BP Lesson 6 (continued)

Right, I finally have some time to continue writing about Lesson 6. I had demo and/or prac classes everyday last week, and I was demo assistant to Chef N in the intermediate pastry demo class this morning. Therefore, it has been a hectic week.

(Aside: In addition to their demo and prac classes, all Basic and Intermediate students must serve as demo assistants at least once during their course. A Basic Pastry student might be asked to serve as a demo assistant to the chef instructor in an Intermediate demo class, and vice versa. The demo assistant is supposed to help the chef instructor set up tools and equipment before the demo, fetch trays, preheat the oven, wash up, and so forth, when asked to do so. Basically, an extra pair of hands in the demo kitchen.

I was lucky to be asked to assist in a chocolate demo class, because I'm really interested in chocolate-making. I didn't have a great deal to do during the demo, so I was able to watch the chef instructor show the Intermediate Pastry students how to make a chocolate box. It was fascinating! I only had to help wash up at the end.)

Anyway, back to Lesson 6. In the 3-hour demo class last Friday, Chef H showed us how to use the brioche and croissant doughs to make the following (students only had to make the ones marked with asterisks):

** Brioche à tête (head brioche)
** Nanterre (loaf brioche)
** Tressée (braided brioche)
Galette (flat, disc-like brioche)
Mousseline brioche (cylinder-shaped brioche)
Fruits brioche (fruit scroll brioche, baked in a round cake pan)
Courrone (crown brioche -- it actually is shaped like a bicycle tyre)

** Butter croissant
** Pain aux raisins
** Pain au chocolat
Danishes (including 1. bear claws; 2. pin wheels; 3. cinnamon twists –-> twists, coils and s-scrolls; 4. triangles)

We really were not expecting the chef to make so many different kinds of danishes and brioches in one class. It certainly was a lot more than was listed in the course outline. Anyhow, I'm glad Chef H decided to do it. It was inspiring stuff! Just see the photos below. (I had never seen so many kinds of brioches, croissants and danishes in the one place. And the best thing was, we all got to taste the fruits of the chef's labour at the end of the demo.)


A feast for the eyes


Bear-claw Danishes in the foreground and butter croissants in the background


Mousseline brioche (cylinder-shaped brioche) in the foreground


Fruits brioche (shaped like a cake, with fruit scrolls inside it), Nanterre (loaf) and galette (disc-like) brioches; Brioche à tête (head brioche) in the top right-hand corner.


Pin-wheel danishes (left) and couronne (crown) brioche (right)


In the practical class, I was able to make the three kinds of brioches without too much difficulty, though I found the Brioche à tête (head brioche) somewhat tricky. To me, it was a lot trickier to work with the croissant dough. I think I did not roll the dough out thin enough, and my pain aux raisins were not stuck too firmly with egg wash, which meant that some of the scrolls "uncurled" slightly during baking. [Note: You don't see the uncurled pain aux raisins in the photo included in the last post, because I ate my "mistakes" as soon as I could. ;-)]

Anyway, I really enjoyed this particular lesson. And I got to enjoy my croissants and brioches for breakfast on the weekend. :-)

Next lesson, the chef will show us what we can make with puff pastry dough. I'm sure that will be enjoyable too.

BP Lesson 6: Yeast Dough (Part II)

Creations with Brioche and Croissant doughs:



These are my creations from last night's practical class (yes, Friday night 7-10pm). From top left corner (clockwise direction): Brioche Nanterre, Brioche à tête, Braided brioche, Pain aux raisins, Pain au chocolat, Croissant.

This entry is short because I am really tired -- it has been a busy week. I will have more to say about the brioches and croissants later. For now, please just enjoy the photo.

BP Lesson 5: Yeast Dough (Part I)

This morning the chef instructor demonstrated the making of the doughs for Croissants, Brioches, Puff Pastry and Savarin. Then, in the afternoon, we had to make the doughs for the croissant, brioche, and puff pastry in our practicals. Completely by hand and from scratch, using raw ingredients like butter, eggs and flour...

