Great way to start a test

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.

A real interview request!

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!

The first causalities

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.

One down, four to go...and a moment of sheer and absolute terror

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!

More applications

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.

Responses and Dinner

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!

For my Dad

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.

America, McDonalds and the Stinky Room

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.

I love memepool

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.

Applications!

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

How odd the internet is...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - An Australian man built up a 40,000-volt charge of static electricity in his clothes as he walked, leaving a trail of scorched carpet and molten plastic and forcing firefighters to evacuate a building.

Frank Clewer, who was wearing a woolen shirt and a synthetic nylon jacket, was oblivious to the growing electrical current that was building up as his clothes rubbed together.

When he walked into a building in the country town of Warrnambool in the southern state of Victoria Thursday, the electrical charge ignited the carpet.

"It sounded almost like a firecracker," Clewer told Australian radio Friday.

"Within about five minutes, the carpet started to erupt."

Employees, unsure of the cause of the mysterious burning smell, telephoned firefighters who evacuated the building.

"There were several scorch marks in the carpet, and we could hear a cracking noise -- a bit like a whip -- both inside and outside the building," said fire official Henry Barton.

Firefighters cut electricity to the building thinking the burns might have been caused by a power surge.

Clewer, who after leaving the building discovered he had scorched a piece of plastic on the floor of his car, returned to seek help from the firefighters.

"We tested his clothes with a static electricity field meter and measured a current of 40,000 volts, which is one step shy of spontaneous combustion, where his clothes would have self-ignited," Barton said.

"I've been firefighting for over 35 years and I've never come across anything like this," he said.

Firefighters took possession of Clewer's jacket and stored it in the courtyard of the fire station, where it continued to give off a strong electrical current.

David Gosden, a senior lecturer in electrical engineering at Sydney University, told Reuters that for a static electricity charge to ignite a carpet, conditions had to be perfect.

"Static electricity is a similar mechanism to lightning, where you have clouds rubbing together and then a spark generated by very dry air above them," said Gosden.

And here is where it really gets funny...

Let's see how high I can get.

Today is one of those cold and dreary days that makes me want to just sit down in front of a fireplace and watch a movie, or read a book, or spend time with a close friend…maybe with a cat on my lap, or a blanket around my shoulders, or a blond haired cutie on my shoulder. I think a combo of all of those would be perfect.

Alas I don’t exactly have those things here…so instead I decided to see just how far up the mountainside I could get.

Mission accomplished…sorta. I did manage to get up further than I have before, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted.

Up the mountain are some fairly big ski areas and there are several gondolas that run up there. I have a couple little maps of the area and after checking them out a bit, I talked to Magnus a bit (considerably more on that in another post), gather my stuff, grabbed a friend and set off for the journey.

I was ready…I had comfy shoes on, plenty of cold weather gear (it’s like 10 C here right now), brought my phone, GPS, camera, binoculars, and map. Let’s do it!

We caught the Funi up the hill (after missing the bus…stood for like 30 minutes at the wrong stop…doh) and proceeded to wander around until we found the gondola.

It wasn’t easy to find. We had a rough idea of where it may be but no specific directions…on top of that the signs were “strange”. They weren’t that descriptive, not to mention were written in French. But the pretty little pictures helped.

We eventually found an electronic sign that said which lifts were running…and (mistakenly) thought we were on the right track.

Eventually we found the place…and it was closed. There are several gondolas that run up but the one we were at was decidedly closed…in fact it looked nearly abandoned. We took pictures, wandered around a bit, hit up a store, ran into some friends with a car and hitched a ride back to Bluche.

So here I am now…I got my apple juice, I got some pistachios, a couple of decent pictures, and a warm room listening to a mix of U2, The Police, and the Rolling Stones.

Not too shabby for a Saturday afternoon.

And yes…I did get higher up the mountain than I ever have before. But sadly, it was only a new record by a couple dozen meters. At least it’ll be easy to beat.

Yow…meters…degrees C…I’m becoming all European. Now that is a scary thought.


