Saturday, August 19, 2006

 

The good, the bad and the ugly...

The first weekend has arrived and I'm finding that having Saturday AND Sunday's off is wonderfully new. On Guam I worked 6 days a week and Saturday's off was unheard of. Even if I took off of work to race canoes in the morning, I was usually back at the office for the remainder of the afternoon.

My classes are from 12:30 to 5:30, Monday through Friday. The two classes are Basic Skills Lab and Safety and Sanitation. They are more or less reviews for me as I had already taken these classes on Guam but let me tell you, they really stress knife cuts here. I was sure julienne, battonet, brunoise and the like would be easy peasy for me but I'm finding that I've still got to try just as hard. My chef instructor is not a hard ass but he still breaks out the ruler to be sure those julienned carrots are exactly 1/8"x 1/8"" x 2 1/2".

My roommate is a lovely girl from Corona, Southern California. Domini is 17 (will be 18 in November) and a Mormon. Which means no drinking (aside from the fact that she is underage), no smoking, no swearing and no sex...she's waiting for marriage. The best thing about it is that she doesn't push her faith on me or anyone. Imagine, a Mormon and a Heathen living harmoniously.

Domini and I have made a really tight knit group of friends. Sam, Rick, Jeff, Brad, and Juan.

Sam we met at orientation. Actually, I met Sam prior to orientation when I was waiting for water to boil in the kitchen and he was searching for a cup of coffee.

Domini met Rick online through MySpace. He is or was a Mormon...the verdict is still out on that.

Rick's roommate Jeff. Jeff started about a month before us so he's been able to give Rick all the low down on what to expect, which Rick passes on to the rest of us whether we like it or not :)

Brad lives at Hosteling Int'l as does Rick and Jeff. Sam met Brad at orientation and in no time flat, they decided that Brad will move into Vantaggio with Sam once Sam's roommate left.

Juan is Sam's next door neighbor at Vantaggio. He's got a single which means no roomate...lucky him.

It's strange how we all came together as we did and are as tight knit although none of us have known each other more than a week. The other thing is that most of my friends are underaged (Under 21)...The loveliest thing is that they all think I'm their age...haha!

Don't get me wrong, there are other people I also hang out with...others who are more my age. My friend "M" in Hawaii has a twin sister also, "M", here in SF. Last weekend we went to a Japanese Festival in Japantown where some of M's friends had a food booth selling malasadas and grilled corn. Well they had purchased WAY too many cases of corn and by the day's end we were more or less giving them away at 4/$1. I was a great salesperson and by the close of the day, we had reduced what looked like 18 cases of corn to 4 cases. That night "R" treated us to a fabulous Japanese restaurant in San Mateo. The Hamachi and Tuna Belly was some of the best I've ever tasted.

Right now I'm trying to get my affairs in order now that I've got a PO Box and a new mobile phone. My computer is shot. I had the hard drive removed which I had in my checked bags while the rest of the tower went via US Post. I installed the HD and purchased the monitor & keyboard but it's not working. My time online is limited to the two available public computers in the building. In fact, I'm closing this post now as there is someone waiting to get on. I just can't hang on the pc if someone is looking over my shoulder.

Friday, August 11, 2006

 

The City By The Bay

Well I've finally arrived in San Francisco. Today is actually my second day. I might have posted on day one except I spent most of the day sleeping...except for the short jaunt to Walgreens to pick up some shampoo, toothpaste and other very necessary sundries. Today will find me going to my school - it's 2 blocks away, going to Costco - more than 2 blocks away and Bed Bath and Beyond - even further than Costco. Classes start on Monday and if my boxes have arrived, I'll need to figure out how to lug three 18 x 18 x 24 boxes down two blocks...wish me luck. Oh...my room is exceptionally small.

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