The Hurricane

I’ve been watching CNN for the past hour.  I had no idea of the amount of devastation that the hurricane created.  It’s absolutely unreal.

If I remember correctly the latest insurance estimate is around $25 billion.  There are roughly 875,000 people in Mississippi without electricity….not to mention food, water and gas.  There are some areas in which the water is 15 feet deep…and because of the two levee breaks (along the river and lake) the water level is continuing to rise.  Not only that but there are no concrete plans nor times for when it will stop.

And on top of that…1/4 of US oil production is halted, and a large number of our refineries are not able to function.

I can’t imagine what gas prices are going to do over this coming Labor Day weekend.

Part of me, right now, desperately wants to be home.  I know there is next to nothing I could do from Lafayette…but still…ugh.  This is a nightmare for the US.  It worries me tremendously.

I’m not a religious man.  I don’t go to church.  I don’t (often) pray.  

But right now all my hope is with those poor people suffering back home.  Those millions who’ve lost their homes, their possessions, their jobs…and those that have lost their families and loved ones.  Their friends.  Their dreams…

Take care of yourselves…everyone.  Be prepared.  Keep on going.  Do your best.

Randoms

-There is an African guy here in my building but I forget which country he is from specifically…one of the more well known ones.  He’s really nice, has a sort of Jamaican style accent and instead of saying “Hi, how are you?” he says, “Hi, how are you feeling?  How are you feeling today?  You feeling alright man?”  I really dig it personally…seems much friendlier than the typical greeting.  I may pick that one up myself.

-There are two things I’m planning on bringing back with me to the US…different ways to say “cheers” and cheek kissing girls.
I’ve learned how to say cheers in Swedish, Spanish, French and German…I forgot how to say it in Italian though.  I’d like to still pick up Russian.  It’s just fun to say and when you do say it people from those countries react very well.  
As far as the cheek kissing thing goes…its just cool.  It’s much better than giving a girl a handshake, and works well for women that you don’t quite hug yet.  I’m sure people will freak out at first.  I’ll work on ‘em.  I will not do the French “kiss a guy on both cheeks” deal though.  That’s for pansies.

-Swiss life gives me gas.  I’m not quite sure what the deal is but after a meal here, and I’m walking around, I fart a lot.  They are neither stinky nor loud…just lots of air passing through.  I have no clue why that happens…it just does.  So far it hasn’t been much of an issue.

-Swiss weather is beyond strange.  We will have days of clouds, fog, rain, and ugh (well…I like that weather honestly) then days of absolute and glorious sunshine.  Right now it’s about 75 degrees and sunny as hell….just some small fluffy clouds over the mountain tops.  It is so odd how it changes so radically.  We’ve gotten a TON of rain recently…but very rarely does it downpour like back home.  It’s more of a constant slow drizzle that makes everything wet.  I should sit out in the sun!

-I’ve got to start getting more serious about what I am going to do after Les Roches.  Honestly I don’t plan on coming back here for my BBA.  I’ve experienced Bluche and the place is just too small for my liking.  It’s frustrating to have to pay just to leave town and causes a serious drain on the cash situation.  I’m probably going to do my BBA in Chicago…probably.  Or Cornell.  Hmmm…

-The rules, which at first seemed so heinous, then appeared pretty relaxed, are starting to get enforced more and more.  I got in mild trouble for leaving clothes on my bed.  Although silly, and mildly annoying, I think it’s a good thing.  We are at Week 6 of 22.  Week 8 will have me giving my oral presentation on my Project (easy), Week 10 will be Mid Terms (should be easy), Week 11 is vacation (I’ve no clue where I’m going yet), and then…uh…more stuff I guess.  Time both goes quickly and slowly here.  But most other classes have more projects, assignments, tests and the like, so the others are starting to stress a little.  I like it.

-Magnus is obsessed with Secret Societies (like the Freemasons or Skull and Bones).  We’ve been toying with the idea of creating our own.  That could be interesting.  I was a (gasp) frat boy after all.  My, life is strange…and you can take with or without the comma.

