I had my Food and Beverage test today (F&B) and it started out just awful.

The very first question, on the very first page was on something I had absolutely NO clue about. None. Nothing. No recollection whatsoever.

Damnit!

Thankfully the rest I knew pretty well (some I knew perfectly, some I had really good thoughts about) and I did get the bonus question right.

But that is sure a crappy way to start out a mid-term…a question that you have to 100% bullshit/guess on.

Oh well.

I’m predicting roughly 85-90%.

Yeah, I’m cocky. That’s the way it is.

Finally! Not some accounting firm, not some insurance company wanting me to be a salesman…an actual Hospitality company wanting to interview me for a hospitality job!

With a catch…perhaps.

The Old Oaks Country Club in Purchase, NY is interested in coming here to Switzerland and interviewing me. And from the look of the place it’s pretty amazing. They’ve got an 18 hole golf course (which as an intern I would have access to on select days), housing for the interns (with LAN in each room, free local telephone calls, a common room with a Playstation 2 and a big screen TV), 30 minutes from NYC and a beautiful area.

The only catch (maybe) is that after reading through the materials it seems to be more of a service style training program…and not management level. That would be a real bummer ’cause I’ve already done service training…hell, I’ve trained staff myself! So I replied thanking them and asking for more details about the actual program.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed here…wish me luck!

I know of two students that have officially been booted out of school now.

Both, oddly enough, live in my building but have been booted for entirely different reasons.

One, Subject A, was kicked out for being a drunk idiot that never went to class and was caught stealing beer from a school building. Obviously not the brightest guy in the universe and I’ll probably do a little dance later on in memory of him.

The other, Subject B, was kicked out for being a foolishly gullible kid and coming on to a drunk girl in a horribly wrong way and extremely too aggressively. This one is a touch more complex because another person told him what to do…meant it as a joke…but Subject B is impressionable and did exactly what the guy told him to do.

The girl pressed charges…

And now he’s gone as well.

Man…1/2 way through the semester too…and no refund. Thanks for your time and money, and don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.

I’m very glad we are getting a break. I’m going to stay here in Bluche for a bit as well as explore around some of Europe. I am not going to reveal my plans though…I’ll let the pictures speak for me.

Anyway…I need a break from the students and student life for a while. I don’t want to end up stealing beer and attacking women.

You know that dream, that college dream, where you wake up…go to class…and you’ve got a mid term test?

Well that nearly sorta kinda happened to me today.

Today was my Room Divisions exam and I made sure I got plenty of sleep beforehand. I woke up at 7, took a last look over my notes and took a nice long shower. At about 8:15 I headed out the door…refreshed and ready for the exam at 9:00.

When I got to school I found very few students…and no management students. As the clock ticked by panic set in…was the exam at 8? Is it in another building? Did I MISS IT!!?!?!

By 8:55 I was in full panic mode…running up and down the halls, looking desperate and terrified. Finally I was able to track down a teacher and ask, with my voice shaking…did I miss it?

No Neil…it’s at 1400, not 900.

Eep.

Phew.

Doh!

Well needless to say I did make it on time (I had plenty of it!) and just finished in fact. It was exactly what he said it was going to be and that was fine by me.

I predict an A.

So one down…Food and Beverage tomorrow, Facilities Management Wednesday, Accounting Thursday and a MASSIVE AMOUNT OF BEER THURSDAY NIGHT!

Well I sent out about 5 more job inquires out in New York…including the Waldorf-Astoria…woot!

I’ve been using a variety of sources from Craigslist to Monster…and hopefully some real responses will come rolling in!

Wish me luck all.

First (and backward from the title) I had Chinese food tonight. Pot stickers even. They were “different” but no matter what Chinese restaurant you go to pot stickers will be a bit different. They were, however, awesome.

I also had fried noodles with chicken. It was pretty damn good too…just not enough (yeah yeah American portions…whatever).

Total came to 37 CHF…then a 10% discount for students.

Ow. Too much! Oh well.

I also got 2 replies from my resume (not from companies I applied to, just companies that found my resume online). Both replies wanted me to be an accountant again. Bastards!

