I Teach Sushi Class Not Because I Love Teaching But Because I Love Learning

French moralist and essayist Joseph Joubert said, "To teach is to learn twice."

I've heard of Joubert's quote before, but until now, after I started teaching sushi class for ten years, I am just beginning to truly grasp the meaning of this quote.

I am standing at the long beautiful white marble kitchen island in my client's kitchen, prepping ingredients for a private sushi class.

"You must be passionate about sushi," my client tells me. "Well, I am not," I reply. The client's face turns blank, leaving him speechless.

"I love sushi. I love teaching sushi class, but I'm unsure if I would put it that way. I am not passionate about sushi. I am not passionate about teaching sushi. What I found out is I love learning."

The client is standing across the kitchen island and staring at me.

"I do what I do because every time I teach a sushi class, every time I host a private sushi dinner, I learn. It's impossible not to. Teaching deepens my knowledge. The more I know, the more I want to learn because it teaches me there are more things I don't know than things I know."

That is what keeps me going. I make mistakes and I learn. I succeed and I learn.

I cannot fail. Never.