Day One

Looked for jobs on Craigslist today and filled out an application to be a Cook's Assistant at a local cooking school/kitchen shop- I'm on my way! I think I want to use this time to test out the waters, try some things that I have never done but have always wanted to try. I found out yesterday that I may be able to start grad school this winter instead of next summer like I had thought, so I have a few months to kill until I know what my schedule will be like and can really try to get a full time, more permanant job. In the meanwhile, why not coast a bit, experiment- no better way to build a net than to cast out lines in a few different directions, right?

I'm trying to get up the nerve to walk into a flower shop down the street from my current job and ask them if they're hiring or if they take apprentices for flower arranging. I've always wanted to work in a flower shop, but all of the adds I've seen for florists require "previous experience". That's a catch 22 I've always wondered about- how do you get "previous experience" if no one will hire you without it? Are there people being trained as teenagers in flower arrangement? Is there some college somewhere that offers a degree in flowers? I helped my Mom arrange flowers and piddle around her garden a lot when I was a kid, does that count? I know the difference between a zinnia and a gerber daisy, a hydrangea and a lilac, a day lily and a calla lily- does that count?

Assisting a cooking class would be fun too. I love food, I love to cook, I love to prep and that should pretty much cover it. I like the precision of cooking- measuring out ingredients into neat cups and tablespoons- and I also like the recklessness- a pinch of this, a dab of that. It would also be a teaching experience, which would be great too. Of course, teaching English you would hardly get to eat your students tests (Yummmmmmmmm-paper...).