This is Bruno, a brasilian and I, at the bar on Friday night. I got DESTROYED that night…it sucked. He’s in group for the Project.

The last three beers that San’nick had on Friday night. Cal, Andrea and I got ‘em. Woot!

Pierre humping Roberta. Good times, good times.

Alex, from France, in front of the Stars and Stripes. He HATES that pictures…so of course I posted it here.

Andrea and Roberta on a sunny day. The next day it was POURING rain. Odd weather here. Pretty girls though.

Cal and Rita looking deep and introspective.

Ethan and Cal being…well…Ethan and Cal.

My two neighbors are really into this whole beer bong thing. They’ve even got t-shirts. It cracks me up. Ah, youth!

Hanging out in my room.

The Russian (sorry…Latvian) and the American Flag. Nice.

I sent an email to Chef Paul, who was one of my favorite instructors at Diablo Valley College

Anyway, just in case he passes the address of this blog to his students, or somehow this site gets discovered by someone who would like to go to this school…I thought I’d write up a little bit of advice for students who are curious about going here.

Some of it will be focused on HOIII only, but a lot should still be applicable.

Bring everything with you
Seriously, bring absolutely everything you can. When I was originally packing there were many things I left behind because A) I wasn’t sure if I’d need it B) I figured I could just buy it here or C) I didn’t want to bring too much stuff.

Bring it.

The thing is…Bluche is a tiny village. Montana and Crans, up the hill, are bigger but still fairly small. Bluche has absolutely NO shopping/stores except for what you can buy through vending machines (candy, smokes, sodas) and what you can buy on campus…and they destroy you on pricing of things. Montana and Crans have regular stores (supermarkets and basic electronics) but again the prices of things are tough to swallow. On top of that getting to Montana/Crans isn’t particularily easy…and definitely isn’t convient.

The things I really am wishing I had brought with me are…sadly…really basic things. I’m talking about stuff like pens, pencils, ruler, stapler, hole punch, tape, etc. It’s not like you can catch a bus or drive to 7-11 to get white out…it’s something that will take over an hour.

Bring your own laptop
That’s what I did and I am VERY happy about it.

The school will sell you a laptop for 3,000 CHF (Swiss Francs). That’s a phat chunk of change. And I did a little research…and found that you could get the same machine for about 1,000 less. The school kinda screws the students in that regard.

The laptop the school sells you is actually a VERY good machine…but the keyboard layout is very different than the US and will cause you endless heartache. You can contact the school in advance and they will tell you exactly the min specs that are required.

Patience
Everything runs at a much slower pace around here. Service in restaurants, travleing, waiting for stores to open, the school, the people…everything is much slower than I am used to. It takes some adjusting for sure. Don’t think you can have a sit down meal in a restaurant and be out of there in 30 minutes. It simply isn’t going to happen.

Brush up on your language skills
If you speak ANY language other than English…brush up on your skills before coming. French would be the most useful, but German, Spanish and Italian come in handy too. This is a French part of Switzerland so that is the most common language for people and signs.

Smoking is EVERYWHERE
If you recently quit smoking…you are screwed. If you get sick from the smell of cigarettes…you are screwed. If you think smoking in a restaurant is gross…you are screwed.
Smoking is everywhere around here. Thankfully you can’t anywhere in the main building…but everywhere else it is really commonplace.
I get into semi-arguements with some of the Europeans about this. Personally, I thinking smoking in a restaurant is disgusting. They totally disagree. It’s annoying to say the least.

That’s about all I can think of right now….I’ll probably have more later.

The real big question here is What Does Neil Want To Do With This Education? I am here, in Switzerland, going to a hotel and restaurant management school. I am being prepared, specifically, to be a hotel/restaurant manager. But is that what I want to do?

That’s a tough question to answer. I spent all my life not really knowing what I want to do for a living. I’ve gone through so many jobs…from pizza delivery to house painter, from accounts payable to senior financial analyst. Obviously the primary job background has been accounting/finance…and to be honest, I do rather enjoy that. But not in a strictly accounting/finance level. Sitting in a cubicle on a daily basis, staring at a computer screen, working 9-5…eh, it’s rather dull. It’s just too repetitive. Sure it’s challenging at times but wow does it slip into hardcore routine. There would be times when I’d spend hours and hours on some spreadsheet simply because I was bored.

But I love spreadsheets. I love Excel. I love making it all work out…taking information and doing funky things to it to give me, and others, all kinds of neat results. So yeah…I’m a big geek. But that is part of what makes me…me!

I have always loved to cook…and eat. And there is something so rewarding about providing for someone a wonderful meal, a fun time, and a memorable experience. I really like doing that. In a way, I suppose that ties in with the whole excel and information manipulation. I like providing for people…I like educating them, helping them, making them feel good…happy…all that.

