1st day at Gerard Mulot!

As you all know...I was VERY nervous about today. I actually slept semi ok last night...despite the fact that I woke up every few hrs to check the clock to make sure I wasn't late. The last time i checked the clock it was 6:29...I was waking up at 6:30! I wasn't paranoid, was i?!?! heehee. So...i am going to be VERY detailed here so nothing is left out. If you have questions...email me :)

I took the metro to work at 7:30 and it actually took a lot quicker than I expected. I arrived there around 7:45 (maybe even earlier). Chef greeted me with a smile and had someone show me upstairs to the changing room. I was shaking in my bones at this point! I came downstairs with my knives (and all my valuables...they told me NOT to leave them in the dressing room!!!) and notebook (leaving my water bottle upstairs- stupid move!) So, when i first got downstairs Chef directed me towards Birke (pronounced Beer with a kee on the end). She starts speaking to me in french. I immediately told myself to chill out and told her that I spoke a little french. She said to me back, "you speak english" I was like "YES!". So she kindly replied that we can speak english if i want. IF I WANT!??! DUH!!!! She is from austria and she moved here 4 years ago. She is very nice! I scored ;) She starts telling me all of this stuff. I was so lost. She goes "do you have anything to write on?" yes...i am a loser I brought a mini notebook KNOWING i would need it. So i start jotting down notes! I'm a student all overagain!!! Anyway...we started out by rolling out dough. BUT i learned how to use the machine! Pretty cool...and a lot harder than thought it would be! From that we cut out different shapes and put them on plaques for later use. Then we began to line some tart molds. I lined round molds and square molds. The square ones are hard! It was like I didn't know how to line a tart mold when I started to do them. I felt like a mornon! She was like...wrong...like this. I don't know how many times i had to do it over!!! But i learned the right way and i feel better! Then all of a sudden someone called "RUNGIS". Rungis is that big market I've been to twice. I was all confused, but Birke called me to come upstairs with her. That happens everyonce in a while when Mr. Mulot brings produce from Rungis back to the store that we have to unload. So all of the workers stopped doing their worked and unloaded the truck. Not much stuff. It was quick. Btw- Mr. Mulot (the owner) is at work almost everyday. I did not meet him today...but it's nice to know he actually works at his own bakery (front of the house and back) and he's a friendly guy that I will be able to get to know! At this point, people are starting to come and go as far as workers. It was strange because EVERYONE (dishwashers, bakers, everyone in the basement) would come up to me and shake my hand or give me a kiss and say hi or bye. I was kinda freaked out. I thought it was a nice thing because I was new. I learned later this is a daily activity in which I HAVE to do it myself aswell. I will discuss more later. Anyway...We get back to our lining of the molds and Salam (not sure if it's that way or Salem but you pronounce it the way I spelled it) came and he always works next to me. He is very nice. He speaks no english...but we managed a few words here and there! He got a few laughs out of me as well :) My next job was to slather on some egg wash onto some puff and then sprinkle on cheese and stack them. Then after that was done (on what felt like 1000 layers) I began to cut them. Literally, before i knew it...it was 1:30! BANG! right in the middle of the day. I was like...time flew before my eyes. I wasn't hungry, tired, OR bored! CRAZY! So...someone walks up to me with a platefull of food and gives it to me. I was like...for me? He was like...Oui! So...I first had to finish doing what I was doing. At that point i was cutting out the cheese things and I had two more layers left so I HAD to finish my work before i could eat. I'm just like that! So i finished my two layers and then went upstairs to FINALLY get my water bottle (i was parched) and started to eat. Today we had duck, peas, carrots, and bread (ofcourse warm!) and we also had dessert...but i will be avoiding those! So...I get homemade lunch EVERYDAY! How cool. I also get a 1 hr lunch break. But for me...that's WAY too long. Plus, I don't know anyone...I have nowhere to go and i'd rather take 15 min, then work and leave early! So I walked around a few times to see what people were doing, I talked a bit to some french people (one guy said he got a job offer from someone in chicago...he can't remember the name but he will tell me tomorrow) and then I started to work again! Oh, I forgot to mention the coffee! BIG thing! I (and whoever else is below the chef) am incharge of coffee...(meaning me...since i'm the stagiere!). It's SOOO precise, the measurements and the way it's made! So...I have to make it and then serve it...Chef first. He actually started banging his cup when he didn't have any! It was funny. He is a pretty cool chef and fun to be around! Ok...so after lunch, Birke showed me another way to cut the cheese sticks. I also asked Birke if she does the same thing EVERYday. She said yes. I told her I would get bored. She told me i was lucky because if I wanted to do other things such as bread, chocolate, macarons, or ice cream...i should just tell the chef and he will move me around so I can experience it all! YAH! Ok..so at that point, she had to leave! AHHH! My english speaker was leaving! What was i to do?!?! She left and told Florin (sp?!) to watch over me. He must be 16?!?! but adorable...with HUGE earrings in his ear! haha. I finished my job and then he asks me in english if i'm done and then proceeds to speak to me in english! I was so confused. He said he spoke a little...so we talked back and forth doing the whole french english thing! Then I waited on Chef until he assigned me to a cute guy (name unknown right now) who made me cut chocolate triangles with tools I have NEVER used before and were actually pretty difficult (BUT FUN!). So...mr cutie showed me how to cut triangles :) Everyonce in a while I would mess up because he kept staring at me and i got nervous. He must be 16 years old...why do i care?!?! hahaha. It was fun! But BOY did i get dirty! My first day and I already need to bring a new uniform! So i finished that and by that point it was 4 pm. I went over to chef and he said that no one else had work for me so I could finish for the day! YAH! I was supposed to stay til 5:30 so I got out early :) He showed me where the schedule was. THEN i got hit with the hard one! Schedule changes weekly! That's fine...i can't complain about that! But this week...I am in at 6 am til 3:30 pm! The metro doesnt run that early :) EEKS! So I guess I'm walkin to work!!!! However I always get two days off a week. Wednesday they are closed (so every wed i will have off) and then one other day a week which changes every week! This week I have friday off! So...I also asked chef if he would reimburse my metro ticket. He told me to talk to the bureau. He called for me and they said ok. He tried to show me how to get there. I understood his directions. So i went downstairs to say goodbye. But being new and my first day...I felt uncomfortable kissing/shaking hands with EVERYONE so i said "Merci a tous et a demain!" And waved!!! I hope they don't find me rude. Tomorrow i'll try the hand shake thing. It's just weird to me. Do they do that in the US?!?! Anyway...I went upstairs to change and then met Liza the Ice Cream girl. She loves my name...so she kept saying it and going "hell yah Penny!" It was funny! She's cool. She said she loves to speak english! SCORE! So i left to go to the bureau. I never got the name of the street, so I couldn't find it. It's ok...I'll go back tomorrow. I then walked home so I could time it. It took exactly 30 minutes (and I talked to mom and dad to!). I came home...did some laundry, made some excellent chicken salad and am now responding to emails galore! I have to go to bed early because it looks like I have to be up at 4am tomorrow! Here's to a good stage! Thank you to everyone for your concern! And stay tuned because i KNOW there is a ton in store!!!