First Day Jitters...

Well, tomorrow is my first day of baking and pastry school at a culinary school in New York City which will remain unnamed for the duration of my schooling there as I have not asked them permission to write this blog, and nor do I intend to. I'm nervy about a lot of things -- yelling at me like Gordon Ramsey is just one of the many worries running threw my mind right now. Coincidentally, so are making massive grammar mistakes, but that could really be another blog all of its own. I should be excited, and I am, well I am until I look at myself in the mirror with my black and white, elastic waist, tapered leg chef pants. So unattractive. So. At least they have room for the gut that I fear will expand during my tenure at the nameless New York school...

For the three of you reading this who will want to know how New York is, let me tell you: it is an adjustment. Since I've lived most of my life in Canada eh', I find it quite difficult to learn how to let the 8 million or so New Yorkers into my bubble. And really, I haven't let them into my bubble so much as been forced to allow them into my bubble because I have no choice in the matter. There are crazy people licking the poles as you enter the subway; delicious gelato stores that stay open well past my bed-time; a friendly pet store man who kindly gives me free treats for my cats whenever I drop in; a buffet of friendly (sometimes too friendly) gay men in my building who just want to help; and there are sirens. Lots of sirens. And clanging pipes. And garbage shoots that don't work. Oy.

New York is very different compared to the life from whence I came. For one thing, I have not walked this many miles maybe ever. And for a person who loves food, the grocery stores here are out of this world. You can buy things in the grocery store across the street from my apartment that you couldn't even find at a specialty store at home -- fresh buffalo mozzarella, check. Fresh burrata even, check. It is amazing and I am excited to eat all of it. Well, maybe not all of it. I don't think I will venture down the salt cod or gefilte fish road anytime soon...

The other thing about New York are the people that you meet. Like the pet store guy whose cats come to work with him. His name is Joe and he is a delight. Sure, he tried to sell me a $35 cat brush today, but he is still a gem. Then there was the people at the uniform store where I tried on the aforementioned hideous pants. They didn't have my jacket in so after work, they drove to the factory, picked it up and then hand-delivered it to my house. Fancy that? For anyone who ever thought that New Yorkers were mean and ugly, just tell them you recently moved from Canada and they will help you all day. From the guys at Whole Foods to my new Jewish comedy club, also known as the uniform store staff, the people have really been great. True, there have been some weirdos. On Saturday I was in Soho trying desperately to buy a couch when I dropped into a store and met Dimitri, the Russian man who I was sure was going to whack me when I went upstairs to see his budget-friendly futons; however, for the most part, I've been ok. Really Mom, it's all ok.

So tomorrow I start school. This has been a long plan in the making and it is sort of surreal that it is actually happening. When I first got to New York a few days ago, I was so focused on getting the apartment into a state of live-able-ness that I sort of forgot why I was here, but after I picked up my kit (seriously, a 25-pound, industrial-strength duffel bag Full of baking stuff I've never even seen) and my embroidered uniforms, it is starting to sink in that this is really happening.

This blog is not going to be a lot of things, for example, I'm not trying to become the next Julie Powell, but it is a way to let all the people back at home know what's going on in the Big Apple and maybe share a few tips and tricks along the way. I might not always blog about school or about New York. I may rant. Scratch that, I will rant, but hopefully I will be mildly entertaining.