I teach Hospitality. I am not sure if you knew that, so there you go. I teach kids the equivalent of their first year of an apprenticeship whilst they do their HSC. It’s not terribly hard and is lots of fun. We focus on practical skills, as well as learning about how to deal with customers, OH&S, food hygiene, etc. Needless to say I find it’s a great course to teach, even for those students who are heading to university, because it provides them with a HSC and skills to get a job whilst they are at university.

The one thing I do NOT like about the course is that every time it is updated (think every couple of years) I need to do something else to keep myself “current” and able to teach it. This year I have done 2 online training courses, a weeks crash course at TAFE (in so many senses of the word), and am in the middle of doing 7 days of work experience… yes that is right I am doing work experience, and I am not happy about it!

To keep up with my training I need to go and work in a commercial kitchen for a few days, and then wait tables for a few days!

The kitchen part is not too bad. I have worked in commercial kitchens before, and it i not hard. Sure you meet some strange people, but it is easy enough. The part I am dreading is waiting tables. If I wanted to wait tables, I wouldn’t have become a teacher. In addition to this, I am crap at waiting tables and I don’t enjoy it.

At work we have commercial kitchens and I lead kids to cook and serve food (including waiting tables) for up to 120 people, so I can do it – I just don’t want to. I am cranky at a system which makes me do the placement to prove I have skills I use all the time at work. Why isn’t my regular work good enough? I guess by having to do the work placement, I feel like it devalues what I am already doing.

The Country Boy and I have a running joke that when ever we get something dodgy, or something takes a long time, we blame it on the work experience kid…. now I am that “kid”!