-It is becoming more obvious that classes for the returning students are radically different than they were the years prior.  For example, for my Room Divisions Mid Term test the teacher is going to give us a hierarchy tree of Room Divisions employees with several things wrong with it.  Our job is to find one thing and write a little essay about it, taking into account cost savings and work load.  He has been going through samples of these trees in class showing where things are different, where they are the same, pointing out this and that.  One of the students asked him which one was “right”…which one he should memorize and study from, in other words.  The teacher sort of laughed and told him that there was no real “right” one, that it is all situation dependent and he’ll have to just use his knowledge.  The student, among several others, looked crestfallen.  “How do we study for that?” someone asked.  The teacher said, “Ladies and Gentlemen…this is not Service or Kitchen…this is Management.  Managers have to use their brains.”  I like this…a LOT.

-I really ought to get a haircut, but I’m being lazy.  I’ve got time today to go up to Montana and do it…but I don’t want to wait for the funi, don’t want to pay for the funi, and want to do things like this instead (as well as email, do some reading and work on my resume).  I can get my hair cut for 10 CHF by this freaky British woman that comes to campus…but she is freaky and I’m hesitant.  Maybe I’ll suck it up and head to Montana tomorrow after Economics.  I think I forgot to sign up for Wednesday dinner anyway…damnit.

Snacks

I was reading about the big storm near New Orleans yesterday…seems pretty intense.  I can just imagine the TV coverage that the US is getting right now about it.  I’m sure it’s on every channel.

Anyway, I was reading an article about it and noticed this line…

“Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has extra trucks waiting at surrounding distribution centers to haul more canned food, generators, batteries, tarps and Pop Tarts to affected regions, company spokeswoman Sharon Weber said.”  (Bloomberg.com)

How odd.  How very American.  

I can just imagine it now…”Quick, we need to help out these poor suffering people!  Make a list…let’s see…canned food, yes…that’s something they will need.  Generators, for sure…the power must be out everywhere!  Batteries…for when the generators aren’t working!  Tarps…lots of tarps…keep them dry!  What else…  Pop Tarts!  They NEED Pop Tarts!  We must keep them fat and happy!”

I do admit I’d love a Hostess Cupcake right now.  

It takes a while to be rich

In my very odd Human Resources class (I’ll babble about the whole HR situation later…once we’ve gotten a little more resolution…)…anyway, in this class we have been focusing a lot on pay in the hotel/restaurant industry lately.

And as my teacher would say, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the outlook is not good.”

Some of the students here…actually, the vast huge majority of them, think that once you graduate from this school there will be hundred thousand dollar job offers banging down your door.

I’ve got friends of mine talking to me about working at Hotel X and Hotel Y and “wow, the GM/CEO/owner gets paid so much!”

But they don’t quite realize that there is some work involved here.

Today in HR we were getting more specific into pay scale.  The teacher was talking about some semi-typical starting pay rates for various positions.  The class was fairly animated and talkative, and one of the students asked the teacher, “Well, how much will we be making?  Surely more than that, no?”

The answer…

“You will probably be making less.”

Silence.  I could hear a water faucet running somewhere in the building it was so quiet.

To make a long story short, the students here…they are under the impression that a simple education will gain you tremendous income.  As the teacher went on to describe how junior managers have to do all the dirty work, the grunt work, the awful hours, the fairly low pay, before they have demonstrated their abilities and paid their dues…the students had a look of terrible fear in their eyes.  Hell, a tear may have fallen somewhere in that class.

A lot of the kids here have the easy life.  This school…Ladies and Gentlemen this school is VERY easy.  There is very little of it that is truly a challenge…not just for me, but for anyone willing to put in a little effort.  And what you gain out of it is the basis for a career…not the career itself.

And that is going to be a bitter pill for some of these people to swallow.

Favorite Classes

Accounting
As many of you know already, I did accounting for several years before starting this whole culinary/restaurant/hotel gig.  Man…looking back on it I did accounting for something like 7 years (off and on).  Yow!  Time flies I guess.

Anyway, I really enjoy this class.  The teacher, Mr. Small, is the head of HOIII and without a doubt knows his stuff.  He follows the book more or less, but does a really good job of being linear in his lectures.  We start with the basics and move forward…each prior step providing knowledge on how to do the next ones.  I can tell that, if choose to, the tests could be very difficult…at least from the standpoint if you mess something up in the beginning your end answer is going to be way off.

Perhaps the biggest reason I dig this class is because I am finally getting some schooling on something I have a lot of experience in.  I never took real accounting classes…I learned by observing, practicing and asking questions.  It took a lot of experimentation to get to the level I got in the whole financial analysis world…and I’m grateful to getting that much needed knowledge.  

Plus, it’s pretty damn easy!

