Author Archives: Leandros

First Impressions

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Hey to everyone from the beautiful Les Roches!

I am not able to express my feelings in just one blog. If you are not here in Bluche, it is difficult to understand exactly the feeling you get when you are walking around the campus, and the amazing scenery that I am able to see from my balcony every time I wake up, but I will try to give you an idea about Les Roches and the area.

First of all, when you will come to Les Roches you will take part in the induction week. The purpose of the induction week is to learn about the regulations, to familiarize us with the campus and to share important information about the program. I have to say that it was an overload of information the first week but it was worth it in order to understand some important details that I didn’t know.

After the first week, some of us started with academics and some of us with practical, working in the restaurant outlets of the school. If you do not have any work experience don’t panic because the supervisors and the teachers have a lot of work experience in the hospitality industry and they act like workmates and not as a teachers. They try to help us a lot and to give solutions to possible problems.

I was in the first group and I started with academics for the first week. Believe me, if you have a passion for hospitality this is the place that you are going to learn the extra tips for a successful hospitality career. Every class is really interesting, it is not like a typical class, the faculty has a passion for what they are doing. The teachers share their experience from the industry and you can see in their faces that they love what they are doing. We had a lot of discussions, sharing opinions and generally a really friendly environment in the class. One of the classes that I found really interesting among the others is the Bar and Beverage class where we start learning about the history of wine. In the future, we are going to have wine tasting and many more activities like culinary visits.

Now I really want to focus on the social life of Les Roches. A lot of us were afraid it would not be the best. Believe me, the social life here is amazing! Greece, where I came from, has a world renowned nightlife but here you can have a lot of fun, trust me. Here in Bluche we have two bars where everyone goes. The first one is the Sports Bar, a bar operated by Les Roches students and faculty where you can meet most of the students having fun from 9 -11.30 pm. The second is the Atlas bar, very nice atmosphere and Dj Baldo Durazzo from Napoli, my best friend here in Les Roches, rocking on the decks every Friday night. Ten minutes by taxi is the renowned resort of Crans Montana. A place full of restaurants, bars and clubs; every Friday night after Atlas and Sportsbar everyone “goes up” as we say here. In Crans, you can find clubs and bars full of people, excellent cuisine, and traditional restaurants.

This week, I am in stewarding and service. Because of my work experience it is much easier for me but I am not able to say it is not challenging. Don’t worry, because in Les Roches you will meet some of the kindest and friendliest people. Everyone smiles and try to help each other. Team work is an integral part of hospitality and every day the faculty focuses on that.

Thank you very much for your time, I need to leave now or I will lose my duty. Believe me I can understand now the “Les Roches way of life” and if you want to be successful you will love it too.

Work hard during the day, play hard during the night.

Leandros Pembos

Waiting is killing me

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I chose that title to express my exact feelings and also those of my fellow future students. First of all, Happy New Year everyone, hope 2012 to achieve your goals and be happy!!! Christmas time is finished, and as I mentioned in my previous article, I spent a lot of time with my family and also with some of my close friends! Shopping took a huge part of my Christmas, but I really enjoy it! My dad and I spent a lot of time in tailoring shops, trying to find me suits, shirts and shoes. Upon acceptance, the upcoming students receive the details about the dress code including the number of suits, shirts and shoes needed for Les Roches.

Also I had the ability to hang out with two current Greek students of Les Roches. Christianna and Nano will start Ho3 this January and I am very happy that I already know them. They are both very passionate and motivated for the hospitality industry!! They shared with me their experiences about previous internships and also about the life on campus. I want to thank them for the support and all the advice that they gave me and can’t wait to be all together in Les Roches!!!

Furthermore, I had the ability to network with some of my future classmates through Les Roches for New Students page on Facebook. It is page designed by Les Roches in order to interact with future students, post questions and generally sharing our experiences. The Enrolment Management Department of Les Roches is very helpful and answers all of our possible questions. I had the opportunity to chat with future students from Ecuador, Brazil, Italy and many more countries. The diversity of students is amazing!!!

