Le Cordon Bleu - Orientation

Sun rise today was 8:45 a.m. Rather late compared to the U.S. By the time I made my first official walk to school the sun was starting to peak through the Paris sky – beautiful.

Today was orientation. Orientation in three parts.

Part One
Greeted by coffee and croissants I took a seat in the second row, middle section of the main demonstration room. The academic director entered the room and welcomed us into the school and into our programs. There are 86 of us, in both cuisine and pastry. After the welcome, some ground rules, and of course, the history of the school we got a chance to introduce ourselves.

Cuisine and pastry students were segregated from the beginning, leaving 30 in my section. We all had a chance to say our name, where we are from, what languages we speak, and why we chose Le Cordon Bleu, Paris. I must admit that in the first five minutes of being in the school I was already tearing with joy.

The room looked like this.

Isreal (1)
U.S. (8; LA, San Fran, 2 NM, 2 NYC, Chicago, et moi: Utah)
S. Korea (2)
Italy
Portugal
China
Columbia
Japan (3)
Brazil
France (3)
Turkey
Thailand
Canada
Taiwan
Greece (2)
Dubai
U.K.

Part Two
We made our way from the demonstration room to the Winter Garden (I am not sure the origin of this room other than it has no heat and was freezing). Here we were given our uniforms, knives, scale, etc… We all tried on our uniforms for size in the world’s smallest locker room. Luckily, everything of mine fit just right! All that was given to me came home so that I can play and personalize it all (mark my name on everything).

Part Three
A quick visit to the administrative office to ensure that we were paid in full and ready to be launched forth.

__________________________

All students, cuisine and pastry, came together for some light refreshments of brie, baguette, fruits, and pâté. After a bit of socialization I made my way home - to rest for tomorrow’s full schedule.

Oh, schedule you ask? Yes I did receive it – and it is the most complicated, seemingly unorganized thing I have ever seen. I am sure there is some logic. That which I hope to learn soon.

The friendships have already begun to bind and will manifest over the next few days. The energy of this morning was full of excitement and nerves.

I woke up today feeling good; physically, mentally, and emotionally. Things are settled, happy, and in progress.