This, I felt, was a cool shot down between some houses. I wanted to walk down there but...didn't.


A typical selection of beer at a typical Swiss grocery store. As you can see there isn't much anything "dark" available. Sigh!!


Neil sitting in a gondola wishing it was moving up the hill.


The creepy looking entrance to the gondolas. The whole place seemed so run down and kinda scary. I loved it!

Noche de los Mexicanos

Last night was Mexico Night at school (or just Latin America…I’m not sure, it was a bit confusing). But I was pretty excited about the whole deal because I knew I was going to be eating food that was pretty damn close to what I am used to at home.

And they hit a home run.

We had quesadillas, a wonderful variety of salsas, tacos al pastor, nachos, tequila, Coronas (with lime…the Swiss prefer lemon…bah), and all kinds of other yummy treats.

I ate a TON…so much that I was concerned about drinking that night…but amazingly enough I survived.

Towards the end of the event they even had a bunch of piñatas that created quite a sensation. Several of our teachers were there including the Dean…and a bunch of them got some piñata smacks in. It was hilarious.

After all that it was time for good old San’nick’s and more beers. The place was hot, smoky and packed…and a total blast. So…gasp…I decided to “go up”. It was Friday night and I knew I didn’t have anything seriously major to do Saturday or Sunday.

We caught a taxi up to Cran (where the late night bars are) and hit up a couple different places. I kept the drinking at a manageable level and ran into all kinds of people and probably had at least 30 separate conversations with people. It was all good times.

So at around 3 am the last group I was with decided to head on home…and I ended up talking with a friend until about 5 am.

All in all I’ve got to say it was a great time.

Until this morning that is…

I was woken up by Magnus and Jamaica (I want to call him Philip but that isn’t his name damnit.) To make a longish story short they had gotten back home about an hour earlier (that’s 9 am for those of you that last count) and were having a seriously heated and deep conversation. Magnus is pretty loud and Jamaica isn’t exactly quiet either…and with my balcony door being partially open I heard pretty much every word.

I don’t want to tell the world things about these guys private lives but I can say this…they’ve had some seriously hard core life changing shitty experiences. It was intense…there was crying and yelling and nearly a fight. And all of this at 11 am now.

Eventually Magnus came into my room…tears in his eyes, drunk as hell, telling me to wake up (which was kind of funny because I was awake, dressed, and goofing around on my computer). He barely made any sense…telling me (not asking me) to come into his room to talk about things, about life, telling me how much he respected me, wanting to hug me, wanting to just pretty much fall on the floor and flip out. It was heavy.

I calmed him down a bit and decided it was high time I get the HELL out of Bluche. And that leads me to my attempt to get high.

Alcohol, late nights and emotional people are a dangerous combination.


Andrea smoking...which means she was extremely drunk.


Carl...passed out. Which means he was EXTREMELY extremely drunk. I happen to like the artistic nature of this picture.


Chris dancing at Absolute with Susan looking...odd.


Here is Mr. Harrison whacking at the pinata. He is the head of the BBA program and was my International Relations teacher. He was fairly drunk and we had a deep conversation about world politics.


Here is Mr. Taylor...the Dean. Hilarious.


The results of a massive Mexican buffet. Oh how heavenly it was!


Here is Cal being bottle fed by a giant (and very creepy looking) British BBA student.

Presentation COMPLETED!

I talked about this Project much earlier on in my blog…it was pretty much the first assignment given to me by the school and definitely the largest.

Well several weeks back we turned in the actual paper part of it.  And today we had the oral presentation.

I wasn’t terribly nervous about it…we needed to talk for 25-35 minutes and with 6 people in my group that meant roughly 5 minutes per person.  I can certainly talk for that long.  Ha.  But as it got closer and closer…hands were sweating and I was pretty damn scared.

As a group we had been getting together several times recently in order to discuss what we were going to talk about, create the power point presentation, and practice with our approach and timing.

It wasn’t easy.  In fact it was fairly hard.  Our project was HUGE so trying to narrow it all down into 5 minute chunks wasn’t an easy task.  There were endless discussions on what we should emphasize, what we should leave out, and how each person’s part needs to lead to another persons.  

