Thursday, October 23, 2008
The Return of David.
A little update. My poor classmate, David, after being definitively removed from the program, has returned. His parent's came into the school and insisted that he be allowed to continue. He is one unhappy camper. Other than that, he is a pretty all round good guy. I hope he gets to do something productive that he enjoys very soon. Meanwhile, he looks like he is actually in Hell's Kitchen.
Is it wrong to love bacon this much???
I know I haven't blogged in a long time, but there is a good reason. Over the past four weeks I have become seriously addicted to bacon. You may be wondering how bad can it be. . . is she hyperbolizing? Well the answer is no, I am not. As part of our Block 3 duties, the class is responsible for cooking breakfast for the cafeteria. This involves baking off three very large trays of bacon in the oven every morning. By the time breakfast has been served there is often half a hotel pan of bacon leftover. Why we don't cook less bacon, I do not know. This daily ritual has had the unfortunate side effect of making bacon part of my daily routine. I have tried to forgo the luscious pork product, but if this block has taught me anything it is that I have absolutely no willpower. I have eaten so much bacon over the last twenty days that I feel I am in a constant state of dehydration and I may have given myself gout. I only pray that when I get to the stock, soups, sauces, and salads kitchen in Block 4, I don't find out I have a veloute addiction as well.
Anyway, I gave up fighting the urge to eat the beautiful crispy, fatty, wonderful bacon. Now I simply bow to the urge. I only have one day left and then it's cold turkey (or bacon) for me.
For your viewing pleasure here are a few fabulous bacon products.
Bacon straight up . . . No apologies.
Bacon Bandages: Makes ow-ees okay.
Forget Footloose, put your hand up if you've seen Tremors more than twice.
Someone is a marketing genius.
Oooh yeah!Thursday, October 9, 2008
Farewell dear David. . . alas, we never knew you.
Well, it is official, one person has been dropped from the program because of shoddy attendance. Usually at the end of Block 4 (Term 1) , some students are invited to leave due poor attitude or shoddy attendance. So, one must be working extraordinarily hard to be given the boot early.
Here are my thoughts on David's departure. David was a nice enough classmate. He never caused a ruckus or was unkind, but you could tell he did not want to be in the kitchen. There was no fire in his belly and he seemed pretty lost. David is only 18 and I imagine that there was some sort of insistence that he attend a post secondary establishment. I suppose cook was a real come down for his parents as it did not fall into the three generally, approved professions for good Asian children: doctor, pharmacist, and accountant.
I feel sad for David. He clearly was not doing what he loves. I don't think he knows what he loves yet. This is a situation I have seen many of my highschool students in. Over my eight years at Britannia, I would have conversations with young men and women (who were almost always Chinese) who wanted that one year off because they didn't know what they wanted. Or, they wanted to go into Fine Arts or Humanities and they were in despair because their parents felt that only in Science or Business would they find a job that would make them a lot of money. Inevitably, they would follow a path that was not their own and fail miserably. And then they would follow the same path again or drop out completely.
It is a sad state of affairs. There are so many young boys and girls who I've seen grow up and stop singing, painting, acting, and laughing because they need to find the perfect job and make enough money to make their families proud. Or on the converse side, they pursue no education, training, or self improvement because they feel they are destined to be famous. In the end, such young people end up squandering their lives working in menial jobs and focusing on vacuous pursuits such as beauty and being fashionable. I am not advocating the reckless abandonment of one's responsibility to be a contributing member of society, but I feel that many people discard their creative potential in favour of becoming cookie cutter consumers. And this is done with no consciousness.
In the end, I hope David finds something he really loves. I hope it isn't fast cars, Ed Hardy T's, and clubbing. I hope he ends up being something great.
Here are my thoughts on David's departure. David was a nice enough classmate. He never caused a ruckus or was unkind, but you could tell he did not want to be in the kitchen. There was no fire in his belly and he seemed pretty lost. David is only 18 and I imagine that there was some sort of insistence that he attend a post secondary establishment. I suppose cook was a real come down for his parents as it did not fall into the three generally, approved professions for good Asian children: doctor, pharmacist, and accountant.
I feel sad for David. He clearly was not doing what he loves. I don't think he knows what he loves yet. This is a situation I have seen many of my highschool students in. Over my eight years at Britannia, I would have conversations with young men and women (who were almost always Chinese) who wanted that one year off because they didn't know what they wanted. Or, they wanted to go into Fine Arts or Humanities and they were in despair because their parents felt that only in Science or Business would they find a job that would make them a lot of money. Inevitably, they would follow a path that was not their own and fail miserably. And then they would follow the same path again or drop out completely.
It is a sad state of affairs. There are so many young boys and girls who I've seen grow up and stop singing, painting, acting, and laughing because they need to find the perfect job and make enough money to make their families proud. Or on the converse side, they pursue no education, training, or self improvement because they feel they are destined to be famous. In the end, such young people end up squandering their lives working in menial jobs and focusing on vacuous pursuits such as beauty and being fashionable. I am not advocating the reckless abandonment of one's responsibility to be a contributing member of society, but I feel that many people discard their creative potential in favour of becoming cookie cutter consumers. And this is done with no consciousness.
In the end, I hope David finds something he really loves. I hope it isn't fast cars, Ed Hardy T's, and clubbing. I hope he ends up being something great.
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