Culinary School.. Ready, Set, GO!

The CIA is more than I could have ever imagined, and I am so thankful and grateful for the opportunity to be here. (Thanks, Karen and Tom.) For once, I am actually excited about all my classes, much like I was for most of my FDST classes. I am looking forward to Product Knowledge and Culinary Math tomorrow, but for the next six weeks, Tuesdays and Thursdays might be my favorite days, as far as my scheduling times go.

I woke up this morning around 10:30. It was awesome. If you know me, then you know I love a good nap. Naps have not been a part of my life for a while now, and I have been depressed, missing them so much. Sleeping in a little bit was so great.

After getting ready, I walked to the Anheuser-Busch Theater for my first class, Introduction to Gastronomy. Gastronomy translates to mean "laws of the belly/stomach." Today, we discussed the idea that most do not eat out of necessity. On two extremes, half of the people in the world have access to all they could ever want to eat while the other half eat simply for survival. We also talked about old world foods and new world foods, along with regional food examples from each student in the class. (I said boiled peanuts.) We also were divided into groups for our presentation of culinary biographies. I am in a group with two other people, both culinary arts, and our chef is Paul Bocuse. If you happen to know anything about Bocuse, then feel free to share your knowledge.

Food Safety follows Gastronomy three floors up in Roth Hall. I absolutely LOVE my teacher; he is funny yet knows a lot about food safety, thankfully. With my Food Science degree, I feel like I know a fair amount about specific pathogens, HACCP, sanitation practices, etc. Today, the professor asked if anyone knew about HACCP, and Jae said yes and explained that he went to UGA for Food Science. I chimed in about the new food wash that recent UGA researchers developed. Our teacher will be keeping an eye on the "bulldogs." I am going to like this class.

I went back to my room for a bit after class but headed back to the CE building for dinner. Now as a student, eating in the Banquets and Catering dining hall is required, me for dinner and others for lunch/dinner, and is five percent of our grade for Product Knowledge. As I walked to the building, Dr. Ryan walked out of Roth Hall. He recognized me, I spoke to him, and he asked if I was Alabama or Georgia, from singing the Alma Mater the day before. He asked me my name again and about my first day of classes. He is very personable but slightly scary. As I said goodbye to him, I thought about how he could have only known where I was from based on me writing down my name. He took interest in me and Danielle by getting more information about us. How cool, right?

Unfortunately, the dining room was full. What about my grade, you ask? It was not my fault that the room was full, and I wrote down my name to receive credit. I still am allowed dinner with my two meal swipes; I went to room K-16 and ordered pasta with lentils, mozzarella, parmesan, and garlic bread. Also, some things in the student dining hall are open for the taking, and I had a variety of assorted desserts as well with my meal. Bread, salad, and desserts from the bake shops are always available for students to take from designated areas in the dining hall. Pretty cool, huh?

Now, I am catching up on some TV, working on homework, and completing some required programs online. Later, I might go to the rec center to exercise. I need to add exercise to my daily schedule now. The only problem is that I have never worked out religiously a day in my life, except when PE was required in high school. I consider myself active but not in a strict, go-to-the-gym-everyday type way. (Kevers, Fallon, and Jenny, aren't y'all proud that I am considering exercising?)

Now, I am going to switch gears a bit. Apparently, I have an accent. Who knew? I know I pronounce some words differently than most, such as "ruin" and "boiled." I guess I can blame it on being born and raised in the greatest place on earth (No, not Disney, which is the happiest place on earth). I can safely say that I am proud to tell people where I am from, and surprisingly here, I do not meet many people from anywhere near Thomasville. Though I did tell someone today that I was from Georgia, and they asked if I had ever heard of Thomasville. When you mention Georgia, Thomasville is not usually the immediate point of interest or reference. I was rather excited, to say the least.

Does anyone want to come visit me now?

Haley

FYI, the time for each post is wrong, and I do not know why. I am sure I am the only one who cares and even notices this, but I thought I would share this info anyway.