This is how school works

School here is a bit more complex than it is in the US. Hell, it's more complex (it seems) than anywhere else in the world. Even the older students are perplexed by some things. Something tells me we aren't in Kansas anymore Toto!

The school is broken up into 4 sections (mainly).

The first section consists of 6 semesters, or 3 years...and is called Hotel Operations. Completing those 6 semesters will get you the Swiss equivalent of an AA, as well as an American one...among a couple other awards/merits/etc.

The first of the Hotel Operations courses is HOI aka "Service".
The HOI students work as servers, hosts, bussers, etc...for all the school run restaurants on campus (more on that later). Half their work load is Academic (ie class time) and half is Practical (ie working in the restaurant time).

After completing your semester at Les Roches doing that you have a semester in which you do an internship of sorts....they call it a...ugh, I can't spell it. Stah-je. Stage. Sorta. Anyway the school helps set it up for you and at the end you write up a report of what you did.

The 2nd year is HOII....cooking.
It's the same deal as before...1/2 classes 1/2 working. And again afterwords you do your internship.

The 3rd year is HOIII...management. This is where I come in.
This year there is no "practical" work (for the most part). It is all pretty much classroom time with projects, homework, all that typical school jazz. And again...once you finish...you do an internship, write up a report, and boom....you've got your AA.

The couple tricky bits about all this...
-You actually "graduate" after you finish your school bit of HOIII...but you don't get your actual degree until you finish your internship
-The first 2 weeks of school is spent setting everything up...meeting after meeting after meeting as there are an INSANE amount of rules here...rules beyond what you could possible imagine. It is VERY complex. Anyway...the students still need to be fed during that time and since the new students don't know how to cook or serve yet...the HOIII students do it. So today I was a Steward (busser/dishwasher). Tomorrow I'm a Chef. The next day I'm a Server. Thankfully that is the only time I'll have to do that stuff. I've done it plenty enough before here so there is no need to do it again :)

Beyond the HOI-III stuff is the BA program (with an emphasis on Marketing/Finance or Management) which is 2 straight semesters and a Masters program which is another 2 semesters.

There are 114 HOIII students, and 10 of us are "Direct Entry" ie our prior education and work experience counted as credit towards HOI and HOII.

And now a bit on the rules...
We have uniforms and are expected to be in uniform for every single academic/practical function. Everyone has an Academic uniform...blue blazer with a crest, white dress shirt (tie for guys), grey slacks (skirts for women), black shoes. It must be "properly worn" when wearing it...no loose tie, no jacket over the shoulder, no wrinkled shirts.

The service students have a service uniform...similar but black slacks/skirt and grey vest with a bow tie. Same rules apply.

And cooking students have chef garb...chef coat, hat, scarf, pants, shoes.

Now...when wearing those uniforms...you must be clean shaven. You cannot have colored hair. Only women can wear earings, and they must be "simple". You can wear one ring, one watch, and one pin on your shirt. Men cannot have long hair. Your nails must be trimmed and neat.

The BA/MA students must wear business suits.

Oddly enough...as an HOIII student I can grow facial hair. Strange.

It gets more strict folks....

In order to eat lunch/dinner at a school restaurant you must be in the Academic uniform...no exceptions. You actually have to make reservations a minimum of 2 days in advance. Miss your reservation, or show up without one....and you are in trouble. Come in with your phone, or a bag, or school books...trouble.

You are allowed to have 6 bottles of beer or 2 bottles of wine in your room. No hard liquor. But two "dorms" here cannot have any liquor in the rooms.

We will have a drug test next week...and they will randomly test us through the semester. If you've taken illegal drugs...you are gone. Expelled.

Each one of those uniform/dining/etc infractions (excluding the drug one of course) results in points lost...not grade points, but something like demerits. Once you get X points taken off...you are kicked out of school. Lesser amounts results in loss of certain privlidges.

Now I realize this sounds amazingly hardcore and very serious. Well, it is. But at the same time it isn't. The school is trying to accomplish 2 things here...they are trying to prepare students for work in an atmosphere that absolutely depends on appearance. You do not go spend several thousand dollars at a hotel with messy unkept employees who don't understand how the place runs. Secondly...it is a weeding out process. Those students that cannot hack it with these rules are gone...plain and simple.

Personally...it ain't no thang baby. Sure it is complex and sure I have to be on my toes...but it isn't going to be dificult by any means. Personally...I kinda like it. I dig the structure. I dig the rules. To me...it's sorta like having murder be against the law. Me, as in Neil Crawford, doesn't need to be told murder is against the law and that I will be punished for killing someone. I simply am not the type to do it. Do you know what I mean?