Red, White and Gold: The Many Shades of Work

Not so long ago, I was delighted to discover my good friend Karin Sprin online in IM. This feeling was, however, initially unreciprocated; she'd neglected to make herself invisible and I'd caught her right in the middle of an important task.

"I've got to mark a mountain of papers today," she typed.

"But you love your work," I tapped in glib reply.

"Right," she responded, "Love...work."

I know a lot of people who hate their jobs. Karin's definitely not one of them. She's the kind of person who takes her work very seriously and rarely, if ever, breathes a word of complaint about her job.

Until quite recently, I wouldn't have described my own relationship to work as particularly felicitous. It's not that I'm necessarily lazy, but I just hadn't found the right career path (at least, that's what I like to tell myself). Even now, I'm still prone to grousing about my job.

Contrary to popular opinion, there are several annoying things about my job. Occupational hazards. Anger management issues. Guilt and, yes, the occasional bout of dyspepsia.

That said, there are a lot of perks, too. Like 25 courses at Noma, while exploring the culinary delights of Copenhagen. Sharing schnitzels with my buddy Sophie after 5 days of Austrian wine tasting at VieVinum. Getting an inside look at the creative process of avant-garde chefs. My very own jacuzzi at an onsen resort in Niigata. The chance to connect with fascinating people doing amazing things (there's just a tiny misquote there but, hey -- it's a blog). Above all, though, I'm lucky to be doing something that I enjoy.

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about sake pairing, but I've also had some very good wine-pairing experiences -- most recently at the new Azure 45 restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo.






Next time, I'll tell you what I ate with these. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your weekend!