"It's never too early to start thinking about your extern." I've been hearing that for a long time, but now I fully believe it because there is a whole heck of a lot of work that goes into this thing.
After your first 30-33 weeks here each student leaves to gain experience in a food service industry establishment. The sites range from cruise ships to farms and vary in locations all around the world. Guess who gets to pick where you go? You! That is both a blessing and a curse because you have the freedom to go wherever you want (Italy, Maine, Florida, Colorado...) but also the tremendous pressure of making the right decision. The good news: 18 weeks. That's the length of your externship. If you end up somewhere you don't like, you are only there for 18 weeks. So in reality, its not that much pressure because its really only for a short period of time. Right before I rode my first ever roller coaster, my sister told me that even if I hated it, which she was convinced I wouldn't, it would be over in 30 seconds. I realized that was really only a short amount of time... and 18 weeks isn't really that long either.
The CIA has thousands of contacts and connections around the country and even a fair share internationally that I am having fun exploring while trying to choose my own externship site. In order to go to a site it must be approved, which is a process that can be implemented by the student but there are already over 1,400 sites approved around the world. I am currently looking at several restaurants around the country that have an emphasis on farm to table eating because I love farming. I want to go somewhere cool and suggestions are welcome!
Northern California is huge in farm to table establishments. I highly suggest it.
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