I admit I was a bit nervous about some people in my group.  Bruno, from Brazil, is not a very confident speaker.  I saw him talk in our HR class and he was nervous, stammering and forgot a lot of stuff.  And personally I felt I really had to step up to bat being the only native English speaker.  So there were concerns all around.

But we did it…and we did VERY well.  The presentation was in front of 3 teachers (Food and Beverage, Rooms Divisions, and Facilities Management) and accounts for 25% of our grade in each of those classes.  With the rest of the grades for those classes made up of only 2 tests…it was serious.

At the end the teachers were full of praise.  They really liked how we presented, could see we did a lot of research and worked really well together as a team.  In fact, as Robert was leaving (we used his laptop) he heard one teacher say to another that we were the best coordinated group so far.

I am one very happy boy!!

Sadly I’ve got an ugly amount of laundry to do, I just got group projects for both Economics and Human Relations (Econ due in 5 weeks, HR due in 2 weeks), plus mid terms are looming on the horizon (2 weeks away).  I’m not too concerned about them…Accounting should be easy (although it is a huge 40% of my grade), Rooms Division shouldn’t be bad either (35% of my grade)…but Food and Beverage (20%) and Facilities Management (30%) will require some extra effort.

Plus I REALLY need to get on the ball with my resume and job/internship stuff.  Looks like another weekend spent in Bluche taking care of business…rats!

But the good news is (beyond our AWESOME presentation) is that in 3 weeks…I’ve got a FULL WEEK OFF!  The question remaining is…what in the world to do with that time?

Wow am I looking forward to an ice cold BEER.

Hmm...it's a little cold in my room....

Well I did leave my window open a crack...but that works so well that it keeps the room nice and warm.

Oh well...time to take a shower...

Walk in, turn the water on, use the toilet...

Odd, the shower is still cold. Guess I better turn the cold water down.

Still cold? What the hell?

Let's touch the heater. @#$%!!! It's FREEZING!

Turn the hot water tap on in my room.

Oh CRAP there is no hot water. Not hot water for the shower. No hot water for the heater. No hot water at ALL.

This is NOT a fun way to start the day.

First class, first A

Well that was good news...

I was in CDV (the school restaurant/bar/hangout/whatever) next door to my building getting my hair cut. The school has a lady come every Monday to cut people's hair for 10 CHF (nice deal)...she's also the wife of the International Relations - Contemporary World Issues teacher (he also is the BBA Director and teaches other BBA level classes).

Anyway I ran into him outside and he told me that he turned in our papers to Mr Small today...but Mr Small was sick so he told me my grade anyway...

A.

Woot!

He said he was very pleased with my work.

What a perfect way to start out the week. I'm rather happy now.

As I've learned to say...Good on ya!

Walking

I was told, over the weekend, that I walk like an American.

I spent a lot of time trying to think of what an American looks like when they walk. I watched a lot of people from different countries walk around. I tried to watch myself walk (which is really hard to do without shadows and mirrors).

My conclusion...

I've no freaking clue what an American walk is...nor a Chinese, Korean, Panamanian, Russian, German, whatever.

I'm starting to think that person was drunk.

Saturdays revisited

Escaping from “going up” has nearly become an art form.  I do enjoy partying with my friends.  I really like having beers with the people around here.  But “going up” entails a whole different level of partying.  It means massive money expense, it means an extremely late night, and it means not exactly knowing what happened the night before.

It means pain in the morning.

I’ve suffered pain in my life.  I don’t need to anymore.

So once again I pulled the “hey, I gotta run to the bathroom” or the “pardona me un momento” gambit.  I gave the “I’ll be back in a second” story and the “I’m getting a beer, back soon” line.

In other words it’s midnight and I am safe and happy back in my place.

