Wait whats your name?

Today was my first day of class and the jet lag finally hit. I woke up at all kinds of crazy times and was wide awake from 1:30am-6am. By 7:30 I was off and ready to brave the very cold streets of London. It is an experience just riding the tube in the morning. You stand next to all kinds of people (all whom look incredibly chic) ready to go to work dressed in: suits, scrubs, and various uniforms. I actually found the school, which for me is an accomplishment in itself. I got there a little early, so I stopped to grab some breakfast at a cafe around the corner from the school...or as the lady at the front desk told me to "stop off and get a coffee". I ordered a fruit cup and some tea. To be honest I was expecting a little fruit cup like the kind you get at McAlisters or Jasons, but no no I was able to pick the fresh fruit I wanted to be hand cut and it was served with home-made greek yogurt...yum! It makes you remember the special touches that family owned restaurants have and the relationships they are able to have with their customers. The owners seemed to know everyones name as different customers came and went throughout the morning.
Everyone was waiting outside the school door entrance on the sidewalk, until the school opened. I met some really amazing people from all over the world. The principal said there are 51 countries being represented at the school. We started out getting our uniforms, towels, knife set (which is SUPER heavy), welcoming packets, and binders full of recipes. We had a welcome from the principal of the school, who is very nice and helpful. We then tried on our uniforms, which I will need to get altered, and our lockers. We then broke out into our groups and met our mentor, who will be teaching many of our classes. My mentor is French and has a very thick accent. He seems strict, but has a good sense of humor and knows what he is talking about. I feel like I will be learning a lot, but it is going to be quite intense. My class consists of students from Russia, Costa Rica, Germany, England, France, a country in the Middle East, and Zambia. It is quite the variety considering there are only a few people in my group and It took me a while to get everyones names. I felt bad, but I found myself saying "wait what is your name again?" many times throughout the day. All the names are so different and some of them I could not even try to pronounce. There are many different accents going on in that school. Thankfully speech path has helped me be able to listen carefully and be able to make out what everyone is saying. We were also given our schedules and none of my days are the same. Some classes I have early in the morning and then some start at 7 in the evening. Every day will be different for the most part. As most first days are it was overwhelming, but very exciting.
I finished off my day trying to find a specialty shoe shop to buy my "cooking shoes". I did end up finding it and although I did have many other things to do, I was exhausted! I called it quits for the day.