So this is an industry that works very well with my persona. Hospitality is all about providing someone with an experience, taking care of them, making them feel good. It could be as simple as a great burrito at a roadside stand to a week long vacation on a Hawaiian beach. And even those couple examples of extremes don’t come close to covering the breadth of what Hospitality encompasses.

So…having said all that…what do I want to do, specifically? I suppose that is why I am here, in Les Roches…to learn the answer to that question. Like I’ve said this place isn’t exactly what I thought it would be but I am getting quite the varied education, and it should open a ton of doors for me.

I think owning my own restaurant would be a blast. I’d really enjoy having a relatively small place, with excellent fresh food, an international variety of menus items, great wine, pleasant atmosphere…a great place to go any night. Sure I’d like it to be a party at times but not a club at all…a pub would be good word. A bar and grill perhaps. Maybe even ramp it up to a little min-resort…

My grandmother has a big chunk of land up in the Santa Cruz mountains (I’ll post some pictures sometime) that would be an excellent location for an idea I’ve tossed around. I can imagine a fully functional farm (plants, not so much animals) with a restaurant, mini-hotel, and other various things attached (swimming pool, hiking trails, spa, etc). The farm would grow the food for the restaurant…perhaps (probably) sell it in local markets. People could come up for the weekend…get away from the office working world…and spend a couple days out on the farm. We could teach them about farming, about food production…and cooking. They could go out during the day and do some work on the farm…hard work if they wanted, or just light and easy. We’d pick fruits and vegetables, bring them back to the restaurant, and teach them how to prepare dishes. Almost a co-op sort of deal. All fresh, all high quality…work and education, but relaxation too.

Another idea I’ve had is being a writer…a food/travel writer. This, however, is a VERY competitive field. Who wouldn’t want to be paid by a company to travel around and eat…on an expense account? That idea has appeal…but I’m not sure if I want to spend my days going from here to there all the time. I enjoy having more of a settled lifestyle…and being familiar with my surroundings. Perhaps there is a way to tie it all together.

Those are just a couple thoughts running through my lil mind. The vast majority of students here want to work in the 5 star luxury resort/hotel. Eh….I dunno about that. I’m just more of a casual kinda guy.

These questions are ones that everyone has. It’s a rare person that can definitively say “This is what I want to do in life.”

In other words…I just don’t know yet. But this I can say for sure…

Being here is absolutely the right thing for me now…and I wouldn’t trade this experience for the world.

I think it’s about time I go into greater depth on my actual education here…the teachers, the classes, the work involved in being a Management student.

As I’ve said before, it is pretty radically different than being a student in the US…at either the college level or JC. Hell, it’s not even like high school. I’d say it’s a bit of a combination of all of those…sorta.

Marketing:

This class is taught by a wonderfully nutty Italian man. He’s probably in his mid 40’s, married, and very “Italian”. His English is very good…sometimes we do get the “uh, how you say?”…but overall it’s smooth.

His teaching style is by example. He brings up a subject, then a personal example. It works really well and the class flows along nicely.

The subject, marketing, is fairly straight forward. We’ve been primarily focusing on Tour Operators vs. Travel Agencies…what is similar, what is different, what you use each one for. I’ve certainly learned a lot…and that’s a good thing.

The grading for the class is very similar to the rest of the classes. Two tests, both essays…and that is it. Attendance is taken but only counts towards your total of 60 hours that you are allowed to miss.

I really enjoy this class. During the break one of the students came back a bit late. The teacher said that he was probably smoking. He then sat down on one of the desks in the middle of the room and said this…

“I smoked for many years. I quit 5 years ago. You should all quit. My sex is much much better now.”

Gotta love it!

Food and Beverage:

This class I’m not as much a huge fan of. The teacher, a German woman in her early 50’s, struggles with English. Her word choices don’t quite make sense unfortunately. She’s pretty strict, but keeps the class involved with things.

Again the grading is similar to the rest…primarily testing and class participation.

For my Project I’m focused on the F&B bits…and I’ve got several questions to ask her. Hopefully I can get into a meeting with her during her office hours.

Spanish:

We’ve got a fairly young Argentinean teacher…who doesn’t speak English very well at all. But she’s nice, sweet, and friendly. The class is much smaller and pretty much all the students in it already have some Spanish skills so we are moving along fairly rapidly. She is one of the few teachers that assign homework…but it’s all pretty basic stuff. I like the class…and can tell that I am going to get a lot from it.

Facilities Management:

This one is very interesting…and is taught by a UK ex-engineer. He tends to focus a bit more on the engineering aspects of the facilities…but that’s not a problem at all. It’s nice having a teacher that is obviously well educated. Grading is considerably more complex with this class…in other words, very much like an American University….which I like. In this class we’ll be taking tours, watching movies, and getting lots of industry specific examples.

He’s another strict one…but that’s a good thing. He’s also got that rather dry British style humor…which makes me laugh but goes over the heads of some of the younger students.