Since my father has worked in the construction industry for…well…forever, I thought he might appreciate some photos of the building being put together across the street from me. It’s supposedly going to be a Japanese restaurant…which will most probably be PAINFULLY expensive. But hey, it’s something new in Bluche and I get the feeling that doesn’t happen all that often.

So far the only wood they’ve used is for the roof and window frames. I figured lumber around here would be very cheap…but I guess maybe the cinder blocks have better insulation? I dunno!

There ya go pops!

Next time I’ll try to find some horses to take pictures of ;) Sadly all I’ve seen is cows.

I went to McDonalds yesterday for the first “real” time in I don’t know how many months (July maybe?). As many of you probably know I’m a pretty big McDonalds fan…I can’t quite put my finger on it but I really love the food. Sad but true.

And I’ve had people bring me some stuff back from there on occasion but this was the first time in over 10 weeks that I actually went inside, ordered, sat down, and ate.

It was GREAT. There were some minor differences (Royal with cheese of course, some odd potato wedge fries, you have to pay for ketchup packets, it was stupid expensive) but it was all pretty much the same…and I’m happy I went.

Of course as we sit in McDonalds with 3 Scandinavians we are going to talk about the US. Well…sigh. I’ll be frank here. America is becoming a bit of an annoying subject.

If you go ask someone from Singapore about Finland…they won’t have much to say. If you ask someone from Finland about Singapore…they won’t have much to say. If you ask someone from Singapore or Finland about America…they will have a LOT to say.

And that is pretty much how it works around here. Every single person that I talk to will eventually lead the conversation to being about America…American politics, American money, the rise of America, the fall of America…gas prices, jobs, culture, nightlife, economics, social structure, EVERYTHING. Everyone has an opinion or an idea and wants to share it with me.

Granted I usually, and have been, relishing these conversations. I enjoy talking about things I know a lot about and it’s obviously something that people want to talk to me about.

But it’s starting to get on my nerves a bit.

Last night at McDonalds we talked about America.

After McDonalds when I was standing outside the Stinky Room we talked about America.

In my Marketing class we were talking about Branding and ways for a company to stand out among the others…one idea was butler style service…and of course the teacher says “This is not popular in America…perception of slavery…blah America, etc etc”. I laid my head down on my desk and everyone laughed. After the teacher stopped laughing and said, “but Neil…I love America!”

Sigh.

So I’m running into a bit of a new issue here. Over the past couple weeks I’ve started to develop a reputation as being an intelligent, thoughtful, wise, good American. So now everyone wants my help and my advice and my input. And up until today I’ve been happy with that…hell, I’ve been thrilled! Attention I love!

But the requests for being in groups, the requests for help with homework, the “hey Neil/Douglas, explain how this works to me”, and the “I once went to Ohio! Is it like that everywhere?”, and ESPECIALLY the “Why do you let Bush do X and Y?”…

From now on whenever anyone asks me about America I will ask them about their country. Maybe that will help. Either that or I’m just going to KEEP MY BIG MOUTH SHUT.

——–

Oh yeah…the Stinky Room.

Magnus’s room STINKS. Like I can tell when he last opened the door to the hallway due to the level of lingering odor. It’s really awful…and a melange of smells that just don’t exist in the natural world. It’s a confusing smell…a blend that I can’t even begin to describe.

And it’s finally gotten him in trouble.

He was officially warned by the school…de-stink your room or we will take points off.

That is, without a doubt, going to be a challenge.

A lot of my friends ask me where I find my strange and wonderful…and occasionally just plain annoying websites.

Well it’s all about memepool.

I’ve found some of the most nutty websites there. Here are some random examples of the lunacy that exists on the internet. Some of it is very cool however.

If you’ve got some spare time and are willing to wade through some crap to find a gem or two, check out memepool.

Well so far here is a list of places I have sent my resume to…

www.danielnyc.com

www.frenchlaundry.com/perse/perse.htm

www.oldoakscc.org

The Marriot in NY

As well as posted my resume on Monster.com

I think that’s a pretty damn good start!

Wish me luck everyone…. I’m going to try to find 5 more tomorrow