Marketing
There are two huge reasons why I really enjoy this class.  One, the teacher is awesome.  He’s alive, vibrant, and full of knowledge and really takes charge in the class.  He lets enough funny stuff slide to keep us from falling asleep, and isn’t afraid to call stupid students…well…stupid.  I absolutely love it.

Secondly, I’m really learning a lot in this class.  This is all stuff that I had never studied before, and had no experience in prior.  I’ve perhaps learned the most from this one class…and there is a lot more to be gained too.

It isn’t too hard either ;)

Economics
This pretty much falls in line with Accounting, with a combo of Marketing.  It’s another strong teacher who doesn’t take crap from students, it’s giving me knowledge in a subject I have prior experience with, and I’m learning a tremendous amount.  It’s a bit more challenging than the other two favorites, but that is a good thing…I shouldn’t just walk through this whole thing, ya know what I mean?

Later on I’ll go through my lesser favorites…and then the classes I dislike.

Sad News

Well this truly sucks.  I think there is a lesson contained in here, a positive change in behavior, but it still sucks royally.

I may have lost both my watch and my camera last night.

Yesterday, after school, I decided it was going to be a night of serious partying.  That’s the norm for a Friday and/or Saturday night regardless if you are in Bluche or San Francisco.  At least…sorta.

It was another typical party night here…lots of initial drinking at one of the dorm buildings, then off to San’nick for additional drinking…then catching a cab up to Montana for even more drinking.  That is par for the course.

So that’s what I did.  Without going into all the gory details the last place I recall having both things was at Absolute (I mentioned the place before).  I was hanging out with Karl drinking a bottle of vodka he had bought (for a painful amount of money...club prices folks…at least 7 times too much).  I was taking random pictures of people in the club.  I had taken off my watch because I was dancing a lot too.

I must have left them both there.  I tried not to think about it all day today but through some events it became obvious that they are both gone.

This makes me tremendously sad.

The camera…although neither the best nor the fanciest…was my camera.  It was a major part of my communication with home and a blast to play with.  

The watch…ugh, this is even worse to me.  It was a high school graduation present from my grandparents, and something I rarely ever wore until I came here.  But since I was wearing slacks, tie, blazer, etc every day for school I started wearing it…got used to it…and would wear it every day.

Both these things have a lot of sentimental value to me and this is a heartbreaker.  

The people that own Absolute also own San’nick.  Absolute will be closed tomorrow but San’nick will be open (I believe) so I’ll try talking to them about this.  Hopefully some considerate employee found them both and is holding them there for me.  Sadly I’m not that hopeful though.

So I mentioned a lesson…and here it is…

I was up until 4:30 am yesterday partying.  I spent a foolish amount of money, I lost both my camera and my watch, and…honestly…I didn’t have that great a time.  Sure it was fun…but not very rewarding.  Today was pretty much a waste because I was just so tired.

Maybe I’m overreacting a bit here…but I really don’t want to be a hardcore partier again.  I did that once before the first time I was in college

Note:  There is a fight outside right now…how fitting

Anyway, the first time I was in college I partied like a maniac.  It was pretty similar to this in fact.  And I suffered tremendously because of that.  Yes…I had many fun times but it hurt me.

And now here I am again…in that same sort of atmosphere.  And last night was just a taste of the crap that comes from this sort of thing.

Look…this isn’t a new experience for me (in a lot of ways).  This is something I’ve been through before.  I know this world and this lifestyle.  It’s just not me anymore.

I think the 5 am party nights are behind me now.  Beers with friends is still an important thing…cutting loose on occasion is necessary.  But night after night of the same old song and dance…I just don’t need that in my life anymore.

God I hate growing up.

The Liar

Today I met the biggest lying fool of all time.  And his name is Phillip.

Phillip is a German (I’m pretty sure) that has lived some time in Canada (I think) and also went to college for one semester in the US (according to him).

Enough with the (disclaimers)…this guy is frighteningly full of crap.

I had run into him once before when I was going through a major hamburger crisis.  I was saying that I wanted an American hamburger…he asked me where I was from…and told me that I wasn’t really American.

I was a bit confused by this.  For some odd reason he feels that Californians are not Americans.  Mmm…OK.  Sure.  Right.  Moving on…

He came by today and I instantly started to dislike him.  I had my flag hanging outside and it had started to rain so I pulled it in.  He started telling me how Americans hate him.  Me being me…told him that there are lots of Americans and I’d be surprised that we all hate him; I don’t remember discussing this with my neighbors.  He didn’t quite get it and told me about how the FBI has been tailing him, and forced him to leave the country.

