Waiting is killing me

Posted on January 13, 2012 by Leandros

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

Happy New 2012 & less than a week to go…

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Filippa

I have a feeling that this year is going to be awesome with lots of fun to look forward to! It started off really well with New Year celebrations in London with good friends, and in just a few days I will be on a plane to Switzerland for my third year at Les Roches, and in June it’s already time for graduation…

And who knows what’s gonna happen after that?! My goals are set high and I’m going to work for what I want really hard. As long as I put my mid to it I think everything is possible. Friends are also a very big part of my life and I can’t wait to meet new and old classmates. During my time at the Marbella campus I had the privilege of meeting people who soon became very good friends. A hand-full of them are actually transferring to Bluche at the same time as me, and knowing that makes me really happy because they are some of the kindest and funniest people in the world. I know that together with them and all the new friends I will make, we will have a fabulous year.

I know that many of you new students are probably a bit nervous (I know I was) and I’m sure that a lot of thoughts are going through your mind right now, so I thought I’d try to answer some questions I got from a soon to be HOI student.

Are you happy with your choice of Les Roches? Was it tough in the beginning with a lot of work, feeling homesick etc?

I am very happy with choosing to study at Les Roches, and although I haven’t finished my studies yet I know that I have gained a lot of experience and developed important contacts for my future career that I would never have done without the help from the school. Just remember, especially when it comes to looking for internships, that the school will push you along the way but in the end it’s what you do of it that counts. Hard work and dedication are what will bring you forward in this industry! I don’t want to lie; first week of HOI was a shock to me and I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it. As you probably know, first year is “service” and for a whole week I was in stewarding polishing glasses and cutlery. I said to my self “This can’t be what I paid all this money for, to make glassware shine?!”, but it quickly became clear that this was only a small part of my education and good things only could come from it. Today, for example, I know how hard the stewards work in restaurants and that their job is very important to the business, and not only putting dirty dishes into a dishwasher. When striving to be a Hotel Manager, you need to learn the hard way and you must know how every department of your hotel works. There will be times when you feel homesick, and the best ways to cheer up is to surround yourself with friends, Skype with family, read a good book or why not STUDY HARD… Managing time is what you will come to learn at Les Roches because otherwise you will be swamped with exams and projects in the end… I say this from experience.

You did your first internship in Sweden. Does the school find it OK that you do an internship in your homeland?

I have been traveling and living abroad for a large part of my teenage years/early twenties and because of that developed a good knowledge of English. When I was offered to do an internship at a luxury hotel in Sweden for my first year, I didn’t hesitate to take it because I knew I would gain a lot of experience from it and still not drop my level of English. I think it’s a very good opportunity for students to move to places they’ve never lived before and learn a different culture and improve the language skills. I think the school also would agree on this.

I also noticed that your internship started in June, does that mean we won’t get a summer holiday?

You have to do a minimum of five months internship although many hotel’s prefer to hire you for six. Some want the interns to start in June and other’s in mid-July. It is up to you to find out how many days off the hotel can give you if you have signed for a six months internship. The shorter summer holiday you get the longer winter holiday, and vice versa.

And one last question… How can I improve my English in order to pass the language test in first year?

Some last minute advice is that you read an English novel and perhaps write down the words you have a hard time understanding and look them up as you’ve finished the book and make sure to keep yourself updated with the latest online news.

That’s all for now folks, see you end of this week.

Stay cool and keep warm!

X Filippa

The final countdown has begun!

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Samantha

Just one week left now until my arrival at Les Roches and I couldn’t be more excited! I really can’t wait to meet everyone, to start studying again and to be in such an amazing place!

My Christmas/New Year holidays were a perfect way to relax and prepare myself for this final week and for the start of school. I made immense progress with the recovery of my ankle during my time away – going from having to use crutches and a huge ankle brace when I left home – to returning home without needing the crutches at all and even wearing two shoes! This being a big deal for me as I have not had a normal shoe on my left foot for about 3 months! This progress I was able to make with my ankle has seriously boosted my confidence, meaning I am feeling much better about arriving on campus knowing that I have an ankle that works!