I can tell you right now, it was a real workout! We had to knead, pull, roll and work the doughs for quite a long time to get the right consistency. The chefs also went around checking that we had the correct technique(s) for preparing the doughs because it really makes a difference to the resulting product. At LCB Ottawa, they really emphasise the traditional techniques for making these doughs.

I reckon it took me at least 100 minutes to prepare all the doughs and to make two turns each in the croissant and puff pastry doughs. Even though the pastry practical kitchen is air-conditioned, I still worked up a sweat. My arms are a bit sore now, from all the "exercise". The chef joked that we don't need to go to the gym this week because we've done our gym session in the pastry kitchen. :-)

Tomorrow (Friday), we will make croissants, pain au chocolat and brioches out of the doughs (note: we needed to rest the doughs overnight before using them), and do two more turns in the puff pastry dough (and two more on Monday).

(Aside: the term "turns" basically refers to the technique we use to create the layering in puff pastry. We need to make at least six turns in the puff pastry by early next week.)

Hopefully, my croissants and brioches turn out well tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

BP Lesson 4: Tarts

In this lesson, Chef H showed us the following tarts:
* Apple Tart (pate brisee, apple compote, topped with sliced apples)
* Strawberry Tart (pate sucree, mousseline cream, strawberries, Chantilly cream finish)
* Lemon Tart (pate sucree, almond cream, lemon cream [aka lemon curd], Italian meringue, decorated with sliced almond)

In the practicals, we had to make the lemon tart, which is apparently a popular restaurant dessert in France.

Below is a photo of my lemon tart. I'm generally happy with it, since it is my first effort. Chef CF's feedback was that the meringue should have been slightly stiffer, and the tart shell was a touch too brown on the edges. I personally think my lemon curd was a bit soft too.

The good thing was, my tart shell did not crack after baking. I'm particularly glad about that, because I know it was a problem for some of the students in the other group.



Anyway, I know what I need to do to improve the lemon tart, especially in terms of technique and timing. It has been a good learning process.

PS. I burnt my knuckles in the oven while removing the lemon tart at the end. It is only a few tiny blisters, so I will be fine. I dipped my hand in an ice bath as soon as I got home, and it helped. It is certainly a lot less painful than when I was burnt by hot oil spatters in the home kitchen. Some other people in my practical class burnt their hands too. It's all part of becoming a pastry chef, I guess. Better to learn the "hard/painful lessons" now than during the exam.

BP Lesson 3: Creams & Fillings

We covered the following creams and meringues in Lesson 3. The chef showed us all of the following, but we only had to make some of them (the ones marked with asterisks).

** Crème Patissière (pastry cream)
** Crème Anglaise (custard sauce)
** Ganache (chocolate ganache)
** Crème d’amande (almond cream)
Crème Chantilly (Chantilly cream)
Crème Bavaroise (Bavarian cream)
Crème au beurre (buttercream)
French Meringue
Swiss Meringue
** Italian Meringue

During the practicals, Chef CF was in charge of my group, and I found I did better in class. I am terrified of Chef H (who was supervising another group of students today), and I get really nervous when Chef H is watching (Chef H is always telling me to relax, which makes me even more nervous). In contrast, I don't feel nervous with Chef CF. I guess I am just more comfortable with certain personalities.

Today I was relaxed and I got everything done on time, and all the creams turned out nicely. Even the Italian meringues were good. I did burn my middle finger when testing the syrup for the soft ball stage (which is 120 degrees Celsius). (Aside: We use syrup for making Italian meringue, and we have to dip our fingers in a bowl of ice water, then scoop up some syrup in the pot with our chilled fingers and dip the syrup in the ice water, to see if the syrup has reached the soft ball stage.)

