Dutch midfielder Ferrie Bodde may hate all the travelling involved in the British game, but every time the Swansea City team bus shoots past one of the many motorway service stations en route to their next away day victim, it makes him more determined to cook up a storm in League One.
As a youngster, Ferrie used to watch the various team buses from Holland pass his place of work, reigniting his burning ambition to join them on the professional circuit.
"Not a lot of people know this,'' explained Ferrie. "But I am a qualified sous chef. I spent four years learning my trade in college and a road-side restaurant.
"Soup was my speciality, but I cooked a lot of meats as well. I must have done okay because I qualified for my certificate at the end of it.''
Ferrie eventually hung up his chef's apron at 18 when he was offered a professional contract with top Dutch side ADO Den Haag.
Not that the contract was ever in any doubt after he joined his home-town club as an 11 year old from Vitesse Delft, a local junior club he first started turning out for at the tender age of five.
Having been tipped for the top from the start, Ferrie lived up to his star billing and after eight years with the youth team he made the step up to the senior team.
"I was still working in the restaurant when they offered me a pro contract. I didn't really want to leave because I was enjoying it, but it was difficult to combine them both. The Den Haag offer was too good to turn down.''
Having made his senior debut as an 18 year old, Ferrie quickly established himself as a regular in the Den Haag first team over a seven-year spell and had built up quite a reputation throughout Holland when Swansea came calling.
"We could see straight away that technically Ferrie was very good,'' pointed out Swans boss Roberto Martinez when he signed in the summer.
And according to Ferrie, the great Johan Cruyff played a helping hand.
"Johan Cruyff paid for small football pitches to be built in our area,'' he explained. "There were cages around them and all the kids in the area played there.''
It certainly helped Ferrie develop the superb range of passing which has lit up the Liberty Stadium and away grounds on countless occasions this season.
Already regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in League One, Ferrie actually started out as a winger.
"It was only when I was 16 that I started to play in midfield,'' he added. "We had 18 players in our squad and they all seemed to be wingers and strikers. There were no midfielders there, so I volunteered to have a go and I've been there ever since.''
Having gone on to win international honours with the Dutch Under-23 team, it was a move which has reaped its rewards.
So much so, there was huge disappointment in the Den Haag camp and the terraces when Swansea snapped him up on a long-term contract.
Having signed a new deal with Den Haag in December 2005, the midfielder had already expressed a desire to leave after they was relegated from the First Division last season. And despite attracting interest from the likes of Scottish Premier League side Aberdeen, Feyenord and Swiss champions FC Zurich, Ferrie opted for the Swans for an undisclosed fee.
Having been described as the Dutch Roy Keane, Ferrie has ho regrets about the move.
"I think the British game suits my style of play better than the Dutch. It's totally different in Holland because the referees don't like a tackle. Everyone tackle you make seems to come with a booking.
"The British game is also a lot quicker so you get on the ball a lot more. Saying that, sometimes it's too quick because you can make too many mistakes.
"Training is also different. In Holland you tend to train twice a day because you don't play as many games as here.
"In Holland you'll probably play a maximum of about 38 games in the league and cups. Here you can play about 50 games. But I prefer to play lots of games to training, so I'm not complaining.
"There is one downside though. The travelling in this country is horrendous, too much. In Holland the furthest we have to travel is about 90 minutes; here we seem to be on the bus for hours and it can be really boring.
"I think it's because in Holland the roads are actually straight. To get anywhere here you have to go all over the place first!''
But to see Swansea riding hight at the top of League One makes it all worth while. And Ferrie is confident the Swans can stay right up there for the rest of the season.
"That's where the team, the fans and the club want to be and my target now is to stay there,'' he adds. "If we keep playing the way we are, with confidence and working each for other, then we can stay up at the top.
"We don't want to put too much pressure on ourselves, but we are a good side and I think we will be up there at the end of the season.
"That's certainly where I want to be. My main aim at the moment is to get promotion with this team.
"Then I want to be successful in British football. I want that to be with SwanseaCity, so as long as we can keep climbing then I'll be happy.
"I believe we are the best team in this division and I also believe this team is good enough to compete in the Championship.''
It's a view that is also raising its head back home in Holland after a few eyebrows were raised when Ferrie opted for a new life in League One.
"Out in Holland they didn't believe League One was a good standard,'' explained the 25 year old.
"But since me and Dorus (de Vries) have come over here, the club's profile has risen significantly. They are all interested in League One and Swansea now and I know there is already a close bond between the fans at Den Haag and Swansea.
"We are getting a lot of TV and newspaper coverage as they follow our progress. And they've been impressed with the standard.
"When I first said I was going to Swansea, the rest of the players asked me why I was dropping down to lower league football.
"Now that they've seen it for themselves on the TV and seen the crowds we get; they are asking me if they can come as well.
"One of the reporters from Dutch TV came over for the Southend game and he couldn't believe it. He said everything looked grey as he drove towards Swansea. Then he saw the stadium, the fans and the nice football we played against Southend and he was taken aback.
"I'm sure it is going to make great TV back home for the people of Holland and Swansea.''
So with all the media coverage he's been getting, could there be a career as a TV chef waiting in the wings for the day he eventually hangs up his boots.
"It's all planned,'' he jokes. "Me and Dorus are going to open a beach-front restaurant out in Holland.
"I'm going to be the boss and the chef, while Dorus can look after the customers and the finances.
"It's going to be six months of hard work and then six months of holidays. And Swans fans will get 10 per cent discount when they come over on tour.''
