End Is Nigh

I've been having blogger block. Every time I sit to write, my mind goes blank. My life has been consumed with the responsibilities of work and school, and haven't felt as if I've had anything interesting to share. However there has been an outcry that I post. So I'll try to give you an idea of how my life has been going, without geeking out too much.

I'm coming down to the wire and my introductory and certified sommelier exams are next week. Needless to stay I'm a feeling more stressed then I ever have in my life, ever. My schedule consists of waking up and studying before school, going to school, studying after school, going to work, studying after work, sleep. Rinse and repeat. Saturday and Sunday when I don't have school, I'm most likely at work.

To give you an idea of what I'm about to face. Wednesday and Thursday of next week are the introductory seminar and exam. It's a two day crash course of what I just spent 3 months learning, and then an approx. 50 question multiple choice fill in exam about anything they want. Piece of cake, right?

Friday is my certified exam. So in the morning you're given an hour for blind tasting and theory combined. You have to describe a red and white and deduce the climate, varietal, country, and vintage bracket. They recommend you finish that in no more than 15 minutes, because that is the easy part. Then another (much harder) multiple choice, fill in exam. Finally the service exam. You have a master at a table who you have to serve and answer whatever question they throw at you.

I can hardly contain my excitement.

However the biggest perk of my program is mock exams. The first of which we ran through yesterday. Real masters giving us possible test scenarios, and grading us on our performance. I walked out certain I had failed. I had made a million (novice!) mistakes. I walked around a table in the wrong direction, I cleared incorrectly, I approached the table from the wrong side. All things I KNOW not to do. Then he asked me a question about a totally classic wine style, and I blanked. Nothing. So I was pretty sure in my one on one, he was going to tell me to find a new career choice.

When asked what I thought I did wrong, I spewed on and on. Once I finished with my self deprecating diatribe, he said, 'You actually did pretty well.' Huh? Turns out I was only looking at my mistakes, and I had in fact made quite a few correct moves. I served the guests in the correct order, and made good choices for my apertif and after dinner drink. The thing that had made the biggest difference, I had one of the best pairings for the mock meal they had heard all day.

I'm feeling a little better, a little more prepared. We have another practice on Friday and I think the likelihood is those of us who did well yesterday probably won't do as well on Friday. Those who did poorly will probably shine. I can tell you this much, I know the mistakes I won't make.

One more week, then fun Laura will be back. Hopefully with a shiny new pin on her lapel (of the suit she reluctantly purchased for the exam, photos to come on the closet connection.)