The reason why I burned my finger was because it touched the bottom of the pot when I was scooping up some syrup. Now I have a tiny blister on the finger, but it is nothing. I imagine there will be more blisters when we do sugar pulling in Superior Pastry.

In the next lesson, we are making a lemon tart, and we will need all the skills and techniques we have learned in the first three lessons.

Getting Around Ottawa by Bus

Since I do not drive, the only way I have been able to go to my French language classes (yes, I am attending an Alliance Francaise class every Saturday morning) is by bus.



The bus ticketing system in Ottawa (in the downtown area and surrounding suburbs) works like this:

If you pay cash, then it is $3 per trip. Exact change required. The bus driver does not handle the money - you have to put the money into a box at the front of the bus, and the driver issues you a paper ticket, which has some information printed on it.

If you purchase the green-and-orange paper tokens ($1 per token), then you only need two of them to get a paper ticket on the bus. Basically, you save a dollar per trip (compared with paying by cash). You can get these paper tokens from places like the Seven Eleven.

The paper ticket you are issued on the bus will have the expiry time printed on it. Passengers, after paying their fare, get 90 minutes to use the ticket on any of the buses in the downtown area and nearby suburbs. If they are organised and can complete their errands in 90 minutes, they can actually use that ticket for a round trip.

I have been using the paper tokens to catch a bus to the shopping mall, do my shopping quickly (within 90 minutes), and then hop on a bus to get back home. All for just $2.

If you want to make many trips on the same day, and you need more than 90 minutes, then the Day Pass is the best bet. You can get a red Day Pass Voucher from the Seven Eleven as well. It costs $6.50. With the voucher, you get on a bus and exchange for a paper ticket that allows you an unlimited number of trips for the day.

The traffic in Ottawa is not bad. I have not seen any traffic jams, even though the roads can get quite busy at rush hour. It sort of reminds me of Canberra. Everything moves along at a sedate pace.

BP Lesson 2: Biscuits

In Lesson 2, the chef instructor covered the following cakes yesterday:
Génoise (Genoese sponge cake)
Biscuit à la cuillère (Lady fingers)
Biscuit Roulé (Rolled sponge)
Dacquoise (Nut cake)

However, we students only had to make the sponge cake and the lady fingers in our practical class today.

This here is my effort. It was my first time piping and baking lady fingers, so the piping was a bit uneven, but I think it will improve with some practice. I am going to do more baking this weekend -- I want to see if I can pipe the lady fingers more evenly.

I have already started to do more piping practice with cheap shaving cream, because the chef told us we would need to make meringue some time next week. To me, the consistency of the shaving cream is like meringue, so it is a good way to practise.

HACCP

What is HACCP? It stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, and is basically related to hygiene issues in the foodservice industry.

That's what the 3-hour seminar we had today covered. We went through some of the major safe food handling techniques and the critical control points. Being a foodie, I've always been quite conscious of food hygiene issues, but this seminar made me even more aware of issues re: food poisoning, because it can destroy a chef's career just like that. Things like sanitation controls, preventing cross-contaminations, temperature control (this was a big discussion point in our seminar), food storage issues, and so on were discussed.

The Canadian food industry had a major crisis recently, with dozens of people sick and 15 people reportedly dying from listeriosis food poisoning. The Maple Leaf Foods Inc. was apparently accountable for the recent outbreak of listeriosis - samples of their deli meats tested positive for the strain(s) of listeriosis that killed those people. I heard this on the news about a week after I arrived in Canada, and it really had me worried.

After attending the seminar on HACCP today, I realise how critical it is to not only put in place a system of safe food handling, but also provide adequate training for food handlers.

I suppose we should always be vigilant. Better to be safe than sorry.

Piping Practice

This morning we attended a piping workshop. The chef instructor showed us the correct techniques for piping buttercream and chocolate.

As you can see from the photo, the chef has had many years of practice. His piping is so neat and beautiful.

I was too embarrassed to take a picture of my own piping (besides, I had buttercream all over my hands, which was not very good). More piping practice needed between now and exam time (about 9 weeks).

