It was a Dark and Drizzly Night

I’m trying not to let my hopes up too much but there is a chance that there will be snow tomorrow. That’s what I heard from a lot of people so maybe… just maybe… I was walking back to my room after work and a cold rain was drizzling… enough to remove any desire to visit the lobby tonight. I know, I know I’m slacking here, but I also don’t want to bore you with the same thing ever day either… I took a walk, went to work, had a good/ bad day.. etc… I wouldn’t want to read that and I know you don’t either so I’m trying to keep things somewhat interesting and waiting for something worthwhile to type away about. So, on that note: Today I took a walk and then I went to work.. he he… just kidding. But today I did work Garde Manger. I think the best night on that station yet. Some guy is sick so they had me come up stairs for the day but I am back to pastry on Saturday.

The afternoon was spent making cubes out of cold pig’s knuckle and honeydew…. Munching on my scraps, grabbing a pretzel for a quick snack…. Then cleaning… cleaning… bringing the dirty stuff to the dishroom.. the humdrum things…  and finally taking a break to eat. After dinner I got to work on the dessert side of things. Dessert station is definitely my comfort zone. It’s what I did all last year at my job in Miami. I still mentally stutter sometimes when the waiters and waitresses yell out their orders, but today I had a good system and was able to understand almost everything. Every once in a while a waitress would say something really fast and in the local slang and my boss of the night would see my bewildered face, laugh at me, and then translate, but for the most part I was able to work on my own without much help at all. It felt good. It felt like I was running the station. I enjoyed my mug of beer, and then faced the cold world.

I am surprised at how well I’ve been able to deal with the cold. Granted I’ve been blessed with some delightfully sunny days and have yet to really get a taste of a German winter, but overall I’m doing well. Normally when I can see my breathe I jump back into the house to grab two or three jackets and sweater s and then a blanket for extra flare, but here I just go. I’m very determined to not be that weak Miamian … I’m also layering a lot (go thermal undershirts!) But today I walked out without my jacket on and didn’t feel like an icicle by the time I reach the door.  Five weeks and a day left on this side of the world… I can do this!