On April 10, 2004, I left to take temporary residence in Vancouver, British Columbia. I stayed until August 14th. This was the best time to be in that part of North America -- and it is surely one of the best places in North America.
I've kept a "blog" (web log) of the experience. You can find the index for it here.
What's for? I started [update: 7/24/04 -- and completed] classes at Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver, full time, in their Professional Culinary Arts program. Fifteen weeks, 5 day/week, about 6 hour a day program. How'd this all come to pass?
This was a combination of lengthy planning, and no small amount of serendipity. I'd pondered a career change back in my post-Digital (circa 1994) days, but the school I was looking at was 18 months and US$24,000, in one of the most expensive cities in the world (San Francisco). Most off-putting, perhaps, was that a graduate of theirs could probably find a job paying... about US$24,000/year. After a six-figure high-tech income, it was a hard pill to swallow. I worked for about 6 years, traveled (literally) a couple million air miles -- then Kathy and I both got laid off (I was about to quit) approximately the same day. But many other things had to happen, and here's what they were:
Event |
Result |
||
| Panama Canal Cruise | The cruise finishes up in Vancouver; we are smitten by the city | ||
| Same cruise, we meet Peter and Vincent |
|
||
We decide to look at a couple of cooking schools spotted in a book
on the subject |
One doesn't "click" for us, the other ("Dubrulle") seems "just right" -- a 17 week mix of the areas of most interest to me -- strong Culinary + Baking and Pastry exposure |
||
| The Decision to apply to Dubrulle | Easy enough. Deposit, physical exam and TB test. Checks-in-the-mail. | ||
"Oops, we've been acquired by another
school" |
"My" school, small and unique, is swallowed up by a larger
organization. They change the curriculum and the terms and conditions |
||
A friend says "Check out these folks", they're in Vancouver
too. |
Enter NWCAV; a small startup
school with Chef/Instructors that come highly recommended, and a
curriculum similar in duration and
content as what I'd originally chosen. |
||
 But,
when's your term start? |
It just keeps getting better. We just returned from our "Escape from Winter". Original school would have started less than a week later. New school? Two weeks later -- April 13th | ||
| Can get there from here | I am able to arrange air travel, two days prior to the start of
class, with return one day after. These are the only days available
within a two week span -- but they're perfect. Thank you,
United Airlines. |
||
| Apartment arranged, when do Peter & Vincent return? | Arrangements have been made to get into the "spare" apartment,
even though our friends are on another cruise (we met
them in Asia during
our trip!). When do they get back to Vancouver? The
day I arrive. |
So there you have it. A long time fascination with cuisine, rewarded with a formal education. Planning a new career? Heck no. Much too much like work. Opportunities may present themselves for interesting things to do (Kathy thinks I should become a Personal Chef for rich yacht-owners); my neighbors have signed me up to cater their next "event". I might be able to apply what I learn to some of the volunteer work I do -- who knows. "Life's for learning".
I've went west. Room with a view, afternoons and weekends off, friends nearby, best weather of the year. Not bad. And a year later, the adventure continued with their Pastry curriculum.
Start of Log
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