I am going to get some nutella (which is similar in consistency to buttercream) to practise with this weekend. One of my housemates suggested using cheap shaving cream to practise with. I think that is a good idea too.

Viva Mexico & Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival

Last night my Mexican housemates celebrated the Mexican Independence Day (Sep 16) by cooking up a storm and treating all of us to a lovely homemade Mexican meal. I have to say, the food (esp. the sopes) was delicious!!!

The sopes are the round, tart-like things you see in the photos.

The Mexican housemates also served up horchata (a refreshing, rice-based Mexican drink), and I liked this a lot. It sort of reminded me of sweetened soy milk, but the flavour is much milder.

Later in the evening, other housemates brought out the homemade mooncakes to celebrate the Chinese mid-autumn festival (Sep 14). These were really nice too. (Pity it rained all day in Ottawa yesterday, so we didn't get a chance to see the full moon.)



It is great to live in this multicultural (and multilingual) household, especially when the housemates are pretty good cooks. I am looking forward to the Canadian Thanksgiving (mid-October) and Halloween (end of October).

Master vs Novice

Here you have two batches of Petits Sablés Nantais. Guess which was made by the chef instructor, and which by me (the novice who is making it for the first time)? The difference is obvious, isn't it?

Anyhow, there's still time to practise before the exams. :-)

Locker Rooms

The School provides students with a change room with lockers. We are not really allowed to wear our uniforms outside of the School (for hygiene reasons), so we change into and out of uniform at School.

Pastry Practical: Kitchen Etiquette

In the first practical class a couple of days ago, Chef H gave us a tour of the pastry kitchen and told us some of the rules we must adhere to. For example:

(1) We have to wash the sifters ourselves; we cannot ask the dishwashers to do it for us. We also have to wash our own tools. (Aside: The dishwashers are employed to wash items such as mixing bowls and pots -- we use 3 to 6 of these per person per class, so the School hires dishwashers to help out.)

(2) No knives to be put into the soapy water in the kitchen sink. No hot items (e.g. hot baking trays) allowed on the chilled granite benchtop. Chef H joked that we would have to work for him for 8 years without pay if we damage the benchtop by putting hot trays on it. Seriously, the School does provide students with quality tools to work with, and it is up to us to take good care of them.

(3) We have to clean up the kitchen and refill the ingredients for the next class at the end of our class.

(4) When the oven timer goes off, we must tend to the oven right away. We cannot let it continue beeping. If everyone allowed their oven timers to continue beeping, it would defeat the purpose of having a timer, because no one would know whose timer was beeping in a noisy kitchen.

(5) No one is to remove the salt container from the corner of the kitchen. It stays in the designated corner, and we take only what we need for the recipe (e.g. 3 grams) and then return to our station. We are not to scoop a few spoonfuls into a container for later use. Reason: When put into a mixing bowl, salt looks like sugar, and it is easy to confuse the two. We wouldn't want students to put 50g of salt (instead of sugar) into their cakes now, would we?

(6) When we open an oven door, we have to yell "OVEN OPEN"; if we are walking behind someone, we yell "BEHIND YOU", and if we are carrying something hot, we say "HOT POT". This is for the safety of all the students, since we work in a somewhat confined space. (Aside: All 38 of us attend the Basic Pastry demo class together in the demo room with ceiling mirrors and cameras, but then we are split into smaller groups for the prac class. There are about 13 students in my prac group, and they all have to fit into the kitchen you see in the photo.)

(7) Later in the term, all the students will take turns being the "sous chef" in the prac classes. The job of the "sous chef" is to turn up 15 minutes early to help the chef instructor prepare ingredients and lay out tools for the class, as well as organise the cleaning up of the kitchen at the end of class. It is to get students to develop their organisational skills, and possibly communication skills (since you will need to ask your classmates to perform certain cleaning duties).

