Lessons in the "French" way and Haute Couture at culinary school

For those of you who don't know what I meant yesterday by the "French" way, here are a couple examples just from today.

• I finally received the paperwork (a document, already on file at the school that simply needed to be printed) that the school administrator told me last week she had labeled 'urgent' since I need it to open a bank account. Apparently, in France, urgent = at least 5 days.
• The Chef professors took us on the metro today to the store that would provide us with our uniforms. When we arrived, the store was not yet open. So, we went to a sidewalk cafe and had, well, un cafe for 25 minutes until the store opened. Once at the store, although it had 4 dressing rooms, we were called one at a time by one salesperson even though the store had no other customers and three other salespeople. Does anyone want to venture a guess as to how long it took that many people to be fitted for a uniform? Anyone? THREE AND A HALF HOURS!
  

But, I'm not complaining. I'm merely educating those who do not know what it means to do things the "French" way. That's all. :) The girl from California who misses Wal-Mart, now she might not have the same new lease on French life as I do.

So, I know you are all dying to know what the uniform looks like. So was B, so he made me try it on when I got home. I didn't, however, put on the apron or the side towel that goes with it (or the hat that I refuse to acknowledge exists). So, the pic below is not a full representation, but you get the picture. Not exactly Haute Couture, especially considering they don't even carry women's sizes in chef's uniforms - it's all fit for men! And, has anyone ever seen anything as heinous as those shoes??? Nevertheless, it felt really cool to wear it and have a chef's coat with my name on it.