First Impressions of Plymouth State University!

                Greetings from Plymouth State University!  I arrived on May 30 and have been hard at work ever since.  My name is Kali.  I am from Minneapolis and I just finished my last year at the University of Minnesota where I studied Nutrition and Dietetics.  New Hampshire has been a nice change of scenery and I have never been here before, so it has been fun to explore new surroundings!  The campus has a gorgeous view of the White Mountains.   Also interning at PSU this summer is Sami.  She is from New York and is studying Nutrition Management at RIT. Already, we have been tackling a lot of different tasks.  There are two different main eating areas on campus.  The main dining hall is called Prospect.  There is also a retail restaurant called the Union Grill.  They offer different daily specials as well as sandwiches, pizza, burgers, among other things.  As an introduction, we have been assigned to different stations within the dining hall.  We have mastered making sandwiches at the deli bar, serving pasta, making milkshakes, prepping tacos, and serving from the main line, and creating fruit bar displays.

  During the summer at PSU, the university hosts several orientation groups of students coming in the fall.  We serve the orientation groups lunch, dinner, an ice cream social, a continental breakfast, and the two day event concludes with a cookout.  Our shifts start at different times depending on what we’re doing for the day.  Many days, we’re here bright and early at 6am. 

                As well as helping out at these events, we have also been busy with side projects.  Currently, the college is hosting 18 women from Pakistan.  Sodexo has been providing all of their meals, so we have been researching what kind of foods they enjoy eating and if there are foods that they cannot have.  Most of their meals have already been planned, but one of our special projects will be to plan and prepare a meal for the group. 

One of two of our work spaces

                We also have experienced one day of catering.  During the summer, there are only a few staff and students on campus, so besides for orientation groups, the dining center primarily hosts different catered events.  We saw different presentation techniques and also served and helped clean-up the event.

                We have had a handful of days off, and have taken full advantage of them.  We trekked to the coast, which was about two hours away.  It was the perfect day for a trip to the ocean and it was my first time touching the Atlantic Ocean from the United States (I had touched it from Ireland, previously)!  

On another day off, we took a drive to the capitol city of Concord.  It was fun walking around the town and meeting some of the local people.  Everyone is very friendly and very interested in meeting unfamiliar people.  We have had several lengthy conversations with people around town. 

Our day in Concord!

A big event in New Hampshire is Laconia bike week.  Our manager, Chris and his family took us to the event as well as Rib Fest.  It was really fun to people watch at both events.

 Our manager Chris and his family @ Rib Fest

Our first field trip is to Saunder's Produce tomorrow.  We're looking forward to it.  That’s about all for now!