"We Are Here to Learn Pastry"

Today was orientation at The French Pastry School. I've been in Chicago for about a week. Moving went pretty smoothly. My roommate and I have, as predicted, an overstocked kitchen. Although we're missing some odd things like a broom and dustpan and ramekins. But we have a bundt cake pan, a brotform, and two (two!) mini Cuisinart food processors. The exact same model. I just.... We need help. And more shelves.

So far living in the city has been stressful. First, there's the walking. So much walking. However, I've been told I'll go down a pant size. I remind myself this when I still have two blocks to get to my apartment, which is the top floor of a three story walk-up.

There's also the noise and the light. I've lived most of my life in suburbia in a relatively quiet, wooded subdivision. And now my window faces N. Western Ave, one of the busier streets in the area. I'm getting used to it, though. I really want curtains, though, the light is annoying. We are literally next door to a neon sign shop. It's so cliche, I kind of love it.

On to today's orientation. Let's just say that The French Pastry School (oh, right, I found out I can write about my experience) is invigorating and intimidating. The dress code is strict, and okay, really that's the only thing I found intimidating. We're also supposed to stage and volunteer as part of our experience. It seems intimidating but as Chef Joe pointed out, there's a direct correlation between staging, volunteering and a future promising career. I love volunteering so I can't wait to help out with the For the Love of Chocolate gala and with French Pastry Production. I even showed interest in washing dishes for the continuing education courses. I don't mind, I might even get to watch!

The students ranged from all over the world (the furthest I could remember was Singapore) and all ages, although most were in the 17-30 range.

Oh, and as a final note, the title of this post comes from Chef Jacquy, as he pointed out in orientation, we have paid them to teach us pastry and to help us secure promising futures in the pastry industry. The staging, the volunteering, the recipes, the classes, everything we've paid for is so we can learn pastry and excel in the field. Chef Jacquy recommended that we make a big poster for our apartment and write on it "We Are Here to Learn Pastry" to remind us of our purpose as we attend school.

Guys, I'm so excited!! I just hope I can keep up with the laundry.