#77 - Death by paper

No photos but some bitching and moaning
Oh good grief.  As much as the burned hand hurt (and the corresponding inability to cook for a few months) the preparations to go back to London have taken on a whole new dimension.  I caught the plane tickets early enough to amend the dates (i.e. before I paid for them) but I ran into a couple of new wrinkles today...the first being my prescription medication and the other being the paperwork to go back to London.  I forgot that going to school in a foreign country means visas and paperwork and lists of more paper to provide.  I think I'll need a file cabinet in my suitcase to present to immigration upon arrival.


Hearing faint laughter in the background - the universe laughing...
I think various karmic forces laugh at you when you make plans.  I thought I was supposed to take classes the week before the mock cuisine final, then the week of exams - that is to say, about 2 weeks of class.  It now appears that I will be attending most classes for almost all of March...which is great, except it looks like there might be grading in the practical classes.  Agh!  Cooking for exams is great...extra cooking which isn't for exams - oh dear, cuts into my practicing time for the plated dessert.


On the bright side, I found gelatine in sheets today.  They have something called Titanium gelatine here - I think it might be just different terminology - which might be the Platinum gelatine in London.  I have to check the gelatine weights but unfortunately my notes are somewhere between London and Sydney in a container somewhere.  More papers to track down and organize, in addition to the ones for entry into the UK.  Yikes.


The paper requirements have blown out any plans I might have had which do not involve meals (a girl has to eat) or planned for business hours.


The next 35 days
It may be that any attempts to go to Covent Garden are doomed based on the class schedule that just got emailed through a few hours ago.  It appears that there are only a few late nights which is all to the good, given the time difference and adjustment needed.  I believe there was a line in the email about being in class by Monday afternoon - so let's hope there are no delays at the airport - like an argument with some immigration guy about whether my paperwork is sufficient for their purposes.


So until next time, may your paperwork be simple and bureaucratic red tape be minimal.