First day of school, Stravland initiation
T.W: Hamha! T.W here, 2 days ago I was accepted into the Stravland Ham-Ham culinary academy with a great recommendation from Liz and Jonas. It was tough leaving all my new friends but this was a huge step towards my dream of becoming a master chef. Today is the day I arrive; I can't wait to be settled.
Monday
7AM
The H-7 Rouroni soon landed in the Rothenberg town square.
Asura: Rothenberg town square, everybody out.
T.W with his suitcases in paw got out of the plane. Asura came from the pilot station and helped carry his suitcases.
T.W: Thanks, so how far is Stravland?
Asura: It's just a little bit a ways from here, you can't miss it.
T.W: Thanks Asura, for giving me a ride here.
Asura: No prob, good luck out there.
T.W took his bike out of the plane and hitched his suitcases on it-
T.W: Thanks, I'll see in 2 months!
So with his held high and rides off and Asura gets back in his plane and takes off into the sky. T.W rode around looking at all the cool stores and shops on his way to Stravland.
T.W: I've never seen places like this back home, I can't wait to see the local fresh foods and maybe do some furniture shopping.
Soon after much cycling he reaches the entrance to the school.
T.W: Well this is it, Stravland Ham-Ham culinary academy.
He chained his bike to the bike rack and continued inside. Soon he found himself in orientation where four other students were and a ham with broad shoulders and somewhat bushy eyebrows paced back and forth behind a chalkboard with writing that read "First day�.
Guy: Listen up my future adversaries, my name is Sorncho Russell. That's Mr. Russell to you. You have been selected out of many possible applicants to test and improve you natural ability of the culinary arts. Your presentation, creativity, and balance will all be finely critiqued so please be sure to do your best and follow our rules and guidelines. Any questions?
T.W raised his hand-
Mr. Russell: Yes.
T.W: So when do we start cooking?
Mr. Russell: I'm glad you asked, its starts now. Follow me to the kitchen everyone.
So in a straight line they headed for the kitchen, while walking down the hall T.W noticed someone twittering nervously behind him. It was a hamster a little small than him and was holding an old cookbook.
T.W: Hey there, are you okay?
Hamster: Yeah, I'm just nervous.
T.W: Well its okay, I'm a little nervous too. It's my first time in cooking school.
Hamster: Me too, I hope I do well. What's your name?
T.W: I'm T.W, it's great to meet you um-
Hamster: I'm Kiki, I hope we get to know each other better.
T.W: Me too.
Soon the line enters a kitchen with a sign outside the door that reads "Kitchen 1-A.' Soon everyone finds there own station with T.W and Kiki having a station next to each other and Mr. Russell who stood in the middle in front of everyone said-
Mr. Russell: Before you can attend you must prove yourselves worthy. You'll have 3 hours to create a signature dish of your choice, we have 9 refrigerators fully stocked and 7 pantries hopefully having all you need, please take the next 5 minutes getting the idea for what you'll do and gather ingredients to better work under the clock.
Therefore, everyone starts getting the things and putting them at their stations and T.W notices someone familiar.
T.W: Ari?
Ari: T.W? When did you start here?
After putting more of his ingredients at his station, he quickly goes over to greet his friend.
T.W: It's great to see you again. When did you apply here?
Ari: Oh, I�m not a full time student, I�ve been taking weekly classes for tea making, I�m going to take both the Tearoom intensive, and the Coffee house 101 classes part time. It was optional to take the orientation for part time students but I decided I wanted to. A few weeks ago, I had Henrietta, Liz, and Jo over for tea and Henrietta thought I'd
T.W: That's great, I want you to meet someone-
He quickly goes to Kiki and brings her over.
T.W: Ari this is Kiki, she's a new student like me. Kiki this is my friend Ari.
Kiki: Hello.
Ari: Hello there, it�s nice to meet you.
Kiki: Well we better get started soon, we don't want to use up the time talking.
Therefore, they quickly gather all they need and soon the clock starts ticking, everyone was working hard on their dishes. Much time passed and everyone was near finished.
Mr. Russell: Time will be up in, three, 2, 1, times up! Please bring your dishes up to the front table.
Everyone does so and they each take a turn explaining their recipes and Mr. Russell tastes them and puts them in a scale of 1-10 for nine main areas. Soon it was Kiki's turn, she was nervous as she held her old cookbook as she explained the origin of her dish.
Kiki: I've made my family's special Obrillos. Sandwiches made with fresh and just melted Mozzarella, juicy sun dried tomatoes, a little cleansing lettuce over two toasted slices of round bread. Melded to perfection.