Tonight was Susanne’s birthday.  We had a little party at the girl’s dorm which was a blast.  There was a ton of people there, decorations, and a painful amount of liquor.  I had a great time.  We made a HUGE mess…and security told us that we could stay until 11 (curfew is 10) as long as we cleaned up.  Well we did the best we could…picked everything up but there were a lot of spills.  Oh well.  Que sera sera I suppose.

So off to San’nick for more drinks.  Good times.  Friends.  Laughter.  Same old same old.  There is a South American guy here; I forget his name that is always saying that it’s the same crowd in the same place…every weekend night.  That is pretty true.  I know I’ve been talking about getting the hell outta here but I’ve yet to really do that.

I wish I could tomorrow but I’ve got several meetings with various people over various projects.  Sigh…another weekend I suppose.

Remind me to talk about Marketing and the textbook soon.

So here I am.  Home.  Rained one but safe and sound.  Life is bien.  

Andrea and I have become pretty good friends now.  She understands that I don’t always want to “go up”.  She gets that I want to hang out with the crowd yet go home at a normal human hour.  I dig her for that.  We can talk about stuff yet go our separate ways.  She really wants to go to the US to study…and she should.  Once she turns 21 at least.

Wow…21.  Tonight was Erica’s birthday.  She’s from SF…the actual City.  She turned 18.  That freaks me out.  But then again…it doesn’t.

I hear thunder.  I hear rain.

Bluche is amazing.  It’s so diverse…so full of people from all over the world.  Today was a Brazilian dance party…all kinds of Brazilians dancing on my balcony.  Tonight was Susanne’s birthday…full of Scandinavians drinking and having a blast.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring…it is all so complex, so diverse, so…complicated…but in a good way.

I find it tough to describe.  There is so much to say about every day…every moment.  I could spend an hour talking about 15 minutes of a class…15 minutes of a Saturday night.  

Security just came to my room…I was playing “The Joker” by the Steve Miller Band too loud.

It’s tough to differentiate the difference between Swiss life and college life sometimes.  This place is both understandable and very confusing at the same time.  

Every day is new…yet the same.

My first "test"

Freedom From Want
Norman Rockwell

Today I had my first test...of sorts. It was an in-class essay for my 4 week Art class.

This is how it worked: Through the classes we've been using Patrosky's Trichotomy (spelling issues perhaps) to examine different works. For the test we were to bring in a copy of a painting from our own country along with research done on it (at least 3 references). Then in class we were to analize it using the Trichotomy as well as explain why using that method is good, a short biography of the artist and why we choose that particular work.

During the "test" however we were not allowed to use our research...just a paper to write on, a pen to write with and a copy of the painting. The research was to get us started and give us a basis to write with. The essay was to be 600-1000 words.

I blew through it. Writing is something that comes fairly easy to me and I did a fair amount of research on my painting before I came in. I feel I did very well.

One test down! Several more to come...

New Yorkers

Alright all you people that have lived in New York, live in New York or whatever etc New York.

I would like to ask for your help.

So...uh....

Would you help me?

I'd like to know some places, some higher end restaurants and medium sized hotels that I could possibly intern at.

Any suggesti0ns?

Time to seriously think about what to do

As I've mentioned before I have 4 options available to me at the end of this semester.

1. Go do my internship. If I do it now I want to do it in the US, in New York, and work for either a medium sized hotel or a well established larger restaurant.
pro: it will give me valuable experience in the field, experience not gained through pure schooling
con: it will take time away from actually earing money again, and could potentially be as long as 12-18 months (probably 12).

2. Defer my internship and go to Kendal Univeristy in Chicago. I have the choice of pushing my internship back until after I get my BA thus getting real pay for a real job, and submitting a report after 12 months. Kendal is a sister school of Les Roches so it would be no problem getting in and I'd be done in 2 semesters.
pro: get paid sooner, admissions is no problem, similar school to this
con: unknown status of school (same issues as Les Roches?), lower level of prestige

3. Defer my internship and go to Cornell. Cornell would be amazing but would take longer and there is no guarantee that I'd get in.
pro: huge prestige and credentials
con: could be more expensive, will probably take 2 years to complete (4 semesters), might not be able to get into school.