The story is that he was at some Bush rally with a communist flag…was branded a terrorist…and the FBI made him leave the country.  Sure.  Right.  Moving on…

So I decided to pull an old trick…ignore.  I just let him babble in the background while I did something else.  I was playing a game on the computer and he started talking about cars.  Of course I had to give him a bit more attention…after all that is one of my favorite subjects.

He told me of a friend of his, a lawyer, that has a Porsche with 4 nitrous ports.  I could see 1 port…main intake track.  Perhaps 2, one for each bank of cylinders.  Even 6, one for each cylinder.  But 4 don’t quite make sense.  Conceivable sure…normal no.  Whatever.

Then he told me that this lawyer friend gets $5 million US (he emphasized this point) a month from his dad.  Oh, but there is more!  This lawyer is a consultant for the Mafia and charged $1.5 million US (again…that was important to him to have me know it was US)…he charges $1.5 million US PER HOUR.

Sure.  Right.  Moving on…

Some other Phillip gems…
-“Americans are easy to kill.”  You see, he was in the German army and learned that in the army.  I’m not quite sure how many Americans he killed…but it must have been a ton of us ‘cause we are…after all…easy to kill.
-The military, his countries military, had his girlfriend killed in Afghanistan in order to get him to…I think…stay in the army.  It was all a plot you see.  They needed to make him mad.  But he found out!  Oh!  Wow!  

All of us know those types of people that lie in order to impress others.  Some are subtle, some are blatant.  Some are so painfully and obviously blatant that they become a joke.

Phillip is the King.  

I am seriously questioning the Les Roches application process.

Pictures of cats

I stole these pictures from www.nasioc.com which stole them from www.4chan.org

Survival of the Fittest

I had an assignment…my only assignment…for my International Relations class. The assignment was to research a world event and write 1000 words on the subject, with references. However it was supposed to be about a world event that your home country is not involved in.

That took a while to find. I come from a…involved…country.

But beyond that, he wanted us to write is with our own “spin” on it…from your home countries point of view.

Now that was very easy to do.

The question I’ve been having in my mind recently is how much I look at my fellow students with an older point of view versus an American point of view. I admit that’s a pretty black and white way of thinking about things. Our perceptions are a blend of a variety of different things…not only our age and home land, but our personal experiences, our personalities, our socio-economic station (woot, look at me!), etc.

So we all have different perceptions on things, regardless of how similar we may seem.

And I have perceived this.

A lot of my fellow students…

A lot of my fellow students are utter and complete morons.

Yeah…that’s harsh. I’ll be the first to admit it. Perhaps that is the “elitist American” (that I’ve heard SO much about) coming through. Perhaps that’s my “look people, I’ve lived a lot of life already…much more than you have…so shut the **** up.” Perhaps (and actually) it’s just Neil.

I was in accounting class today. Most of the students fear this class like the devil is involved somehow. I’ve gone off about that before. Anyway…this girl was sitting next to me…one that I’ve had issue with for quite a while. The whole lecture she sat there drawing pictures of cartoon characters. Towards the end of class the teacher hands out a practice problem for us to do which uses all the different accounting methods we learned about in class.

Instantly her hand shoots up… “I don’t understand! I don’t get it! Help me!”

So of course the teacher stops…pulls her aside, and re-teaches her everything she missed while doodling like a 12 year old.

That folks…is utter and complete crap.

Look sweetheart…if you want to succeed in life you’ve got to actually work. You’ve got to try. You’ve got to, above all, fail.

I was really disappointed in my teacher’s behavior. If she can’t figure out that she needs to pay attention in class, she shouldn’t get this stuff handed to her on a silver platter.

Survival of the fittest…does that make me an American? Does that make me more mature? Does that make me (pardon) an asshole?

I think it makes me successful.

Magnus agrees. We were just sitting outside our place shooting the breeze while these kids up above us were blasting the same 5 songs over and over…yelling at people walking down the street and generally making asses out of themselves. There are some other extremely stupid things that they do in the rooms behind locked doors that will get them into even more serious trouble…but I won’t get into that.

Magnus…my pal…told me that they were “useless”. He said something like “those guys aren’t going to have a life worth living. They will always be used”.

