First Week is Complete

My first official week of pastry school is over tonight. I am currently drinking a beer and looking for a movie on Netflix. I know how to party.

A recap of some things from this week:

• Chef Ken is a uniform and dress code Nazi. He paces up and down the lunch and dinner line and between the tables searching for students who are slightly out of code. He even carries pink disposable razors in his check coat to give to any man that did not shave in the morning. A long lecture ensues. Because of this, I found a guy that could teach me how to tie my neckerchief like a tie. I could not figure out how to make my neckerchief stay in one spot. I now know how to tie a tie. I plan to practice this next week.
• The pastry students are much calmer and less intense than the culinary side. Possibly because our class is half the side, but I think in general, pastry chefs are calmer.
• Never walk through the teaching kitchen. Always use the back stairs.
• Most students always offer up advice without being asked. The friendliness is strange at first, but helpful.
• The dessert table is on the other side of the teaching kitchen. It's much easier to not eat sweets every day, but I have eaten fresh bread at every meal!
• Time management is key! I heard that about 12 times today.
• I will be spending much of my free time with the knife skills tutors.
• I've met people from Germany, South Korea, Thailand (I think), Idaho, New York and Georgia. I've also met people from all over California (Modesto, Santa Rosa, Oakland). I even met a vegan today!
• I met everyone during a team building activity today. We stood in two circles and talked to each other for 20 seconds, like speed dating. Then we broke up into teams and made a picture out of food. My group created a cake on a stand out of polents grains, onion peel, bell peppers and carrots. We tied for third! I won some chocolate I intend to share with Tim tomorrow.
• The water cooler is nowhere near the other beverages.
• Breakfast meal sucks compared to lunch and dinner. Because I'm a vegetarian, I eat the same meal for both, but sometimes the center buffet opens up with much better food. Right now there the Asian cuisine class is in session. I saw lots of yummy food after I finished my fritatta.
• Noise and smells travel in the dorm rooms. I need to invest in some earplugs so I can finally sleep at night. I smell popcorn!
• I made two friends that I meet up with every day to catch the shuttle and to go to dinner.
• It's freezing ALL the time. The 3rd floor is warm because the test kitchen always has the stoves and ovens on. As you walk to the second floor it gets much colder. By the time you reach the first floor, there is a draft. It's probably 10 degrees colder on the first floor than anywhere else.

I have most Mondays off. I have a science lecture 5 Mondays, but the rest are free days. Tuesdays and Wednedays I have Culinary Math, Baking Ingredients and Equipment Technology (switches to Gastronomy half way through), then ServSafe (switches to Nutrition half way through the semester) and on Tuesday only I have First Year Experience. On Thursday and Fridays I will be in the test kitchen from 7-1:30 baking!

If you want to know more about something, you can always ask.