ORIENTATION!

The road to Mecca is shown on the left, LCB is situated at the top of the hill and I shall be walking this street everyday, 6 days a week, in the next 10 weeks. It takes 20+ minutes, half of that uphill with full gear includng a heavy knife/tool kit, hopefully the workout will emulate my gym sessions.

Shortly before 8am I was greeted by 45 excited young others, very young others. Chatted with a 17 year old young man from Singapore (boy is more appropriate) born in 1992, probably dodging the draft. LCB graduates 20,000 annually across 75 countries and Sydney obviously is a location of choice. There are many Asians, notably Koreans. Other nationalities are from China, Singapore, Thailand, Brazil, Taiwan, South Africa and yes Joe, one from Israel who looks like a rabbi, at least the growth on his face does. The scene was college admissions, lots of queues, the 'we care about you becasue we are family now' speeches were deja vu to what we say to our girls at home. The only surprise to everyone, a big shock in fact, was lunch. It was a buffet of - are you ready - fried rice, shredded beef, sweet & sour fish, honey-lemon chicken and soggy vege! You can actually read the minds of all of us lining up, I blamed it on my cough and passed, had some fruits instead. Imagine, the first meal served at Mecca is an all-you-can-eat Chinatown favorites buffet, at LCB!

A handsome young man from Kenya, newly married I think, brought his wife and this is their honeymoon. They could not swollow when I told them my age. A middle age woman from Perth enrolled after being laid off, the result of reading 'The Sharper your Knife the Less You Cry' in which the author, let go by a telecom company in London, made a success at LCB in Paris.

This is the last 'weekend of freedom' before reality sets in. 3 items of top priority : (1) a heavy duty padlock for the locker, 'never leave your knife set in it as LCB is not responsible if lost' (2) a transparent plastic box to hold the food you cooked (3) extra uniform as 'the Chefs will not admit students who are not properly attired, such as dirty uniform'. As for punctuality - Andrea please note - demerits will affect final grades, frequently late students will be asked to 'wait outside'. It is back to school alright, in bold capital!

Starting next Monday April 27th my life will be guided by strenuous schedules and discipline. Mon/Tue/Wed is Basic Cuisine from 1130am to 6pm except Wed evenings to 9pm for 'Theory Classes'. Thu/Fri/Sat is Basic Patisserie from 730am to 2pm except Fri afternoon to 5pm for 'Theory Classes'. The young LCB folks I met all told me how much they admire my 'passion & commitment'. that said my headhunter instincts and x-ray eyes can read these words in their minds, running like the Time Square ticker-tape ..... 'you do not know what you are getting into, good luck, old man'. So be it, to me, Monday cannot come sooner!