Room Divisions:

Another German…and quite a good guy. His English is perfect, he’s efficient, outgoing and teaches the class very well. He’s always saying “And now Ladies and Gentlemen…” which puts a smile on my face.

He gave us the largest handout…which I will explain in greater detail later.

This is another good/interesting/useful class. I look forward learning more on this subject.

Economics:

Ah…Econ. I love it! The teacher, a Scot, is without a doubt the strictest of my teachers. I’m not quite sure what his background is but I think he’s a great guy…and takes absolutely NO crap from the students.

The subject matter is fairly easy (to me) but a lot of the students struggle with it. I’ve already done a bit of tutoring for a couple of my classmates. But again…more on that later.

Grading is the same…class participation and 2 tests. This one will be one of the more relatively “harder” classes.

Accounting:

The instructor for this class, from the UK, is also the head of the HOIII department. His wife teaches here and his son lives in the room above me. He’s a really nice guy, not too strict and definitely knowledgeable on his subject. He teaches the class very well and definitely makes it easy to understand.

Granted I do have a bit of an accounting background (hehe)…but I think the class is a breeze. However, most of the students DREAD this class…and have really been struggling with the concepts. Last session we worked on identifying fixed and variable costs using the High/Low, Scatter Diagram, and Regression Analysis methods. Being the absolute and total geek that I am I created a simple Excel document that does all the calculations for you…all you have to do is dump the numbers in. I’ve been getting a LOT of requests for help in this subject. Perhaps I could make a little money off it ;)

Human Resources:

Oddly enough I haven’t even had this class yet. Although I do have a set class schedule…there are little changes nearly every week (well…with only 2 weeks of classes…). Anyway he was sick for one session and the other sessions got bumped due to other things going on. We shall see!

Contemporary World Issues:

Currently we are in the International Relations section of this class…and I dig it a LOT. I’ve always been a bit of a Poly Sci fan so this is right up my alley. Sadly the vast majority of students in the class don’t care much for the subject. That’s too bad because this is all very good stuff to know.

I think that’s pretty much it for classes and teachers. Like I said, and as you can probably tell, things are different here. Each class has 3 50 minute sessions per week…with 2 of those sessions being back to back. The day is divided up into 8 “periods”…starting at 8 am and ending at 5:35 pm. There are two 15 minute breaks between classes and lunch is during the middle couple periods of the day. So in that regard classes are VERY high school like…bells and all that jazz. I kinda dig the consistency of it all…but it is rarely consistent it seems. Oh well.

All of the classes have books (of which I am still missing 3…they are on back order and it really pisses me off). Also, the majority of classes give handouts which are sort of “pre-notes”…in them they’ve got the subject matter for the day with lots of space between for you to take your own notes. Usually the teacher puts them up as transparencies on the overhead and lectures straight out of the notes. It makes studying and retention of the subjects very easy, and I kinda dig it.

Am I getting the education I wanted? Well…I’m not 100% sure honestly. I came here with some general ideas of what I “want to do” with my life…but nothing terribly concrete. If, for example, I wanted to work in a hotel/resort in some (nearly any) capacity…this school is perfect and I could do it straight after graduating. If I wanted to open my own restaurant…it’s a bit of overkill. If I wanted to be a chef then it is extreme overkill. I’m not quite sure what the BBA and MBA stuff entails…but it seems to be fairly similar to what I am doing…just ramped up considerably more, and still very focused on Hotel/Resort…but with more emphasis on different areas (Marketing, Finance or Management).

If any of you out there have more specific questions on the classes I’ll be happy to answer them for you.

I’ve got a lot to talk about…so I thought I’d put it down here to let you all know.

But then I realized that it’s like 3 am in CA, and 6 am in NY…which means that coast to coast in the good old U S of A all you people are (probably) sleeping…and I’ve only got a short list of international viewers…

In other words…me telling you here that I am going to be writing more on this and that…is pointless.

Yet…here I am writing that anyway.

I think this clear mountain air has started to rot my brain. I need smog. I need commercials. Your simple Swiss ways frighten and confuse me.

But then…I suppose I could just write for me.

Brilliant!

Neil, this is what you should post about…
-Your teachers and classes
-Observations of an American
-Food? Sorta
-I am a Great Guy

So, that is what you…er…I…us. People. The WORLD!…ahem. That is what we can all look forward to. Yay!

I may steal a car and drive to McDonalds.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted I realize…but this has been a very action packed weekend. I didn’t quite accomplish everything I wanted to but did do a lot…as you will see.

First post…Ferrari Dream. This was an event sponsored by Les Roches in Montana…three days long and FILLED with Ferraris from all over Europe (and it appears a couple places beyond).

I could toss in a lot of commentary…but I won’t. These machines pretty much speak for themselves.

And I have to say the valley has been filled with the amazing sounds of mechanical thunder echoning all around. Heaven!