I explained the meaning of the word “tool” to him. He laughed.

I don’t mean to sound bitter here. I don’t want to sound harsh. But there are some things I am very disappointed with in regards to Les Roches.

And it’s pretty much the students.

Tuesday Rocks!

With this Project completed I suddenly have a ton of free time.  Not only are my evenings and weekends going to be free of concern, but…up to this point…we had 4 periods a week (2 back to back on Tuesday, 2 back to back on Thursday) dedicated to working on the Project.  Now those times are set aside for students to give their presentations before the teachers.  That means, for the next 2 and a half weeks…I’ve got 4 free periods and very light weekend work.  

Which results in the most wonderful of fabulous days…Tuesday.

Tuesday starts at 8 am with Room Divisions Management.  It is followed by another session of Room Divisions Management which ends at 9:45.

Then…

Nothing.

Nada.

Freedom.

If Switzerland wasn’t so damn expensive I’d dedicate that day to exploring.  But the cost of getting out of town, the cost of eating out, the cost of doing things is a bit horrendous.  I’m sure that I can figure out some cheap things to do…but damn, it kinda sucks.

To get up to Crans-Montana it costs 6.20 CHF round trip.  Down to Sierre it’s 18.40.  That’s just transportation costs.  

But now that I’ve got my hiking boots and cold weather gear I could do some hiking.  I talked to one native and he told me that there are kilometers of hiking trails around here.  I will have to dedicate a couple Tuesdays to that for sure.

Of course I could dedicate those days to doing work.  But I will be honest here.  School is easy.  There isn’t one class where I’ve had to do extra studying for.  I shouldn’t get too cocky here though…I will be doing some additional reading and studying.

Speaking of that…I’ve got quite a crew of people that are looking for additional help with Accounting and Economics…some even with Marketing.  I’m tempted to charge ‘em for it.  But…well…I’m concerned about that.  I’m worried that I wouldn’t do that great a job explaining…that I’d confuse ‘em more.  I think I’ll try a couple simple study/tutor sessions and see how it goes.

Who knows…maybe my study sessions could pay for my Tuesday Ramblings.

Now that’s a thought…

Done!

Today is an awesome day.  I say that for two really big reasons.

One, the Project is DONE and turned in.

Two, I got a package from my parents.

The Project has been a bit of a thorn in my side for a while now.  It wasn’t terribly difficult to do.  In fact I over did it a touch.  It’s 3 different sections focused on Facilities Management, Room Divisions and Food and Beverage.  6 people worked on it with 2 people in each area…I was in F&B.  I rather enjoyed parts of it…but there were some aspects that I definitely struggled with.  Primarily I struggled with not taking over completely.  I’m taking this whole school gig pretty damn serious and it was tough to not just do the whole damn thing when I know I could do an excellent job.  That lead to stress, a little resentment, and a lack of patience.  At the end it was just plain tough to finish up the work.  So I took a deep breath, stepped back, and let them do the rest.  With the language barrier, the different levels of experience, and the desires of everyone to show others what they found…at times it was just a free for all with no organization.

But that’s all done now and everything is turned in.  WOO HOO!  Now it’s just a waiting game until Week 8 (it’s Week 5) right now.  In Week 8 our group gives our presentation to the three teachers, one for each subject.  Personally I think that bit will be even easier.

The package was much needed.  It’s been raining off and on since Thursday-ish and that means pretty cold temps.  Up to this point I had 2 long sleeve shirts, one light jacket and one rain jacket.  Without sounding like a fashion junky…I was getting a bit annoyed with wearing the same stuff every day.  But now I’ve got a bunch of sweaters, several more dress shirts and my hiking boots (Oh I’m REALLY stoked about that…can’t wait to do some exploring).  Thanks Mom and Dad!  You two are the GREATEST.

So to congradulate this whole set of events I’ve got the music in my room very loud, door open with the fog rolling up and down the hills, and the heater on full…wearing a warm soft sweater (and other clothes!  Damn people.)

Rumor has it that there is another package coming in soon…with “fun” stuff.  My Mom is the BEST in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE at “fun” stuff.  The clothes were a necessity, but the fun stuff is going to be the best part of all.

Life is very good (

To go up or not go up

Are you going up?

That is the question of the night…every Friday and Saturday night.  Well…sometimes Thursday.  Ahem…sometimes Wednesday.  Let’s be honest here…that is the question every night.

Are you going up?