4. Show the school that I've completed my internship through my work experience, get my diploma, and just work.
pro: fastest way to the work force and income
con: no degree

Obviously there are some various combinations of the above...and a lot of questions to be asked. So currently I've sent emails to both Kendal and Cornell to get more information from them, and am working on contacting places to work at (internships) in New York.

Choices choices choices!!

Appology accepted

Mr. Small approached me today between my morning classes...and appologized for the letter I got about my punishment. He really is a good guy and an excellent teacher and that simple gesture, that act of respect...well that made me feel a hell of a lot better. I'm going to write him a quick and simple thank you note for that.

Secondly...after my little speach during the meeting yesterday it seems I've gained a lot of respect among my students. I'm getting a lot more recognition, friendly waves, and even having people ask me advice on stuff.

I've always really enjoyed being more "popular"...more liked, more well known (for good reasons). In the past that has gotten me into a considerable amount of trouble...for instance focusing too hard on pleasing others (in order to make them like me more) which in turn sacrificies my other desires and creating resentment.

This is much better.

And I'm pretty sure there is a package for me at the front desk. I'll have to flirt with the receptionist girl to see if I can get it sooner. Woot!

It's yummy!

I highly suggest monkey jello

But only if it is red or blue flavor. Green is just not right.

A degree of resolution, and I saw a squirrel

I mentioned earlier that issues were being addressed.  Well today they came to a head (of sorts).

Today, towards the end of my last class, both the Directory of Students and the school Dean came into class to address one of the letters they got from the students.

I first had a moment of panic…thinking they were going to talk to the whole class about my one single letter.  Thankfully it was one that was written before that many students had signed.

In essence the letter (the larger one…I signed it as well) dealt with a variety of subjects.  Some, in my opinion, were rather minor…long lines for meals, lack of housing, attitude of internship students (some students do their internships here)…but most importantly…books and Human Relations.

To be honest a lot of smoke was blown up our butts.  We were told that class size has only increased by small amounts (but if you do the math, class size increased by 20% over last year…and I was SPECIFICALLY told by the school rep when I first was applying…that class size was roughly 15-17 students.  We are 30.)  They went on about housing…having to put students off campus…lots of other things.  I could honestly go on quite a while about the things that were fired back and forth…it was mildly heated but conversational.

But since this blog is written by me, about me and my life, and hell…because it’s fun to write about me…I’m going to do just that.

Towards the end of the meeting I raised my hand and said something along these lines…

My major issue here is the book situation.  And frankly I’m pretty disappointed.  It is obvious the school knew there was an issue right off the bat, when students started arriving.  However every time I went to the Library to try to get my books…I was told to come back later.  Always come back later…they aren’t here…soon.  We’ve gotten many memos and notes and information about things happening…events, activities, class changes, etc.  Why didn’t the school simply tell us that there was an issue with the books, that they aren’t sure when it would be taken care of and that they are working on it?  If the school had done that…this situation probably could have been avoided.  There would have been no need for you to come to class today to address this.  And beyond that, what is the school doing specifically, right now, in order to get us our books?

The answer was rather non-committal…they said they are “harassing the publisher daily” and that “we were supposed to get photocopies of the chapters on a weekly basis…” and they don’t know why that hasn’t happened.  And in regards to the lack of informing the students BEFORE or DURING the situation instead of now after we became…annoyed…they had no real response.

I was proud of my comment.

And after the meeting…I had students, students that I feel are generally annoying in class, students that usually don’t talk to me, students that aren’t what I’d call “good”…several of them came up to me and said “good job, you said the right thing, it’s great that you spoke, you said something very important.”

And that itself is a reward.  

I feel much better about this situation now.  Up until this point it truly felt that the school was just ignoring the problem until it was solved.  I’m sad that it had to come to this point when it could have been dealt with much earlier.

Ah…life.  What a strange and wonderful thing it is.

PS:  I saw a squirrel today…it was small, black, and had a white chest.  It was really cool and acted like a silly squirrel.