(8) Always keep spare batteries handy for the electronic kitchen scale and thermometer in our toolkit. For example, should the batteries give up the ghost in the middle of exams, we would have replacements to use right away. (It has happened to other students before, that is why Chef H reminded us to prepare spare batteries.)

As you can probably tell, I am learning a lot in a short space of time. :-)

BP Lesson 1: Pie Doughs

In Lesson 1, Chef H covered the following basic doughs and recipes in the demonstration class:

Doughs:
Short Crust Dough (Pâte Brisée)
Short Cake Dough (Pâte Sablée)
Pie Dough (Pâte à foncer)
Sweet Dough (Pâte Sucrée)

Recipes:
Chocolate-and-vanilla short-cake (Damiers, based on Pâte Sablée)
Small shortbreads (Petits Sablés Nantais, based on Pâte Sablée)

In the demonstration class, the chef instructor also showed us the correct techniques for preparing the doughs. The best thing about studying at LCB Ottawa is the emphasis on students learning to work with raw ingredients and making all the recipes from scratch. In Basic Pastry, we do not get to use machines to mix the doughs or to whisk meringue. Everything has to be done by hand. The School's rationale is that students need to learn to use their hands to feel the texture and consistency of what they are making. It is good training indeed.

Furthermore, LCB only gives you the ingredients list for all recipes, but not the instructions on how to make something. Students have to attend demonstration classes and take their own notes. If you miss a demonstration class (e.g. if you are more than 15 minutes late, you don't get to attend the class), you do not get to participate in the practical class, because you would not have seen how the chef instructor made something. And that (missed demo+prac) counts as two absences. More than four absences, you have failed the course. So, it really teaches students discipline. (Aside: At Wilbrod House, the dining room clock is set 20 minutes fast, so that we wouldn't be late to class. Everyone in the house knows it. No housemate is allowed to reset the clock, because it would throw everyone off.)

Anyway, yesterday I attended the practical class for the first time, and it was quite a learning experience. The chef instructor expects us to come to class knowing exactly what we have to do. We can bring some notes to help us to remember how to make a recipe, but we are not encouraged to consult the extensive notes we took during the demo class. Besides, there's no time for it -- the practical class is really not the time to start reading your notes and wondering what to do with the ingredients. All of us basically run through the process for each recipe in our minds before we go to practical class.

All in all, I was satisfied with my performance in the first practical class, even though I found it slightly overwhelming. I did make one small mistake (forgetting to add the salt and milk into the sweet dough at the appropriate time), but thank goodness Chef H (who was walking around the kitchen checking everyone's progress) caught it in time. I'm sure I will feel more at ease in the kitchen as the term wears on ...

FAQ about me

I've been in Ottawa 10 days now, and the typical questions I get asked by people at LCB are:

Q: Where are you from?
Me: Australia.

Q: Isn't there an LCB school in Sydney?
Me: Yes.

Q: So why did you choose LCB Ottawa?
Me: Because it costs about the same in terms of fees, and (IMHO) the cost of living in Ottawa is slightly lower than in Sydney, and besides, I can travel (around Canada) and learn about another culture. Wouldn't you do the same if you were me?

Q: So, you are studying pastry. Why pastry, and not cuisine?
Me: Because pastry is an art that I want to learn more about.
(Of course, I sometimes go on to elaborate on my answer, but I cannot mention any of it here, because I would get into serious trouble if I did. People I speak to often have strong opinions about whether cuisine or pastry is better, and I just don't want to offend anyone. Seriously.)

Q: Is this your first time doing a diploma like this (i.e. pastry diploma)?
Me: Yes, but I have a university degree prior to this.

Q: So why did you decide to take this diploma?
Me: Career change. I just want to do something I enjoy, rather than do something I have to do to earn a living.

Squirrels -- look but don't touch

One of the things I have had to get used to in Ottawa is the ubiquitous squirrel. You see these creatures everywhere. I think nearly every house has a resident squirrel living in a tree somewhere.