Going up means you are gonna do some serious drinking.  That means serious partying, serious late night (or early morning depending on your point of view).  But most crucially, that means serious cash outlay.

And that…often…isn’t my bag.

Tonight started really slow.  It was a very mellow day…a day of working on The Project.  It was day of no showering, wearing sweats, standing under eves as the rain fell.  It was a day of watching the fog roll up the hill like a stampede, only to have it drift away just as suddenly as it appeared.

It was a day of chill mellow relaxation.

So that’s what I did.  I worked on The Project.  I spent time with friends.  I wore sweats.  I got rained on.  Eventually I wound up at Taco in Cal’s room with a couple other guys, and painfully few women.  Eventually, per the usual, security came to shut us down.  We left…headed down to San’nick, and had a couple beers.  And then the question came up…

Are you going up?

That means are you going to take the taxi up to Crans-Montana and get raped by beer prices.  

Personally I think rape is a horrible and violent act.  It’s something that should NEVER happen to anyone.  Never.  Period.

And tonight is not a night for that.  No thanks.  13 CHF for a beer?  Let’s see…that’s roughly $10.40 for a touch less than 12 ounces of Corona…with a lemon.  Not a lime, but a lemon.  No thanks.  Nah.  Bite me…seriously.

So I played the “I am low on cash” and “I had a long day” and “I’ll be back in a minute” card.  Part of me feels really awful about that.  Well…I feel awful about lying about it.  I should just be honest.  But also I feel a touch left out.  Going up really isn’t my bag (occasionally) but when I don’t go…it generally makes me jealous.  Oh well.  BIG oh well.

So here I am…listening to Cypress Hill and chilling with the beer I stole from San’nick.

Am I going up?

Not tonight.  

Make a flipbook movie

OK, this is pretty damn awesome.

Link

And here are some examples of ones that have been made...

One, two, three, four.

Enjoy!

Allow me to translate.

I am working on, what could perhaps be, the most dificult thing I will have to do here. It is a royal pain in the ass.

As I've mentioned before there is a group project that I am working on with 5 other students. So far it has gone very well...everyone in the group is compitent, intelligent and works hard. The only problem is that none of them have that strong a command of the English language.

So, me being me, I've got copies of all the sections that each individual wrote and am in the process of putting them all together into one coherent package.

But...like I said...there are language issues.

For example... translate this into English...
"Therefore the whole Golf Resort is forecasting on the couple clients, in another word it is the paradise of romantic."

Therin lies the issue.

So I'm a bit torn here...torn between letting things be and completely re-writing bits and sections into more proper English. It's a struggle. I don't want to take their words away from what they wrote...the message they were trying to convey. But at the same time I don't think we would be graded well if our report said things like "And the most numbers of rooms are standard rooms which are 81.1% of total rooms. Thus base on the requirement of the project."

Doh.

Well...we shall see.

I'm going to be up a while I think. Boo!

Am I popular?

Something, beyond the multi-cultural alltercations...something different happened today.

My blog became popular.

I'm used to seeing friends and family visiting...that's the norm. I didn't exactly advertise (ahem nasioc) this site. I just, mainly, wanted to share this with people I know.

And if others discovered it...awesome! I hope it was educational/inspirational/made you want to vomit.

Whatever.

But for some unknown reason the traffic EXPLODED today. Seriously...like nearly 3 times my normal number of visits.

Eh...I dig it. I really do. I like all you lunatics online visiting my wholesome and family friendly site. I hope it gives you some insight on what is...uh...Les Roche? Switzerland? My dementia?

Again...

"Whatever."

But it's late. I posted twice. That is enough for now.

Enjoy...comment...mail me things...taught and tease me...tell me that I am great and handsome and one of a kind.

And above all...

Keep reading.

Oh wait.

Above all...

Thank you.

:)

No I won't back down

Tonight was a rather…interesting night.  Yeah I might use that word a lot but it was for sure complicated.

From what I understand Ethan (New York) had an “issue” with a Georgian (no…not the state, the soviet republic).

Hopefully without offending anyone (ahem), Ethan is a stereotypical New Yorker.  He fights, he brawls, and he doesn’t take crap from anyone.  To be honest…he doesn’t take shit from anyone.  

Years ago someone pulled a knife on Ethan in NY.  He fought back and they cut his head pretty badly.  Badly enough, in fact, to give him a nasty scar up top.

