The First Day of School

I must have woken up and looked at the clock ten times last night, every time hoping that it was six o’clock so I could get up and start getting ready. At five-thirty I finally gave into the anticipation and got out of bed. Although I usually get excited for the first day of school, this year the excitement was practically unbearable because this year I’m going to culinary school! Rather than picking out my clothes the night before and making sure I had new notebooks and enough pencils, I prepared for class by ironing my uniform and organizing my tool kit. After a difficult journey on the train that involved far too many heavy bags, I finally made it to The Institute of Culinary Education. The first thing I was given when I checked in for class was a massive (and outrageously heavy) bag of textbooks. As much as I love books, the thought of trying to bring them home on the train was terrifying. Luckily, I wasn’t given much time to contemplate the task because I was issued a locker and told to go and change into my uniform.

When I saw everyone dressed up in their brand new chefs coats with crisp white aprons tied around their waists, I started to see the appeal of our uniforms. Everyone looked clean and professional, although I’m pretty sure that I looked ridiculous standing around in clothes that were too big for me wearing a funny white hat. Sometime during the next two hours of orientation, as the air became saturated with the smell of butter from other kitchens, I realized that my clothes are too big because I am meant to grow into them.

After what seemed like an eternity of sitting in a cold kitchen and listening to information about attendance and grading, Chef Andrew finally handed out our knife kits. Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled when I received my tool kit with lots of utensils and other nifty kitchen supplies. But opening up the new box of Wusthof knives and admiring the sharp and shiny blades was better than Christmas and my birthday put together. Chef Chris was kind enough to lend me his engraver so after trekking home with my absurd amount of stuff, I promptly sat down and spent an hour etching my name into each and every blade.

I think the first day of school turned out to be a success. I can’t wait to see what we are doing tomorrow!