A new love, in Hell's Kitchen

Things have been going well here in Paris. After the first day of class, when I didn't understand a word of what the chef was saying, I think I've really improved in my comprehension and my speaking. At the demonstrations, where the chef is lecturing at us, I pick up about half of what he's saying. Granted it helps that there's a bit of help from contextual clues, but I can see it getting better and better. One of the chefs in practical spoke to me the whole time in French and even when giving me feedback on my dish, told it all to me in French, and I understood!

Also, I have finally figured out which milk is low-fat and which isn't....the hard way. I had been drinking whole milk because I didn't know what the word "entier" meant. One day, in class, I looked at a recipe and it said, "amandes, entier" translated to "almonds, whole." I thought to myself, "where have I read that word?" and then realized, "oh great, I've been drinking full fat milk this whole time."

A couple times I've been stopped on the street and asked for directions. I mostly assume that they're asking for directions because I don't understand a word of what they're asking, so I just say "Sorry, I don't know." (in french) The other day, I was running over to the Eiffel tower and a woman stopped me to ask me for directions. I was about to answer my usual "I don't know." but realized at the last second that I understood where she was asking directions to and that I actually knew how to get there. Luckily for me the directions were able to be pointed out, so I gestured to it, instead of trying to actually get the correct words out.

So, I have a new love. An unlikely candidate to grab my attention since he's known to be a complete jerk. Oh wait, maybe that's exactly why he's grabbed my attention. Anyway, the new love -- Gordon Ramsay. I started watching "Hell's Kitchen" which is a "Top Chef" kind of show except it's more Gordon-centric. Premise of the show is to get a group of 12 contestants to work together in two teams to run the kitchen of his restaurant, Hell's Kitchen. During this, Gordon doesn't hesitate to tear apart the contestants by swearing at them and not only identifying their incompetency, but ranting loudly in the open kitchen so even guests can hear this.

In the first episode he tells each contestant to make him their 'signature dish'. He then proceeds to spit out many of them and say things like "This is dog shit." (pardon my French, lol.) Anyway, now you'd wonder why I like this guy, right? Well, I admire him for his perfection, and he has a mentality that if you push people to the utmost, you'll make them the best they will ever be. And he's not all criticism, every now and then he'll say something like, "this risotto is spot-on" and a small compliment like that will mean the world to you. Also, at his restaurants, if one dish has to be remade (before it's sent out, by the way), he has all the dishes for that table remade. It's the perfection that he demands and strives to bring out of these contestants that is so awe-inspiring to me.