idea where I want to start:

Hayes Valley Farm is an urban garden plopped in the middle of a busy city. Previously an abandoned freeway ramp, the local community took initiative and transformed that land into a productive farm. Hard to imagine this two acre farm operates solely on volunteers, but once you spend an afternoon there, you can feel there is something special about this small piece of nature.

Before: it's pretty much a dirt road

After: six people, two and a half hours, we added a raised bed and planted peppers, peas, eggplants, brocoli, beets, parsnips, and a bunch of flowers in that small strip of land

So my week goes on, I packaged pasta at the food bank, and played with children at the Urban Sprouts health awareness booth at the farmers market

For a while I feel like my old self again, involved, outgoing, and inspired by everything around me. But in the end, if I want to land a job, I still need to go home and do my homework. Take in all the advises people gave me, write down names, read up organizations, and look up on openings. And it's easy to be all overwhelmed again. I could sit and read "Don't send a Resume," or I can do something more radical. I call it shock therapy...

The Pho Garden food challenge: 2 pounds of noodles and 2 pounds of beef 

I've always wanted to do a food challenge, I will feel so special to have my picture on their wall. Well, my first and probably last food challenge ended in 15 minutes. When the food ceased to taste good, my motivation also died. Not the way I expected it to go, it wasn't that fun nor tasty. When Ming and I walked home with two full boxes of noodles, I told him why I always felt that eating was important. There was one episode I particularly remember from Power Rangers: they had to eat a whole table of food to save the world. In the end when they were about to give up, this wise old man appeared and said, "Eating is the easiest thing in the world, if you can't do that, what can you do?" (Parents pay attention to what your kids watch, they have a way of interpreting what they see) I guess subconsciously I really took that wise old man seriously. I mean when I was looking for a job, secretly I was hoping for a quick fix, maybe something really great would happen and I wouldn't need to do all that work? If I win that challenge, maybe I would be a better person, faster, smarter, certainly bigger... Well, in the end, I guess I learned my lesson. I can tell that wise old man from Power Rangers now, if you are a competitive eater and eating is your job, then it's not easy. It takes research, work, and a lot of training to be where they are, and same with me. If I want my dream job, then I better work hard to get it, and when that interview comes, I'll be ready.