follow your heart

My Uncle Danny came over today and brought over some duck, not just any duck, the one that simmers in secret sauce, no fat, teochiu style...our ethnicity, our secret recipe. And he told me that once i get my degree, i hsould sit by myself and think about waht I want to do. I should sit there, drink in hand, and ask myself, "What do I want?"

Once I have an answer, I will stick to it 100% committed, and granted there will be distractions, but you've got to give it everything. He worked at a high-end French restaurant for years, but knew that he was Asian, and no matter what, if he learned to cook French food and opened up a restaurant, people will judge the quality of the restaurant because of his surname, because of prejudices, no matter how good his French food really was. So he quit and worked at a Chinese restaurant, learning everything from the other Asian chefs, who liked him and were willing to teach him. He got a call from a friend, a distraction, "Hey Dan, come work at United with me. It has good benefits, medical, dental." My Uncle did. Got pulled away. "I wasted seven years of my life there." And all of his dreams were told to my aunt and she supported him 100% no matter how hard, no matter what pay.

I asked him if he was going to open up another restaurant other than the Japanese one. As a young person, I remember so vividly his diligence in learning and training for this trade. He said, "No, then I no longer am a specialty."

We talked about Europe and how he hated the food, the quality, the price of living, and I had to agree completely. We talked about Australia and New Zealand; I originally wanted to study abroad there. I want to visit my aunt there.

"I love to cook." And he's cooking up more than knowledge, he's helping me shape my outlook on life.

I remember being a kid and staying over at their house, but I would cry because I missed my parents, I got so homesick that I lied about being sick so that they would take me home. And all this hearsay about him being shady for making the family pay when they go eat at their restaurant. "It's not that he does; he just doesn't offer to make it free because I'm more than willing to pay for my own meal," they tell me. That's fuckin' bullshit! Ain't no one going to treat you like a queen or boss just because you are family. My E-ma has loads of money, but they aren't travelling, they aren't moving mountains, they aren't making people's day. They are just wasting away, pretending to be big boss. So who is really saving face? Who is living life? The ones on their thrones or the ones in the struggle? I may be a slave to the people, I may be a slave to stereotypes, but I will not be a slave to money!

The end.