PSS:  Another student is going to cut my hair tonight.  Personally…I’m nervous.

Ramping up

It appears that the school has finally decided to put their foot down about some things...and surprise surprise...there is rebellion.

Perhaps it was simply coincidence that these things took place (and probably is) but without a doubt things are staring to happen...and I like it.

For example:
-Contemporary World Issues: Tomorrow (I thought it was today, oops!) we've got a "test" of sorts in which we are to research a painting from our home country, and for class bring in copies of three difference references, a reference page and a color copy of the painting itself. While in class we are to write about the painting using what we've learned in class as well as what we learned during research. The kicker is that we cannot actually "use" the stuff we bring in (besides the painting). We hand in our references THEN do the writing. That's not too tough actually.
But the kicker is...the teacher told us what the big part is. She then said there will be two additional questions that she will ask...and she won't tell us those questions in advance.
A large portion of the class freaked out...they couldn't understand how she could do that...how she could expect us to *GASP* use our brains and come up with something on the fly! There was mass grumbling after that.

-In Marketing we've been working on a group project that involved a lot of research on some compaines that we knew nothing about. The majority of class didn't do a lot of in depth research...and when the teacher asked the groups what the learned they simply read, word for word, what the website said. The teacher blew up. He was telling them they will all fail, that they don't use their brains, that they need to LEARN and not READ. It was fantastic. After class I pulled him aside and thanked him for finally giving us more of a challenge...and expecting more than just repeating information back like a parrot. He was happy about that.

-At lunch today...they kicked out at least 5 (that I saw for the hour I was there) students for not being clean shaven, or looking sloppy, etc. The students argued, they pleaded, they got pissed...but rules are rules. They know the rules. Tough shit.
Magnus not only got kicked out, but had 0.4 points taken off. He was literally screaming in the lobby...swearing up a storm about the school and the teachers. We quickly got him out of there. If he had kept it up it would have gotten him in serious trouble.

Yes...I have (and still am) having issues with the school in regards to some things...lack of a teacher for HR, lack of textbooks, and extremely unruly students. The school was so hardcore initially about "standards of excellence" that we must all obey. And I truly felt that the issues I mentioned were seriously out of line with the standards that they expect of us.

Today I saw a wonderful reversal of that. Today I saw rules being enforced. I saw teachers coming down on unruly students. I saw the school flex it's muscles a bit.

Hopefully those mucles will be strong enough to pick up a teacher for me and to pick up some text books.

Yes...I do have hope.

Lack of posting

I appologize for the lack of heavy posting recently...but I've been working pretty hard on stuff around here.

Yesterday was spent on a lot of catch-up type things (due to my prior weekends punishment) including a lot of group work (which is at least 1/2 of my class asignements)...group work in Marketing, Human Resources and of course the fun fun Project (we are giving our oral presentation next week)...add a ton of laundry to that...and emails to Kendal University in Chicago, Cornell in New York and Blackhawk (to see if I can get a letter from them to get out of my Internship)...my glorious free Tuesday turned into a pretty busy one.

But now I'm happily caught up (ahead in a couple things), have a ton of clean clothes, and a free free FREE weekend looming on the horizon...WOO HOO!!

I should be getting my camera back from Alex today (He's in BBA and has been ultra busy with school work...we've had trouble connecting) so I should have some pictures to post up soon as well.

Soon I say...soon!

When specifically? I dunno...sorry folks.

Gas?

Holy gas prices!!  I saw a USA Today this morning and it showed premium at over $6/gallon in Georgia.  Unreal…this is going to cause a huge hit on my chosen industry.  Ugh.

Sorry for the lack of posting and pictures…I’ve been a bit busy.

It’s another beautiful day though, and I do have a lot to babble about later on.

The Punishment

Today, I went to work in the Kitchen.  At first I was seriously dreading it.  I was tired and just wanted to sleep…and the thought of working for nearly 12 hours in a kitchen was going to be a nightmare.

It turned out to be a pretty awesome day.

