Homeward bound.

Okay, I no longer am stranded in New York. Stranded is probably not the most appropriate word, but I now officially have a flight home in July. Five weeks, with no classes this Monday or Friday, July 9. Four classes. Three weeks off. Yes, please. This place just gets better and better.

Yesterday, I went to my two other classes for this block: Product Knowledge and Culinary Math. Product Knowledge is going to be very interesting. We learned the difference(s) between a fruit and a vegetable (a tomato is a FRUIT), defined a few terms (including shelf life.. go Food Science!), and toured the storeroom downstairs. I bet you can only imagine, with five restaurants on campus (including the Apple Pie Bakery), how large the storeroom must be. The Culinary buys millions of dollars worth of fresh produce each year, trying to be local whenever possible, and each day a new shipment is received and sorted. Not only does the Culinary have five on-campus dining facilities but dozens of kitchens with multiple classes facilitating in and out everyday. The greater majority of these kitchens cook food of some kind for a restaurant (such as the breads class for Baking and Pastry specifically) or serve food to students, for example, the Cuisines of the Mediterranean kitchen. Our Chef encouraged us to visit the storeroom as much as possible to learn about scaling, quality, and the different varieties of products that come to the CIA daily.

From 1:30 to 5:30, I had a break, and I took this time to complete my Alcohol and Sexual Assault programs, which are required for new students. Each program took about an hour and a half, including the pre-test, videos, and the post-test. I had to score a minimum of a 70% on the post-test in order to fulfill the requirement. My final score on the Sexual Assault program was 98% and my score on the Alcohol was 96%. I wish these grades factored in to my GPA.

At 5:15, I headed back to the CE building for Banquet dinner. There was a lot of confusion about some of us having class at 6:30, seeing as it takes about an hour and a half to serve a three-course meal. The professor argued with us, which I did not think was very professional; the customer should always be right, and we are customers in a way. For our appetizer, we had flounder fingers with a remoulade and a cole slaw-like side. The pork loin for our main dish was the best pork loin I have ever had in my entire life. It was not dry at all but very tender. With our pork, we had fingerling potatoes and a stuffed tomato. Finally, for dessert, which I had to down in a minute, was a chocolate raspberry gelee. (I might be spelling that wrong.)

Culinary Math should be the easiest class ever. If I do not get an A, then I am coming home. I will drop out of culinary school, because I do not deserve to be here if I cannot ace this class. I really like my professor. He has never worked a day in his life in the kitchen but has a Master's in mathematics. We spent the majority of the day converting fluid ounces to quarts and cups to gallons, etc. The practice problems are optional. Yeah, I will not be doing those.

Last night, I watched the UGA Softball team lose to Tennessee, but my team made a valiant effort to come back in the bottom of the 7th. After the exciting win against Washington on Wednesday, I had to watch my team; I did nothing last night really except watch the first of the game on my computer and the rest downstairs on TV. Fortunately, the Women's College World Series is double elimination. Today, we beat Florida (always great to beat the Gators) and made it through elimination Sunday. Go Dawgs. I will be sure to be cheering loud tomorrow when we play UCLA (hopefully twice with two wins).

I went to bed rather late (oops) and did not wake up this morning until rather late (oops). (Prepare yourself for what I am about to write. Make sure you are sitting down.) I exercised today. I played tennis (play might not be the appropriate term here either), and then I worked out a little in the gym. Shocking, I know. After getting dressed, Danielle and I went to Price Choppers, the New York Kroger (where I am now an Advantage member) and bought a few things, including all the salad works for dinner tonight. I, of course, bought some Nutella; I have been having some major withdrawals. (You should not worry though because I bought fruit to go with my Nutella. I do not want working out to be a useless activity.)

Danielle invited me to dinner at one of the Lodges (suite-style residence halls reserved for Bachelor's students after extern). They have fully-equipped kitchens in the Lodges for student-use, and we made homemade pasta with all the fixings. It was like Family Night Dinner (and they actually call it Family Dinner), but everyone contributes to the meal. Danielle and I were in charge of salad and we helped make the homemade pasta. We had two pasta dishes (one spicy vegetable and one lemon cream), bruschetta, garlic bread, salad, chocolate souffle, and homemade Bailey's Irish Cream ice cream. It was amazing. We did not eat until about 10:30, but it was really great to meet some new people that I did not mind. Danielle was technically invited by a friend, and she invited me. I knew no one at first, but I never felt out of place or not welcome ever. Danielle and I even offered to be in charge of the next meal, for Southern night.

I guess I better go to bed now. I am waking up fairly early to go to the City tomorrow for the day, since we do not have school on Monday. I am excited about exploring around the City, now that I am so close, live here, and almost feel like a true New Yorker. It should be a great day.

I cannot believe I have only been here for a week. With everything I have done this week, I feel like I have lived here for months or even years. I must add also that I am fairly proud of myself for blogging almost everyday. I hope y'all are not getting used to reading everyday because I do not know how long I can keep it up, with school starting full swing. I am going to try.

See ya in July!

Haley