This photo was taken at Strathcona Park (not far from Wilbrod House, and across the road from LCB), and shows the two different types of squirrels that I often see here. You see them digging in the garden, rummaging in the trash cans, scurrying up trees, crossing the roads in their characteristic "little bounces" (that's my first impression of them anyway)...

It is September now, and I guess that is when they are quite active. They must eat while the nuts and acorns are plentiful (i.e. now) and before winter comes along.

Most of these squirrels are not really afraid of people. When you walk past, they simply sit up and watch you, making sure you are on your way before resuming their activities. The locals tend to simply ignore them, but I find them amusing (sometimes, entertaining), so I would often stop to look at them (and even take pictures of them) on my way to the shopping mall.

I would never attempt to get any closer than about two metres -- I have been told not to try to touch these creatures because some of them could carry rabies.

First Day of Classes

Today we had the first day of Basic Pastry classes. Chef H gave a 3-hour seminar on the basic ingredients we will be using in the course (it was literally a non-stop, 3-hour class, with all of us listening intently, constantly scribbling and taking notes). He covered things like dairy products, eggs, sugar, flour, chocolate and miscellaneous ingredients (e.g. nuts, spices, yeast, gelatin).

I was able to concentrate for 3 hours without falling asleep, and that is a testament to Chef H's dynamic presentation style. He scribbles things on the whiteboard and explains each item systematically. Sometimes he pauses to pick up the products from the kitchen bench and passes them to students so that we can see samples of sugar, spices, nuts, nut paste, vanilla bean, etc. He even encourages us to smell and touch some of the products. It reminded me of the spice appreciation classes I took at Herbie's (in Sydney) a couple of years ago.

Anyway, I was exhausted at the end of the seminar... I looked at the pages of notes I had, and decided I would have to retype them, if I wanted any chance of remembering the tons of information. I would also have to search for further information on some of the things mentioned in class, because I did not fully grasp some of the concepts. There's definitely some information gaps in my knowledge (even at this basic level) that needs to be filled.

Although Chef H gave us the chance to ask questions in class (and he always did his best to answer them), I think I would feel more comfortable searching for my own answers first, and then approaching him if I still have any questions.

So, that was the first day of class. It was intense, but intellectually stimulating.

Orientation Day

Yesterday was Orientation Day at LCB. I was up nice and early. This was the day I'd been waiting for. I felt excited but not nervous. Got to School before 10am, went up the steps and into the building. There I saw about 50 other new students, all with the same eager anticipation. That's when the nerves hit me. I haven't felt this nervous in a long time...

The administrative staff gave us the spiel about the school, the history, the rules, etc., and introduced us to the chefs. I have to say the chefs looked somewhat uncomfortable standing together in a row (like a line-up) at the front of Salle Cointreau (a demonstration room), but they were an intimidating sight. I was in awe of them.

Anyway, we were reminded numerous times not to be late to class, or to miss any classes (if at all possible), because if we miss more than a couple of classes, we wouldn't be able to take the exam at the end of term. And I can see the staff are serious about enforcing this rule. Absences due to illness count toward total absences. They even went as far as to advise us to do whatever it takes to stay healthy.

We were also told to "suck it up" if we find we don't quite get along with some of the people in our classes. In a real-life kitchen, we might have to work with people we don't necessarily like anyway. It's all part of the training.

Later, we got a tour of the School, had our ID pictures taken, collected our toolkit and uniforms (we had to try on the uniforms for size). I do not remember much of this now, as I think the information overload and a feeling of being overwhelmed by the occasion simply caused my memory to shut down. I probably just looked like a stunned mullet.

It was around 12noon before we had everything sorted out. I walked back to Wilbrod House and started putting my initial onto all my tools (using nail polish). Then I washed my new uniforms, which were stiff and quite uncomfortable -- I thought washing them might make them softer and more comfortable. Then I spent at least 40 minutes trying to iron the creases out of the uniforms. That's when I thought, "What have I gotten myself into now?" I haven't had to iron anything in a long time because I used to wear clothes that didn't require ironing.

