The change in direction is coming …

As our well deserved summer vacation ended, the summer spent resting and partying, it was time as a 19 year old to check in to a boarding school. Yes, that is correct, as part of the education program of the Tourismuskolleg in Austria, we had to stay in a boarding school type accommodation. Male in a building called Rosenschloessel and female in a different house. And all that, with us having to be back every night by 10.30pm latest. And soon we all learned a new word “intoxicated” as our guard referred to by constantly reminding us to avoid coming back intoxicated. And we always managed to do exactly the opposite, come back by 10.30 intoxicated. And always within the time and never less never more.

And of course the time spent was definitely not only about drinking. We had to arrive each Sunday by 9pm and leave at 4pm on a Friday. On occasions we were also allowed to stray over the weekend but that right was reserved to my classmates who were coming to study from abroad. Education was based on hotel management, with new subjects for the time like marketing and computer science but also accounting, culinary arts which included intensive 5 hours cooking each week, food and beverage including all subjects around wine and spirits and the correct way how to serve at each different occasion food and drinks. Above all of course languages which I chose Spanish as an additional language but 2 hours a week really didn’t break it in the two years. But in between year one and two I had the opportunity to do a work experience in a hotel in Tenerife Spain though the majority of guest were British hence all I perfectionated during that time in Spain was my English. Three months I had the opportunity to work at the reception of a 5 star resort where I got to know not only what customer service means but als what it does not mean.

During the studies we also had opportunities to practice our skills in 5 star service at numerous highly glamorous events in palaces in Vienna, hotels in Berlin and special functions within our school as well. Thinking back to what I know now, yes it was a great experience for us to prepare us for the future but also a great cost saving exercise for the organizations and hotels who “hired” us for pocket money really. But at that time it was a privilege to be serving people you normally only knew from the tabloids or TV.

It was a super amazing time making a lot of great connections for life, where I believe only about 5 really stayed in the hotel industry. I for my part awoke the passion for hotels, I was fascinated through my work experience in Spain how amazing it was to connect with people from all around the world, assisting them and making their vacations memorable. I do have to say this experience made me move from the idea of becoming a flight attendant as I had realized that also through hotels I would be able to experience the world. I had plans to move all over the world and work my way up in the hospitality industry, and become me. And one plan I had, I wanted to move to London as soon as at some point. I had lost, literally, my heart to London and I wanted to at some point in my life live my dream there. And maybe I go a little deeper in one of my stories of what had happened in Tenerife, but for now after graduating there was unfortunately one more thing I had to do before I could venture on my journey to become my complete self - mandatory military service in Austria. But don’t you worry I am against weapons so I chose an alternative service which instead of 8 months would last 12 months. But it would give me time to assess where I want my life to take me and how. More to come, and lets see if I talk about Tenerife a bit more cause the stories from the boarding school those remain with me… for now.

And to close my education section this was a picture of all of us 10 years later - me (spoiler alert) already living my life in London returning for a class reunion in Austria.