Mr. Russell: Thank you Kiki, let's see how they measure up.
He takes a knife, cuts one of them in half, takes a bite, he make sure to taste all the mentioned flavors, looks for any bonus sensations, and then blots down his results on a pad of paper.
Mr. Russell: Next.
It was Ari's turn next and he brought up a tray of tea-
Ari: This is my special blend of tea Mr. Russell. My family has perfected it over the years by trying many different combinations of leaves at the best times of the year and learning to store them in just the right way. It goes with anything but for those who want to stay low fat some strawberries and rice crackers are the way to go.
Mr. Russell: Thank you Ari, I'm sure it will be enjoyable.
He takes a sip and a bit of a rice cracker and jots down his observations, finally it was T.W's turn.
Mr. Russell: Ah yes you're T.W right? You're the ones Liz and Jonas from Paris recommended. Anyone who's recommended by graduates at Le Cordon rouge is worth checking out. What have you prepared for us today?
T.W: Thank you Mr. Russell, this is a recipe for Basil pasta given to me by a great friend and fellow chef. For personal reasons I can't say who it is but while I used it as a guideline this is an original T.W style dish made with fresh angel hair pasta, Basil, and a homemade Tomato and Garlic sauce with a tiny sprig of mint and Parsley. I've also made a homemade loaf of bread toasted with garlic and onion butter I made myself.
Mr. Russell: Wonderful! You just may give this school some credits and I for one can't wait to teach you all that I know.
He takes a fork and spins out a forkful and takes a bite, he takes a bite from a slice of bread and makes his observations and writes it down.
Soon much time later he put up a large poster board on the chalkboard that was covered by a large sheet.
Mr. Russell: Well I must say that you all have great promise, but we could only choose a few of you and now-
He pulls the sheet off plasterboard revealing the stats-
Mr. Russell: This will show who got in! Those who didn't make don't loose hope, our weekend classes are available, and when you upgrade to a full or part time student your time there will put into credits for your final grade. As to the rest of you classes start here tomorrow and remember to take a class selection sheet with you.
Everyone franticly looks for his or her name and soon-
Ari: Hey T.W I got in!
T.W: That's great Ari.
Kiki: I got in too!
T.W: Cool, I hope I made it-
He looks around and sure enough, his name was there.
T.W: Yes, I got in!
Ari: Fantastic, we all got in. Why don't we go on the town to celebrate. You're welcome to come too Kiki.
Kiki: Great, let's go.
They we're just about to leave when-
Mr. Russell: Hold on a minute!
He quickly races up to them with a smile on his face.
Mr. Russell: Before you go, I just had to say I was seriously impressed with all your work, so I want to offer you suites in the dormitories.
T.W: Really? That's great, I didn't know were I was going to stay.
Kiki: That's perfect! Can we all share a large suite?
Mr. Russell: Of course, here are keys for each of you.
He hands them each a key and then Ari spoke up-
Ari: Excuse me sir but I won't be a live-in student. I have a house and business to run, I came for the part time Saturday classes. You understand.
Mr. Russell: Sure, I do hope you might be interested in my 1 hour Saturday class.
Therefore, Ari hands back his key to Mr. Russell-
Mr.: Well I hope to see you around come Saturday, as for you two you're welcome to the suite 10-A.
T.W and Kiki: Ok, thanks.
Soon after, they left the school and traveled around the town.
Later that day
1:30 PM
Kiki: So what should we do first?
Ari: I'm not sure. I wanted to stop at a coffee house to get a feel for high quality coffee. What did you have in mind T?
(Walking his bike down the street) T.W: Well I've heard this town is famous for its waffles. Let's find a waffle stand.
Kiki: I know a great one it's down by the fountain in the park, follow me!
She quickly races off-
T.W: Hey wait for us! Hop on Ari-
Ari: Gotcha!
T.W gets on his bike and Ari latches on to his back and they ride off after Kiki, soon they reach the local park and found a small waffle stand and where just coming up to it-
(Ari and T.W got off the bike and T.W walked with it) Kiki: There it is, Orichio's. One of the best waffle stands in town.
T.W: You sure know you're way around.
Kiki: Well I've lived here all my life so it help, come on you have to try one.
As they go over, they see someone was ordering one-
Stand operator: What can I get you miss?
Hamster: I'll have two Strawberry and cr�me.
Stand operator: Coming right up!
As he got the order ready, our trio came by-
T.W: So what'll you have?
Ari: I'm not sure, I've never ordered from a waffle cart before.
Voice: Well I suggest the Strawberry and cr�me.
Everyone turned to see an old girl hamster before him or her.
