Welcome to Gaia! ::

As much as Nolan hated to admit it, he still had some learning to do when it came to cooking. It was why he had signed up for this class in the first place. It would be once a week at one of the larger kitchens they used for events and such, courtesy of the Community College. It had a minimal fee, which made Nolan nervous about the quality of the food that they were going to make, but he couldn't back down now. After all, he could probably learn how something from this class. For example how not to make something...

With that he sighed and entered the classroom, surprised that it was so popular. There was also a variety of people who had signed up, all ages so at least this class would be diverse if anything.

He looked around for an open spot and found one next to a woman with blond hair and walked over. "Mind if I take this seat?" The areas appeared to be set up for pairs. There were other open spots, but he had seen this one first, and decided to try for it. Besides, the woman sitting in the seat next to the open spot was quite a beautiful sight as well. He figured if he didn't enjoy the class, at least he could enjoy having a good looking cooking partner. Though if she were here to mess around and not cook then he might get annoyed...

Nolan grinned. Well, seemed like they would get along at least. "Mariposa? I'm Nolan. It's good to meet you." He said, offering his hand for a shake. "Trying to improve my skills so I signed up for this class. And I hope I learn something new. What about you?"

He wanted to learn just about everything, though he mostly specialized in Italian food. Main reason being that he could make a lot of it and it would stay refrigerated well so that he could eat it over the rest of the week. As much as he loved cooking other things, often times he found that after they had been in the refrigerator for more than a day, they had lost... something. Or gained more moisture. Or maybe his fridge was crud.

"Hmm, I doubt they would. I think we would have to pay a lot more money for those food lessons." He said giving her a wink and sitting down next to her. "If I tell you my hobbies you're going to have to tell me yours. But I just want to learn something new. And from someone who knows what they're doing. I mean there are always videos and step-by-steps on how to do something, but it's always nice to have someone who can actually tell you if you're doing it wrong in the moment." And one really couldn't ask the internet, not if they wanted to continue to cook. For some reason, people gate-keeped everywhere, and cooking was no exception.

He nodded. "Besides cooking as a hobby, I do fencing and like going to the local Ren Fest. Usually participate in at least one sword fight while I'm there." He grinned at her. "I find it's a good way to practice my skills, and often I'll find others from my class competing as well. For cooking though, I do just about everything. I don't bake as much, but I like stove-top and slow-cooking recipes. Usually avoid the microwave as much as possible though. What about you though? What do you do as hobbies that keep you afloat?"

Nolan chuckled. "Yeah, I understand. I don't really eat any fast food or anything, but I can understand that sometimes, you just want something quick and easy that tastes good, even if you know it isn't health for you." Everyone had those kinds of nights, and he would be a hypocrite if he said that he didn't indulge once in a while. Even if it wasn't fast food, picking up carryout from a restaurant still counted as not making your own.

"It's more about dueling. I wouldn't say it teaches you how to wield larger swords, especially because an sabre, for example, is a lot lighter than one of those one-handed or two-handed swords. But it helps you learn new skills or help you if you've learned a skill the wrong way, learning to think critically, etc. I mostly use it to blow off steam and it can be done at any time during the year, so I don't have to stop just because it's cold outside." Most of the time he was in a building for the sport anyway, so not much changed. Other than how challenging it was to get back to his apartment.

He nodded. "That's cool. I'm not sure if I could do any blogging myself, I'm a bit private but I admire people who can do it." Well, at least in terms of not wanting the Negative attention that could come with blogging. It was one thing to be the best and show people naturally. But when it came to online, people were a lot nastier. He shook his head at the mention of the resin. "I haven't but it does sound interesting. Does the resin come in more than one color?" At this point he could see the teacher starting to hand out the assignments, but it appeared they were allowed to talk for a bit more before starting the class.

He grinned. "I'm always happy to have someone new join. I'd love to have a spar against you when you think you're ready." Unlike some of the others. There were gatekeepers in every hobby, and it was annoying. It became boring when you continued to beat the same 10 people over and over again, so when one of the gatekeepers would try to well, gatekeep, fencing, he would challenge them to a match.

And he would win. Because he had to. He had lost a few times in the beginning, but now not too many were willing to continue their gatekeep when he was around.

When Mariposa asked his opinion on which he liked the most, it only took him a second. "Have to admit, I'm a sucker for the curry. Though the Lo Mein is good too." Really, all three of them were great and not something that he made often, so practicing it here would be nice. He raised an eyebrow at the vegetarian options. "Interesting, I may have to try them sometime. We don't have to do it now." But it was always a good idea to keep those in mind in case he did need to make them. After all, there were plenty who would object to eating meat. He moved to tie his hair back as well as he could, often considering growing it out longer just so it would be easier to do so. He sent a smirk her way. "Which one you want to try making first?"