Seeing as I went to Abu Dhabi and Dubai for my holidays, I thought I would just quickly share with you my hotel experiences during my stay. In Abu Dhabi we stayed in the ‘Yas Island Viceroy Hotel’ – a stunningly interesting hotel to look at from the outside, as it is covered with an LED dome which changes colour constantly, making it very visible from a distance, and it even displayed the words ‘Happy New Year’ on new years eve.

Then in Dubai we stayed in the ‘Raffles Hotel’ – again another amazing looking building from the outside as it is shaped like a pyramid! The grand entrance is very inviting and the facilities are great. But for me what really makes this hotel, is the amazing level of customer service. From the second that we stepped through the Egyptian themed sliding doors the staff were incredible in making us feel welcome and giving us any assistance and information we needed. The concierge desk was particularly impressive. At this point I was still using my crutches and was wearing my giant ski boot of an ankle brace, and the concierge (even though I had not asked him anything, I was simply walking past his desk) came out of his way to say hello and ask me how my leg was. Then whenever I saw him he would wave and smile a big smile even if he was busy, and he would always come over and joke that I should go and play football with him, he gave me tips on how to relax my ankle, and he even helped me get comfortable on a sofa in the lounge so that I could eat whilst keeping my ankle up!

I have seen good customer service before, but this to me was the “going the extra mile” bit that makes all the difference with the level of satisfaction of the customer. I couldn’t help but think, if every hotel had staff like this, then everyone would be able to enjoy a great hotel experience, and it made me even more excited about learning about this industry!

Returning home was quite a climate shock, leaving behind the sun, shorts and 26 degree weather – coming home to a typical Swiss winter of snow covered Jura and 3 degree weather! Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way complaining – I love winter in Switzerland, I’m just saying it was quite a big change in one day.

Now that I am back home the serious preparations have begun. Sorting out clothes, planning where and when to go shopping to get the last bits and pieces and of course, my favourite – making lists! There are only a few things that I am missing now, one of them being shoes. I am having a bit of a dilemma finding shoes due to my ankle, but I know I will find a solution, even if I do end up wearing black trainers to go with my suits!

I’m finding it a bit hard to believe that there is only one week left until we will all be arriving on campus. I’ve been waiting for this for months and months and it is so exciting to have it so close to actually happening!! Of course there are a few nerves and worries, the usual what if’s and so on, but these are easily forgotten by the thought that I will soon be studying in such an amazing place. I absolutely adore being in the mountains and I seriously can’t wait to be surrounded by incredible views and people!!

Another thing that I am looking forward to is meeting everyone! I have to say that the Les Roches Facebook page for new students has been an excellent source of information for any questions and queries, as well as being a great place to get to know a little bit about new classmates!

I hope that everyone’s last week of preparations go well and that your journeys to Les Roches go smoothly! I guess I better get on with my packing now.. So see you all next week!!

Samantha

Final Countdown

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Leandros

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

One month to go! …

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Samantha

January is fast approaching and with each day that passes I am getting more and more excited about the arrival on campus – as I’m sure everyone who’s starting in January is!

Along with my emotions as well as the normal excitement, anticipation and a few nerves, have also been mixed with panic. Wondering and stressing about whether I would actually be ready to start school, as I am still recovering from a broken ankle.

This means that my planning and preparations for my arrival on campus at Les Roches have been slightly different to what I originally had in mind. Instead of getting things ready and organized as I would have liked, I have had to focus on learning how to walk again after my accident. But there you go, that’s life, and luckily for me I have been relieved of some of the stress and panic, as my recovery is going well, and I can now start preparing as I would have liked!