I have no kitchen uniform…which was freaking me out initially (since I’m Direct Entry into HOIII I wasn’t issued a Server or Kitchen uniform).

It turns out that the weekend Kitchen teacher is a really cool guy, very friendly, and fun to work with.  He’s no Chef Brian or Chef Paul…but he is a good guy.

Pretty quickly he realized that I wasn’t just some kid that didn’t know a fork from a spoon…so to make a long story short he excused nearly everyone for a break at 2, had me and 2 other experienced guys stay until three…and sent us home.  How about them apples?  Leaving at 3 is a HELL of a lot better than leaving at 7!

It was fun being back in a kitchen again too…using all that amazing giant equipment and being able to do much more than I ever could at home.  I’d compare the kitchen to the Pac Bell building (MUCH better than what we had at DVC)…and even then Les Roches kitchen is better laid out and MUCH better designed than Pac Bell.  Granted there were the usual kitchen issues…some machines not working, some equipment missing…but it was well organized, they had replacements for nearly everything that didn’t work, and time flew.

After he dismissed us all he pulled me aside as I was walking out…and asked me, very directly, what the hell was I doing there?  His words were (almost exactly), “Douglas, you are Management…you know your way around a kitchen…why the hell are you here?”

I explained the whole story to him and he laughed…

He said “come in tomorrow and we’ll think of something better for you to do than chop.  A Manager should lead.”

Oddly enough I’m actually looking forward to tomorrow.

PS:  There was a wine festival down in Sierre today…and I’m pretty grumpy that I missed it.  I really wanted to try the local Swiss wines and compare ‘em to what we get in CA.  Boo.

The Crime

At the beginning of the semester, during Week 1 I, as a management student, was to spend 1 day working as a Steward (aka busser), 1 day as a Server and 2 days in the kitchen as a chef.

Well I did my Stewardship and Serving…but didn’t do my kitchen work.  I had a nasty cold and talked to both the nurse and the program director…and all was well.  I was told I’d have to make it up (it is 10% of my Food and Beverage class grade).

On Thursday my program director came into my Marketing class and asked to speak with me.  He gave me a letter which said…

“We would like to draw your attention to your repeated failure to follow the correct meal reservation policy.  This policy is an important part of the Les Roches “Market Place” operation.  Refusal to follow this policy cannot be tolerated as it causes the waste of valuable resources.  This policy is very simple and straight forward and your failure to follow it shows a serious lack of respect.

You have no failed to follow the proper procedures 4 times.  You failed to follow procedure on the following dates…”

It goes on to say that I am having 0.4 points deducted and that I am to have kitchen duty on Saturday (today) and Sunday (tomorrow) from 8:30 – 7:00.  Yay.

When my director gave it to me he was very apologetic and explained that it is primarily due to my missing those first kitchen sessions.

Obviously this note made me VERY ANGRY.  So I wrote a response, signed it, and turned it in the next day (Friday).  I’ve yet to get a response.  Here is my response…

“Dear Mr. Small,

     First and foremost I accept the responsibility (or lack thereof) of missing those scheduled meal times.  I had signed in for the meals and did not attend them.  I understand that the school operates on a budget and that it is a waste of school resources.

     I also understand that part of my Food and Beverage grade depends on my work during that first week of school, and although I was sick, making up the time in the kitchen is understandable.

     In other words, I accept full responsibility for my actions and have no issue with doing extra kitchen duty on the weekend.

     Having said that, I am rather upset at the tone of the letter I received.  Considering the facts that I have not received all my textbooks (especially a crucial Marketing text which has forced yet another schedule change in our curriculum), as well as a lack of a teacher for my Human Resources class I feel that the wording in the letter addressed to me was uncalled for, unnecessary and, to be honest, insulting.

     I believe my “serious lack of respect” is heavily outweighed by the schools lack of respect when it comes to the core of my existence here, my actual education.

     As I said before, I understand that it is wrong to waste the school resources.  What about the resources, time, expectations and effort I put into my education here?  And yes, I was sick and am willing to make up for my time missed.  How is the school going to compensate me for the lack of text books, and the lack of actual class education?  Is the school going to put in extra weekend effort in order to balance out this inequality?  