Now about the final packing and some advice before arrival! A good advice if you finished your shopping and everything is to “test drive” your luggage! You need to be able to hold your bag without the help of someone else. Also, for the students coming to Les Roches this January make sure before you leave that you have all the arrival documents listed on the site of Les Roches and also in the pre arrival guide. Thirdly, electricity in Switzerland is 230 Volts so if you are coming from a country with different type make sure to bring a voltage converter (adaptor). This is a very helpful site to find and compare the voltage of your country.

I know that most of you have diverse feelings about this big change in our life. I spoke with many other future students and shared with me the excitement, the nervousness and some others that will miss home and friends. But in order to have a successful career life in the hospitality field we need to adapt easily to the changes, we need to be able to collaborate with new people from all around the world and finally we are all a big family.

Les Roches, due to the diversity of culture, helps us to achieve that. Everyone seems so exciting and passionate about coming to Bluche! For me to be surrounded by a friendly and happy environment is the best thing in my life. A big Smile everyone, forget all the worries in your mind and in a few days we will have fun all together.

Thank you so much for your support!!! Can’t wait it is a small word to describe my feelings…

Feel free to ask me any question or add me on Facebook – Leandros Pembos

Leandros

Final Countdown

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The final countdown to arrive in Les Roches started!! One month more and all of us will be in beautiful Bluche!! The snow arrived in Les Roches and I am too excited about that. I am huge fan of winter sports and Crans – Montana is a perfect location for skiing and other winter activities.

Melomakarona and Kourampiedes traditional homemade desserts

Also one more week and it is Christmas time!!! Christmas is my favorite part of winter. The whole city of Athens is decorated with Christmas lights and the scenery in the city center of Athens is magnificent. The shops also are in the mood of Christmas, decorated in an artistic way each one. Believe me, besides summer, Christmas in Greece is also a memorable experience for every visitor. You can see carousels around the main squares of the town with kids having fun, decorated trees all around the city and don’t get surprised if you see somewhere decorated small boats.

Traditional decorated Christmas boat

From the ancient years Greece’s economy was based on the sea, as a matter of fact a big part of the total population used to decorate small boats the last decades… unfortunately, today it is a very rare phenomenon due to globalization and modern trends. Also worth a mention is the local cuisine with special desserts made and traditional foods in order to welcome the New Year!!

But for me, this Christmas will have a special meaning. To begin with, packing and shopping will take a serious amount of time from my everyday life, I want to be well prepared for my journey to Switzerland. All accepted students receive a big pre arrival book which includes information about things to have upon arrival on campus, general information for Switzerland, the campus, and finally a list of clothes that are mandatory for our studies, like suits, polished shoes etc. During classes and until 5.30pm we need to wear business attire so suits will become part of our life. I have to say that I really like the idea and I can’t wait to see a whole campus wearing suits. I am sure that the companies coming for interviews every year are impressed from that approach. Furthermore, I have to buy warm clothes because the temperature during winter in Switzerland is really cold.

On the other hand, a few days ago I was researching about Bluche and Crans – Montana and I read that Les Roches is located in the sunniest area in Switzerland. It is really amazing that we can have access during the winter in Crans Montana for skiing and during the spring to have fun outside enjoying the sun. So I have to pack also several t shirts, swimsuits etc.

I have to say that my biggest doubt is where I will find some area in my bag to pack all that stuff!! Les Roches advise us not to bring too many clothes but I am not sure that I will follow that!

Also I booked my tickets; it is a 2.30 hour flight from Athens to Zurich and then another 45 minutes roughly to Geneva airport. I booked them 1 month before the flight and the price of the tickets was much better; this is a good action for the upcoming students to follow.
My feelings so far are really controversial, this Christmas I want to focus more on my family and my friends because maybe this is the last Christmas that we are going to be all together. On the other hand, I am really excited and I was waiting for the final month to come a long time ago. Everything happens in our life for a reason and I am sure that Les Roches is going to be for the best.

