Tag Archives: first weeks

First weeks at Les Roches

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These first few weeks of Les Roches have been quite stressful for me personally. It’s been a bit difficult to get back into the swing of things and get my brain into gear! Hence the late blog post!

So after many months of waiting impatiently, I have finally arrived on campus at Les Roches! It was a beautiful blue-sky, sunny day making it a perfect day to drive down to the Valais.

The campus is just as amazing as I remembered from my visit, albeit complete with a bit more snow than when I last came!

Upon entering the main building, I was greeted by a very friendly third-year student who assisted me through the check-in procedure. First there was a visit to student accounting to check that everything was in order with payments, etc, then a quick stop to the academic office to sign some forms and to choose the foreign language that we wish to study for the following semesters. I chose to study Spanish as I have never taken Spanish in my life, which should be interesting!
Next stop was to the student services department where I was issued with the all important student card and the keys to my room which was very exciting.

My building is PF3 or ‘Peters Farm 3’, it is a nice building with excellent views of the mountains. Unfortunately for me, it is a building situated several minutes away from the main building – which usually wouldn’t bother me at all! However, due to my ankle/knee injuries it has proved quite difficult sometimes to move around campus with all this snow and ice!

The first week at the school was induction week, where we were introduced to our teachers and given some very interesting presentations about the academic and practical schedules.
We were also given all of the books that we will need for this semester, it was very exciting (although quite nerve-wracking at the same time) to get a first look into what we will be studying!

One of my main worries before arriving on campus was how it would be to initially meet new people and make new friends. But that was something I shouldn’t have worried about because I really like my class and all the people in it!
It is true what they say – Les Roches is not just a school, it’s a way of life.
Anyway, I better get back to studying! Talk to you soon.

Sam

Crans Montana, Valais

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First, I’d like to share some of my discoveries about the beautiful region around Les Roches.

The Valais was named as such by the Romans because it is a part of the upper Rhone Valley. It is one of the driest cantons but is well moisturized due to the snow run-off coming from some of the highest peaks in Switzerland.

Valais shares borders with both Italy and France. Agriculture (mainly wine production), tourism and cattle rearing are the main industries here. The canton is split into 13 districts including: Brig, Sierre, Sion and Saint- Maurice.

Crans Montana

Crans Montana is the pairing of two separate villages to form one resort area. It is most famous for skiing and golf and is located above Sierre at approximately 1500 m above sea level. Whatever time of year there are many activities available, including a happening night life on the weekends. The school’s Sports and Activities department organises trips and activities in and around the area, the next one being to the ice rink this weekend.

Week 2- First week of Lessons
At Les Roches the HO1 students are split into classes and the academic/ practical rotation every two weeks starts. So for this first week of school some of us have been in pratical (Stewarding or Service in one of the restaurants) and some have been in Academic doing Languages, Effective Writing, Computer Science, etc.

Some comments from:
A student in Service: “Exhausted but excited.”
A student in Academic: “The week was interesting, frustrating at times, fulfilling.”
An F & B Stagier: “Hectic, challenging and informational.”
After this first week we are all a little more settled but still getting used to our schedules and the standard of excellence expected from us. In Practical, we have had to push ourselves and I speak for myself and others when I say that we have learnt that we can do a lot more than we think.

I rounded of the week with an amazing day of skiing on Sunday, with great weather and a lot of fun. The day was topped off with a huge pot of delicious fondue from Petit Paradis which is the restaurant and hotel adjacent to Les Roches main building.

Pictures by Travis Odegard