So if you are going to threaten him with a knife, you better be able to back it up.

So, can you guess what happened?  I thought you might.

Things got a touch hairy at San’nick tonight.  There was lots of discussions between people…friends backing up friends, people pulling each other aside to talk about what was up and what could happen…all that stuff.

All that shit in fact.  I should be blunt…it was that serious.

So far, at 1:30 am…things are “alright”.  There were talks.  There was handshaking.  Large dudes talked with other large dudes (I’m glad Karl is on my side…he’s ex-Swedish special forces…went to South America to train soldiers.  I think I mentioned that before).  

So I’m home now…and the rest of the gang is going up to Montana.

Part of me really wants to be there.  Ethan is my friend…no matter how stupid he may have acted.  But the kid pulled a knife on him…and no matter where you are from, that sort of stuff is NOT cool.

I trust Ethan.  I trust Karl.  I trust the multitude of others that will be with him.  Yeah…I want to be there.  I want to help.  But with this project looming over my head…it’s something I can’t afford to do.

Besides that…I shouldn’t.

Perhaps I’ll have something even more “interesting” to report tomorrow.  Odds are I won’t.

It’s going to be a long night.

I truly wish that everyone comes home OK…

Shit.

Am I smart?

Yeah...I am. Relatively speaking of course. I know people younger than I with Masters. I know people my age with houses, dogs, and a paid off car. So in some ways...I'm not.

But here...I'm brilliant.

I've had accounting experience in life (duh). But I was never "classically" educated on the matter. I just picked it up as I went along. I do a decent job of "faking it" when necessary...and, oddly enough, I actually learn. I was a good accountant...when I wanted to be.

So I'm sitting in accounting class. This one guy comes in late, one of the more quiet guys, and sits next to me. I kinda know him 'cause he is Direct Entry like myself (in other words, he skipped HOI and HOII due to his prior education/experience).

Anyway the teacher (who is a really good teacher) is explaining about Direct vs Indirect costs. Personally I had no clue what those things meant before he started lecturing. But I picked it up. It wasn't all that hard to figure out. Let's say you are running a hotel. You've got rooms. The cost of restocking those rooms with new tiny bars of soap would be a direct cost. Or you've got a restaurant...the food costs would be a direct cost. However...in that hotel...you pay rent. You pay rent on the entire building as one unit. Therefore rent is an indirect cost...it is shared between the restaurant and the rooms. Same thing with admin costs, ultilities, etc.

Simple eh?

So this guy...as the teacher lectures...sits there with open mouth stare...like the teacher is speaking Latin. He gives up trying to listen to the teacher and instead copies my notes. Like word for word he copies my notes.

I've had people cheat off me in tests before...but off notes? Dear lord.

So after explaining the concept deeper the teacher then moves on to a example question. He runs through the whole process with us. He takes us through getting the answer step by step. It is fairly simple.

The instant he is done several hands shoot up.

"I don't get it."

"You add this, and subtract that?"

"This makes no sense."

I was, in a word, floored.

So after explaining the whole process again...he tells us to try the next question in the book...which is actually easier.

One of the things to figure out (this is just one part mind you...one step in the process)
"By closing the lounge in the restaurant, your profit from Rooms will decrease by 2%."
"The profit on the Rooms is $40,000."

Got it?

Do the math.

I'll wait.

Do be do be do.

The answer? $40,000 x 2% = the amount of profit decrease from closing the lounge.

$800. 40,000 - 800 = 39,200

He doesn't get it.

I circle the words Rooms, profit, decrease, 2%, $40,000.

He still doesn't get it.

...

At this point I'm not even sure how to explain it.

I loan him my calculator.

He uses it.

He writes down "6000".

I really hope he doesn't sit next to me next class.

Rainy rain rain

Raining. Again.

Once again it's raining.It's odd, and tough to get used to. 2-3 days of beautiful sunshine...almost too hot for a lack of A/C (but I'm a baby about that) then 2-3 days of rain, fog and cloud cover. I guess part of Swiss efficiency is having very predictable weather.

Oh yeah...the Swiss aren't efficient. They are simply thorough. Thorough is not efficient. Thorough, is in fact, very time consuming and annoying.

Let's talk about my books for example. I don't have all of them yet. That...is annoying. But whenever a new book comes in, I go down to the library, find the little library man...he goes into his office and gets his binder. He flips through it for a while...passes my name occasionally...finds it, then walks out (locking the door behind him) to go to the room next door. He unlocks that room, digs around...finds the book...prints something out, does something else...then gives me the book. He then locks the door, goes back to his office...unlocks the door...and repeats this for everyone.