There is a little Christmas tradition that myself and my fellow horse crazy friends do every year at the beginning of December. This is to attend the “Concours Hippique International de Geneve” (International Horse Jumping Competition) which is held every year in Geneva’s huge exposition centre – Palexpo.

The event is held over four days, and spectators are able to see some of the World’s top show jumping stars (riders and horses) compete in numerous competitions, all of which get the crowds on their feet cheering for their nation – mainly the home nation of Switzerland. As well as providing entertainment and incredible demonstrations of riding – the event always proves to be a good place to indulge in a spot of horsey retail therapy!
My Christmas holiday plans this year involve a family trip to Dubai! It will be my first time in Dubai, another thing that I am excited about. Although there is still a tiny bit of stress wondering if I will have to be on crutches to go through the airport.. Doesn’t sound like much fun!

This year, my family and I will be “ringing in the New Year” at a concert of a rather well known band – ‘Coldplay’. This should prove to be a big celebration and an excellent way to start off the New Year, a year already filled with exciting prospects and new adventures, a year that couldn’t come sooner really!

So hopefully I will return from holiday nice and relaxed in order to start my final hectic week of shopping and organizing prior to arrival at Les Roches!

I have been keeping a close eye on the amount of snow that has been falling in Crans Montana, it looks great up there for skiing! Which I have to admit, is slightly frustrating for me, as I personally won’t be able to ski this season. However, I am really looking forward to being back up in a ‘mountain village environment’ during the winter season and I am super excited about the men’s alpine world cup skiing that is being held in Crans Montana in February! I’m really hoping (and I know I’m not alone in saying this) that I can volunteer to help out with the event!

I am thoroughly looking forward to arriving on campus and starting this new chapter in my life. I have a feeling that this last month is going to fly by, which is a good thing! I can’t wait to meet you all, but until then, season’s greetings and happy holidays!

See you in the New Year!!

Arriving to Les Roches !!

Posted on July 30, 2010 by Pamela Calvas

I have arrived to Les Roches Campus at last!

It is great to be here already and I could not be happier. Once you get to the area, you have the real feeling of being in Switzerland. I am used to living in a valley, surrounded by mountains in Ecuador, but the scenery here is breathtaking… I don’t know where to start to tell you all about it.
Frankly, my flight over here was a little bit of a nightmare because my flight was already delayed when I left Ecuador so I knew I was going to have a delay in my connection flight from Madrid to Geneva and I was really nervous. Once I finally landed in Madrid, I had to literally run with my bags from one terminal to the other terminal, and waiting for customs took so long. Finally, when I got to the check in point, I knew they had probably closed the flight to Geneve because I was too late and I had no hopes to get on another flight on the same day.

But there I was, only 5 minutes before my flight was supposed to leave for Genève and I thought, what do I have to lose, I will ask anyways, maybe this one is also delayed… and it was!!! They said that it had been delayed for an hour or so because of a lost bag! I asked if they could help me checking in, and so they did. The flight went smoothly and in Genève I was able to find my Danish family who had been waiting for me at the airport.

After all of the waiting and the running, I could not believe that I had made it in spite of the circumstances, I was really lucky. It is a shame that I was in such a hurry all the time that I could not take any pictures of Genève to share with you, but it is a beautiful city from what I could see. The very next day I had a bad jet lag but we drove early in the morning so that my sister could do the proper check-in at Les Roches.

Once you get into the canton of Valais the views are impressive, for those who have not been here before, you will only understand me when you see it for yourselves. Everything is so neat and it really looks like the pictures that we see on the internet. Right now there are a lot of green areas and tons of flowers all around the Bluche village and Les Roches campus.

At the main building, everyone seemed so happy to welcome new students and all the check-in procedures were easy to follow thanks to the assistance of the staff. There were a lot of new students too. My sister and I were assigned a room together and we really like it, for what we have seen all of the accommodations are neat and everyone seems quite happy. Once you get to Les Roches, you feel surrounded by people from all over the world, people from Asia, Europe, South America, and when you are walking around campus you see everyone talking to each other and it is, in fact, like they were family.

