18
STAR CHEF
I was assigned a special project at work that was extremely unique: an Olympic sponsorship. Not exactly related to my actual role but somehow I was volunteered to manage the sponsorship. It was trial by fire to say the least but I figured it would be a good learning experience.
On one of my business trips to Korea for client meetings with a senior colleague of mine, there happened to be a partner workshop for sponsors in PyeongChang. Since we were already in the country, senior management asked us both to participate in the workshop despite my colleague not being involved at all with the sponsorship. After a long ride in a coach bus (with an emergency toilet paper roll in the front of the bus for some reason), we we settled in for 2 full days of meetings. Typically companies dedicate entire teams to Olympic sponsorships, so our 2-person participation was very light.
At the end of a very long first day of meetings, the Organizing Committee took us to a dinner and cultural experience. They also took the liberty of identifying the most senior member of each sponsorship team to participate in a private formal dinner with the Chair of the Committee, while the balance of attendees had a more casual dinner planned. As you can imagine, I wasn’t chosen as the most senior person from the company. My colleague who had no knowledge of the sponsorship got whisked off to the private dinner and I got to make new friends at the dinner for regular folks. After we feasted on delicious bulgogi, bibimbap and glass noodles, the cultural experience began.
After a musical performance, it was time for a culinary lesson for traditional Korean rice cakes (cylindrical thick short noodles). We could participate in any stage of the process from pounding the steamed rice with a giant wooden mallet, to shaping the dough, to forming the actual rice cakes. Since I was in full business attire and not interested in having pounded rice grains flying all over me, I opted for the rice cake forming. I was given plastic gloves and had to roll the dough into thin logs, then cut it up into small pieces. Apparently I was quite good at it, so the instructor kept telling my rice cake station mates to watch and copy my technique. It was at this time that my senior colleague joined us from the private dinner and took a few blackmail photos of me, the star rice cake chef, with my fan club watching. I tried in vain to give someone else a chance, but the instructor insisted I stay for a solid 10 minutes until I finally managed to break away. I discovered a hidden talent that day... Korean rice cake making!