     I expect nothing less than an apology for the tone in the letter addressed to me.  I expect nothing less than the rapid delivery of my missing text books.

     I feel that my education here at Les Roches, with a few minor exceptions, is going to help me tremendously in my life and profession.  I came here with very high expectations of this institution.  I certainly hope those expectations are fulfilled completely.

     Thank you for your time.

     Sincerely,
     Douglas Neil Crawford”

I haven’t gone into full details about the issues I’m having with the school…but to make a long story short I’m missing 3 textbooks (which I’ve already paid for) and had my Human Relations class for the FIRST time last week.  On top of that there has been massive schedule changes and a general lack of respect.  

I am fed up…and I am fighting back.

(FYI, you have to sign up for meals 2 days in advance…when you go eat you get your name checked off.  You can’t go eat unless you signed up.  Obviously I missed 4 meals.)

PS:  Last time I went to dinner my name was already checked off.  The girl at the front desk tried to argue with me…telling me I can’t go in twice.  I told her I hadn’t even gone in once and that she had damn well better pay good attention to who is coming in to eat.  I think I scared her.

Korean Dinner

I was invited to a Korean dinner last night…which was pretty odd.  I don’t mean the food was odd but the circumstances were.

One of my neighbors in PFA is this guy named Brandon.  He’s 1st generation American, both his parents having moved here from Korea.  He speaks perfect English and has a History degree from UCLA or UC Riverside.  He’s in freakishly good shape (like one of the most cut bodies I’ve ever seen) and a down to Earth nice guy.  He was the guy that invited me.

Molly is a girl in my Management classes who worked on the Project with me.  She’s in her mid 20’s and has been going to Les Roches for the past 3 years.  She actually met her husband here and got married last year.  She’s Korean and speaks with a fairly thick accent.  She’s very intelligent and an excellent student.  She invited me also.

The other guest was this girl…I forget her name…but she’s Korean too.  She’s nice but tends to speak more Korean than English.  I’m not quite sure what her story is but she’s lived in South America for some time now and speaks very good Spanish (with a Korean accent…which is REALLY hard to describe).  She’s Andrea’s (the Norwegian/New Zealander) roommate so I’ve met her once or twice.

It was a really cool meal.  Brandon and I just sat there talking and drinking wine while the girls prepared everything, cooked everything, and cleaned up everything.  I tried to help…but got a rather shocked “no!”…cultural I suppose.  We all sat on the floor with a big bag of lettuce and they cooked up some pork bellies, eggplant, onions and mushrooms, and we’d make little lettuce wraps with the different things along with salt and this amazingly good spicy chili paste.  It was a blast!

But what made it really strange was that, as the night progressed, it turned into Neil Talking About Everything.  They were all enthralled by my life, my thoughts, my decisions, my knowledge.  I was told, repeatedly, that I was the most intelligent person they all knew.  They kept asking me about all kinds of things…politics, science, education, the world, everything…and it was really surreal.  I didn’t quite know what to make of the whole thing.  I felt like…I don’t know…it was just strange.  Very cool but very very strange.

At first I thought they were trying to set me up with the other girl…but she has a boyfriend and they are really serious.  It seems…and this is so bizarre, but it seems that they just wanted to hear my thoughts on…everything.

This place gets stranger and stranger every day.

Note:  I really am not trying to sound cocky here…but it was seriously like that!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The good news is that I found my camera.  A friend of mine (French Alex) found it and has it.  He’s going to give it back to me tomorrow.

The bad news is that I may have permanently lost my watch…but I find it hard to believe I actually completely took it off, put it down, and left it.  I am going to re-double my pants and jacket pocket search.

The ugly is that I had a little “issue” with school.  It’s far too later…er…early to go into it now but let’s just say there was a certain straw, and a camel’s back was broken.  I’m expecting information in the morning.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there is a message in my pigeon hole (which I call a turkey box) right now.

More later…

Isn’t suspense fun?