Since I have not started with my PGD program yet, I have had time to explore the region a little. It is indeed like they mention in the brochures and the websites, the transportation here is really easy and they try to help you in every way possible.

Some advice for the new comers next week, try to have all of the documentation ready for the check in, so that it goes smoothly and then you won’t feel so tired at the end of your first day.

Also, all the IT information that they request for your computer should be followed, like the software in English and if you have a MAC computer, make sure the IT staff can have access to Windows in it, otherwise you will have to install a Windows software and it will take more time for them to get your computer ready. So yes, read through all of the requirements.

The weather has been nice most of the time although it has rained a bit, but everybody says that it is not normal at this time of the year, but the views when the sun goes down are amazing as you can see in some of these pictures.

I am sure that all of you who have not arrived yet are looking forward to be here and to study in this institute, and you should be. All of the staff have been very helpful with us and always trying to make you feel welcome. I am really looking forward to meeting the rest of the coming students and my future classmates. All this experience has been so exciting already for the first few days that I cannot wait to start with the classes and the practical learning. I hope you all are having a great start here in the school and for those who have not arrived yet, hope you have a better flight than I did!

See you soon in Les Roches!

Getting ready!

Posted on July 21, 2010 by Pamela Calvas

Finally! Only a few more day and I will be on a plane to Switzerland. Well, many of us will be! I have been waiting for this day with so much anticipation that waiting only for two more days seems like an eternity. Packing has taken a long time too. In fact, in the beginning, I thought I would be packing a lot less than what I have packed now; every time there was something else that I wanted to bring with me and I was saying to myself, “it doesn´t weigh too much” but now I am prepared to pay for overweight at the airport! In my case, it is a 13 hour flight from Ecuador to Spain, and then a shorter flight from Madrid to Geneva. I booked my flights some time in advance and I am relieved that I got a flight out of Madrid only a few hours after my flight from Ecuador, so that I do not have to wait too long for the connection flight and with so much luggage.

I also received an e-mail from Les Roches that reminded me of a few more things, so I highly recommend you to read through the pre-arrival list, even if you have done it some time ago, do it again to double check. I was very sure of all the things I had to bring with me but there are always some last minute things that could come to mind and that you might be forgetting about.

Something that I had totally forgot about was the plug adapters that I will need in Switzerland while using some of my electronics. Europe and most other countries in the world use a voltage which is twice that of the US. It is between 220 and 240 volts, whereas in Japan and in most of the Americas the voltage is between 100 and 127 volts. Switzerland has its own standard of socket type and you can compare it to the one used in your country on this website. So make sure to bring a couple of plug adapters with you otherwise you might not be able to use your electronics right away, and maybe you might even need a convertor, it depends on the type of electronic appliance. You can switch the voltage in some of them like in the hair drier, or the iron. Check this out

It might be, for some of you, the first time you travel with all of your stuff. I have been thinking about all of the things that I need to bring and I want to get everything ready so that I can spend some more time with friends and family before leaving but the whole fact about leaving and the anticipation is so huge that I feel a little overwhelmed.

Thanks to the Facebook page of Les Roches I have been able to talk to some of the future students and some have shared their thoughts with me, so I know that many of us are feeling the same kind of nervousness. Probably once you get to the airport and say goodbye to your friends and family you might get emotional but it is totally normal to feel this way. Some of us come from very far away and not having our relatives or friends around will always delay the adjustment process to this new environment; however, it is great to hear all of the comments about Les Roches being more like a family for the students, and although I haven´t actually visited the campus before, it already seems like Les Roches is a very welcoming institution.

I feel it from the way the recruitment team has been with me and the support I have received by the people I have talked to online. And there are always things to look forward to like the fact that all of us will be making many new friends too!

Look forward to seeing all of you soon!

Happy Packing!!