In my next article I am going to write you about the final packing and some useful stuff before arrival to Les Roches!I am open to any possible question that you have!!!

Looking forward to seeing you all guys

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year

Leandros

 

LRB Blogger : Leandros Pembos

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Greetings to everyone!!

My name is Leandros Pembos and I am from the beautiful country of Greece. I was born and raised in the capital city of Greece, Athens. Athens is such a wonderful place to live!! In Athens, a visitor can enjoy amazing local dishes, in restaurants called “tavernas”. On the other hand, the options and the range of entertainment facilities is huge, like access to vibrant restaurants and night clubs offering an experience worth mentioning by every tourist. The historic downtown of Athens is the most touristic destination here and the first place that everyone arranges to visit. Acropolis, Sydagma square, and all the small roads near the hill of Acropolis are fully occupied by tourists who have come to see this magnificent ancient temple. It is truly amazing for everyone to see all this ancient statues and the ancient architecture and design.

Some views of Acropolis, Sudagma Square and a city views of Athens

At the age of seventeen, I decided to join the IB diploma program (International Baccalaureat) and finish the last two classes of high school with extra knowledge and a competitive advantage for applying to foreign universities. My decision was to follow a business and management path of studies in University so I took several subjects related like Business and Management, Economics etc. This decision was important for my academic career. I improved my English language skills to the maximum point and also my business and management knowledge. Now the “story” begins, one day the educational counselor of Les Roches here in Greece came to my school, the reason was a brief session about the hospitality industry and the school. The session structure was individual interviews with every interested student. I decided to join the session and we had a very nice conversation about my future aspirations and also what Les Roches and the industry are capable of offering. I spoke with my family and they mentioned to me that a very good and close friend graduated from Les Roches and now owns a hotel on Mykonos Island. We arranged a meeting to talk about everything and the final part of the discussion was to offer me a volunteer job as a trainee host in his 5 star hotel restaurant Myconian Ambassador Hotel during the summer period. During that 2 month internship I developed higher interpersonal skills, increased my communication skills and most importantly, my team work skills. After that challenging experience I was mature enough to take a decision and develop my hospitality knowledge later in Les Roches International School of Hotel Management.

View of the restaurant and the pool of the Myconian Ambassador hotel that I was working as a host.

The senior year of International Baccalaureat was really difficult, a lot of assignments, tests and mostly a lot of stress. One year that everyone waits for summer to come and replace the hard work during the winter. I have to say that I was one of them…

The summer finally came and everyone had to decide what they are going to do now. I decided to spend one month on vacation around the beautiful Greek islands in order to relax and the rest of the summer to work in order to increase my hospitality knowledge. The only destination that came to my mind again was the island of Mykonos, a major touristic destination which attracts people from all around the globe.

View of the restaurant /bar that I was working as a waiter.

This time I found work as a waiter in Tropicana beach bar. Tropicana was voted the best beach bar in Europe and one of the most famous around the globe so I thought that would be a good experience for my resume. The experience was amazing, I met people from all around the globe and increased my service techniques knowledge. Additionally, I had the opportunity to collaborate with employees from several parts of Europe.

Tropicana beach bar

During this period, I had the ability to work in a fast service environment serving around 500 people over the day. I have to say that it was difficult but really beneficial to understand the hard working and motivation part that the hospitality industry wants.

Part of Mykonos city (chora)

All the experiences described above have helped me to decide the industry that I want to work for, they affect me in a beneficial way to develop several new abilities, put a goal in my career life which is to succeed and become a successful general manager of a hotel after years and finally to join the BBA/Hotel Management program of Les Roches International School of Hotel Management.

I can’t wait to join the school in January and with the support of my family I am ready to succeed and face the demands of the school. I am sure that’s it is going to be a memorable experience for my entire life both for my career but also as a person. Can’t wait to meet all you guys!! Hope you are having fun and see you soon all on campus.

Summer pictures of me in Greek islands

Leandros Pembos