The rest of the day was spent cooking (I cooked enough for a couple of meals) and getting myself mentally ready for the class today.

Make your own (insert name of dish)

A wonderful thing about living in Wilbrod House is that most of my housemates here are quite capable of whipping up all kinds of dishes (either from memory or from following a recipe) at short notice. For example, if someone suddenly fancies chocolate ice cream, then the ingredients for ice cream are gathered and the ice cream maker comes out of the kitchen cupboard, and someone gets to work (since people here are always eager to practise their skills), and we get treated to homemade ice cream. It is wonderful to be able to make a dish from scratch, and do it in a relatively short time.

The kitchen and dining room form the hub of the house. There's often some food left on the dining table for everyone to try. Cakes made at school are brought home, people often experiment with new recipes and ask for feedback ... It is just a nice environment to be in.

I have been here about a week, and I have settled in nicely. Tomorrow is Orientation Day at LCB. I am looking forward to it.

Wilbrod House

Even though I have only been here 4 days, I have to say it has been quite an interesting experience living in the house at 476 Wilbrod St, Ottawa.

I have at least 15 housemates, and they come from many different parts of the world. There is a good mix of personalities and genders, which make for interesting group dynamics. Most are younger than me, and all except one are attending Le Cordon Bleu (LCB). The owner of the house lives here too. Regardless of how different we are, food brings us together. We share this passion together. Our conversations and activities revolve around it.

The owner DF, an LCB alumnus, makes sure we adhere to a set of house rules, and she enforces them. For instance, everyone has to clean up after themselves, everyone is in charge of cleaning one particular area/aspect of the house each week -- there is a roster on the refrigerator in the dining room. If someone messes up the house and does not clean up, then s/he gets fined. There are video cameras in the kitchen and dining rooms to prove who left the mess, thereby allowing the owner to enforce the rules.

Fortunately, DF also gives us enough (physical and psychological) space to be ourselves, to have fun, to relax, to socialise, etc.

It does not mean there have not been any problems, but issues or problems do get resolved. The roster system put in place by DF ensures that we can at least function as a household, even when under a great deal of pressure and stress (e.g. during exam time).

The House is well-equipped with all the mod con. Furthermore, we have all the necessary specialist tools and equipment to practise what we have learnt from LCB, which is great. Before I came here, I was worried about how I was going to get all the equipment and enough practice to pass the exams. But now I am reassured.

So far ...

I have been in Ottawa for less than 24 hours, though I have been in Canada for about 2 weeks (sight-seeing in some of the major cities, as I make my way east). I am still settling in at my shared accommodation in Wilbrod St, which is virtually behind Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa. Classes do not start for another week, so I will have time to adjust to the new environment.

The biggest adjustment I have had to make so far is getting used to the fact that they drive on the "wrong" side of the road here. Old habits die hard. Several times, I have found myself on the wrong side of the road for catching a bus that is heading in a particular direction, or caught myself looking in the wrong direction for cars when crossing a street, so that's something to work on.

Another "culture shock" I received while travelling around this lovely country is the scarcity of public toilets (they call them "public washrooms" here). I swear I will never complain about the relatively high tax rates in Australia, as long as the local/state/federal governments continue to provide public toilets everywhere. I mean, I don't even mind if they are the pay-per-use type of toilets. In Vancouver, for instance, I walked around a tourist area for about 40 minutes before I could locate a toilet in a shopping centre/mall. Not all shopping malls have public washrooms (in fact, many have signs that say "no public washrooms available here"), and most restaurants here don't either. Perhaps Vancouver can lift its game, seeing as it will be hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Maybe we Australians take public toilets for granted, and we expect them to be available everywhere. Maybe no one else expects every shopping mall to have public toilets ...