I find him uncomfortably thorough...and mildly insane.

But hey, I'm slowly aquiring my books. That's a good thing.I've gotten to the point where I can pretty much operate like a normal human now. Sure, a normal human would prefer lights to stay on until you turn the switch off (instead of the fun fun 10 minute timer). And a normal human would prefer...well...a lack of thoroughness. Some lunacy would be nice...but the school, and the Swiss, sure don't dig on that.

I might run across campus screaming...just to see what happens. I think it would probably kill one or two people, purely from shock and awe.

I am a stranger in a strange land. But it is a good land. I don't get bothered by people trying to sell me things. Here...the price is on everything, it's expensive, and if you don't want it you go away. Even the street vendors have a pretty relaxed time. There is no pressure, no push for sale. It's refreshing. Clean.

Yeah...this place is clean.

Well, except for flies. There are lots of flies. I believe, and this is just a guess, that the Swiss either can't A) figure out a way to make money off of fly killing or B) think that killing flies is bad for the environment.

Please mail me a cheeseburger....Oh, speaking of that...I've yet to get any fun mail :( Nothing! So people...send me stuff. I don't care what it is. Bah!

A bit of pride

Occasionally, it is tough being an American here. And one of the big reasons is because we have such a small representation in this school. I believe there are roughly 5 of us, perhaps as many as 3 more…but that’s it. Compared to the rest of the world we have some of the smallest representation here (there is one kid from Iceland though…and only one from Scotland…so it’s a touch worse for them).

However, what really makes it tough…is that everyone knows America and what we do. Let me rephrase that…everyone thinks they know America and what we do. Sometimes they are spot on the money (perfect saying for describing this situation) and sometimes they are way off base.

Here is a silly example before I get to the meat of my post. We’ll get into discussions about the foods we miss…and often people think I really miss pizza. Yeah, I miss pizza sure…but not as much as other foods. But when they say “pizza”, they mean Domino’s. Yeah…Domino’s…some of the crappiest most synthetic garbage pizza ever made. It seems that most other countries think of America as a giant world of chain restaurants. I could talk about Blondies…but they wouldn’t get it. They struggle with that concept. Strange!

Anyway…back to the matter at hand. I’ve got some people in my class that really irritate me. If I was to make a list of things here that I honestly have issue with, they are number one. It’s two groups of nationalities that have large representations and are just loud in class. Whatever…fine. Be idiots. Just don’t be idiots around me.

Since they do have large representations in class they tend to have strong national pride. Good for them! One should be proud of ones country. But, being an American, and being me, I have pride as well. But since I am such a small percentage of the student body it’s harder for me to brag. You know what I mean?

So today, in Economics, we started working on Macroeconomics. The teacher explained Inflation, Unemployment, GPD and Balance of Trade. After lecturing a bit he came to Balance of Trade, and started listing on the board the different countries represented in the class and their trade surplus or deficit. This quickly became a source of pride for the various nationalities (even though they didn’t quite understand what was going on, or the meaning of the term…but I digress).

The two groups respective trade deficit/surplus was listed…and there was much “yay for us” going on. Then the teacher wrote the figures for the US. We are running very high (obviously). The UK, the 3^rd highest deficit is ~44 billion. Spain, number two, is ~70 billion. The US…gasp…~720 billion. This got a lot of laughs and “US is going DOWN” and other things that annoyed me.

The teacher laughed…and explained further. You see, if other countries slow down or stop buying US Treasury notes, the US will no longer be able to pay off that trade deficit…and we will have to cut back on imports. If we cut back on imports…being the worlds largest importer of goods…those countries we import from will suffer terribly. That quieted them down.

Then…the kicker. The world GDP is roughly 35 trillion dollars. America’s GDP is roughly 13 trillion dollars. That’s nearly 1/3 folks. The next closest two are Japan and Germany at roughly 4 billion each.

Silence.

And then, a single hand raises.

As a joke he says, “So does that mean the US owns the world?”

Laughter

And the teachers response…

“Pretty much.”

Silence.

I love my country.

Random photos

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.

Advice for incoming students

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.

What am I going to do?

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.

Teachers and Classes

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.

Things to talk about

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.

Ferrari Dream

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!