T.W: The Strawberry and cr�me you say.
Hamster: Yep, it's quite satisfactory.
Then the stand operator had her order all done.
Stand operator: There you are miss, and what can I get for you?
T.W: You guys thinking what I'm thinking?
Kiki and Ari: Yeah!
T.W: We'll each have one Strawberry and cr�me, and I'll have one Cream cheese a marmalade one and a plain one.
Stand Operator: Gotcha!
Later on the four sat under an old maple tree enjoying their snack.
T.W: Krump, krump. This is satisfactory.
Kiki: I'll say.
Ari: Yes, this is exquisite.
Hamster: I told you.
T.W: So what's your name?
Hamster: I'm Vivian but my friends call me Auntie Viv.
T.W: Hmm, I've heard that name before.
Kiki: So you've been traveling a long time
Auntie Viv: I guess you could say that, I've never been one to settle. I just love coming and going to new places.
T.W: I know what you mean. I went traveling for a year after I left my hometown. Nevertheless, I decided to settle down and I've met some cool friends. I had to leave because I was offered a chance to come to Stravland culinary academy and it seems I've made new friends here too.
Auntie Viv: Well that's an admirable quality, knowing when you have to go and make things happen. It takes a lot of courage.
T.W: I guess so, thanks.
Ari: Well come on people, let's find a coffee house.
Kiki: Okay, I know where a good one is-
So they got up and said goodbye and quickly headed back into town-
A few minutes later
1:55 PM
They entered a local coffee house-
T.W: This place looks cool.
Kiki: This is Javaisms, my dad highly recommends this place.
Ari and T.W smelled the great aroma-
T.W: This is even better then my coffee roaster I have to admit.
Ari: Well this has made up my mind, I'm going to expand my flower shop into a coffee house and Tearoom someday.
T.W: I wish you well with that, I think I'll take the coffee house 101 class during the week and on Saturday. Therefore, we can work together.
Ari: Cool, now I Have to try some of this-
They quickly go up to the counter and are ready to order-
Mr. Benjamin: What can I get you?
Ari: I'll have the house blend with sugar and whipped cream-
T.W: I'll have the same.
Kiki: And I'll have a Mochachino!
Mr. Benjamin: Coming right up, have a seat.
So they have a seat by the window and have a great talk, soon they had they're coffee and were starting to go over their class selection sheets.
(Sips) Ari: Ahh! I've drinking tea all my life but the thrill of a greatly brewed cup of coffee is just as amazing.
Kiki: I don't think I'm ready for that so this Mochachino is just the ticket for me.
T.W: Well I think this is great, I'm starting to see how Boss guzzles this stuff. He'll never believed I tried it.
Kiki: Who's Boss?
T.W: Oh he's my friend back home, I met him and a few others a couple of months ago and just a few weeks ago we came from a trip to Paris which is where Ari lives not far from where the Ham-Ham Arcade is every year up around Rainbow canyon.
Kiki: Really, you've been to France? Can you tell me the story?
T.W: Sure!
Therefore, he and Ari told Kiki the long and cool story of their trip to Paris except for the most embarrassing parts and a good time was had by all. Later at night, T.W and Kiki said goodbye to Ari and with their luggage headed inside up to the suite in the dormitories.
Soon after a good dinner, they lie in their matching beds on opposite sides of the room going over their class selection sheets. T.W start check off the classes he wanted to attend.
T.W's schedule
Monday through Friday
1st period: International cuisine - Mr. Russell 8:00 AM
2nd period: Cook works - Miss Jean 10:00 AM
3rd period: Coffee house Intensive 101 - Mrs. Armstrong 10:30 AM
4th period: Baking course - Mr. Freeman 11:00 AM
Lunch Noon
5th period: German cuisine - Madame Fonnelchello 1:00 PM
6th period: Free period 2:00 PM
7th period: Culinary History - Ms. Rukina 3:00 PM
Final period: Pysh Ed 4:00 PM
T.W: I'm done, that'll be my schedule, how's yours coming Kiki?
Kiki: I'm done too, boy I can't wait for tomorrow.
T.W: Me too.
So they turn out the lights and go to sleep prepared for tomorrow-
Preview of Part 2-
T.W: Hey everybody, well it's my first day at Stravland and all I can say for now is that's it's full of surprises!
Kiki: I'll say. That Mr. Russell is cool but strict. In addition, that guy Rummel (Pronounced Roo-mel) needs to learn a few manners.
T.W: Well maybe I can teach some, so look out because school is officially in session next time!
I hope you enjoyed it! After the five parts are up T.W will return to HG, so don't worry.