MEP link_no17_juin. 98

the link Souvenirs June 1998
Cultural Night - Alumni join the festivities
Julie Gut-Dee.
A special invitation to Cultural
Night on April 25, went out to the
Alumni living in Switzerland. They
travelled to attend the evening from
as far away as Zurich. On the night,
there were even some who came
from farther away!
The response to our invitation to
attend Cultural Night was very
encouraging. Among those who
excused themselves because of
prior commitments were Edwin
Baer, Karim El Ghazzawi,
Murielle Sermet, and René Marc
Wenger.
Our photos show some of the graduates
who were present. Others
included Samuel Einhorn from
Israel who was on a short skiing
vacation; Sonia Scholz-Lagger
(Sum ’91) with her husband also
came from Engleberg by car and
drove back the same evening!
The farthest travelled Alumni were
Kristo Paloglu and his little family,
all the way by car from Luxembourg
especially to be with us.
There was also Ioannis Vamvukakis
from Four Seasons in Boston.
He (so is the Editor) is desperately
looking for a copy of the CN video,
April ’96. (Can anyone oblige Ed)
Sunny Yumuk also dropped in on
the dinner.
The grads all agreed that it was a
fun evening and they thought
nothing of having travelled so far.
We hope the word will spread and
that even more of our Swiss Alumni
will come along to the next Cultural
Night which is scheduled for Friday
October 16. Please note the date in
your diaries.
Emilie Hummel-Smith and her
husband.
Mr Berry, Mme Bérard-Poggio,
Alex Paléologue.
Christony at Sanya Hainan
Island, China 1997.
Nostalgia overwhelmed me when I
returned to Les Roches from which
I graduated 15 years ago, in the
summer of 1983.
A Trip to Yesterday: Petit Paradis
with the ever-so-maternal Madame
Mounir, the Famila grocery (now
known as Vis-a-vis), the little chapel,
the funicular station just next
to the popular Restaurant La Gare,
(the “Chinois” restaurant) now
CDV, Café du Village - “the place
to be” a student-run meeting-point
and a dormitory for girls. So the
sites have remained, although some
are not the way they used to be.
Still, scene after scene of those
bygone days appear before me.
Like the times when... we used to
wait for and many a time missed,
the funicular, (now no longer
Les Roches 15 years on
moving like a snail, but going like a
rocket!) to go up to Crans-Montana
for groceries at Coop or Migros
(there’s now a cheaper supermarket
Denner) or to La Pacha Disco (still
exists), or down to Sierre to shop at
Innovation (now taken over by
Inter Discount), or just horsing
around in the snow or sun tanning
by the swimming pool (there is
now a second one).
Where there used to be Mr Clivaz’s
office-cum-chalet, the à la carte
salle à manger and the spartan
library which doubled as a recreation
room with a petit piano, pitifully
in need of tuning, in the corner,
there now proudly stands an
imposing, white chalet-style building
boasting state-of-the-art facilities
beyond the dreams of the Pioneers.
Like a typical Swiss clock that
never misses a second, everything at
Les Roches is “zak zak” (a familiar
expression which used to be uttered
by our Service professors fifteen
years ago when we moved a little
slower than usual). The student’s
load is much heavier now. Technology
has moved fast. Students now
have individual copy-cards, laptop
computers with Internet included,
personal e-mail addresses, computer
rooms, video players, overhead
projectors and screens, sturdy
desks, monogrammed cutlery, a real
main kitchen, a separate à la carte
kitchen and dining-room, plus two
demonstration kitchens. Truly, how
much more can one ask for a total
hospitality education
After thoughts: Being ‘home’
again is overwhelming. But after
the initial nostalgia settles down,
reality sets in. All that Les Roches
has been, is, and will be, can never
take the place of the constant latenight
or last minute toil to obtain
the much coveted Diploma and
now also the BSc. Degree. The
pioneer groups never had the
opportunity to pursue it but may do
so if they enquire through the
School.
Whether one has spent a meaningful
time at Les Roches or whether
one chooses to impetuously while
away one’s youth here, one fact
remains. You may graduate from
Les Roches but you can never graduate
from Life, and Les Roches is
a way of life that stays with you, as
it has with me, even after all these
years...
Christony Lau (otherwise known as
Pet - ‘83 Sum)
Christony recently lent a helping
hand to Les Roches for a while. He
is back in China again. Contact
address: Block 914 # 07-37, Tampines
Street 91, Singapore 52091
Bye Bye...
Hello...
Mr Jean-Claude Hugi, a graduate
of Lausanne Hotel School, was deeply
involved in hotel activities in
Africa. There he developed several
Tourism projects in Kenya, Botswana
and Ghana. Before joining Les
Roches in 1990, he successfully
prepared a Swiss Hotelier Master’s.
His enthusiastic and knowledgeable
teaching made subjects like Marketing,
Accountancy and Tourism
interesting to follow. A sports
enthusiast himself, he devoted much
of his spare time to co-ordinating
sports and extra-curricular activities.
He prepared and passed a
second Master’s in Marketing.
Latterly, as In-training Co-ordinator,
Mr Hugi did much to galvanise
School/industry relations. In addition,
he paid multiple visits to
“stagiaires” who appreciated his
counsel and advice.
Mr Hugi is returning to his beloved
Ghana to open an Education and
Consultancy Company. He will
keep in touch with the School by
representing it in West Africa.
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