We went to hospitality school! For five days we studied at the Ecole d’Hôtellerie et Tourisme Paul Dubrule. There we learned how to work at different parts of a hotel like the front desk, the restaurant, and the kitchen. In the front desk we learned how to welcome guests, answer the phone, make room reservations, and escort the guests to their room. In the restaurant we learned how to set the table, fold napkins, serve the food, serve wine, and clean the table. In the kitchen we learned how to bake and do pastries. We learned how to bake soft rolls, baguettes, and madeleines. We also learned how to make banana cake, brownies, and crème brulee. The last thing we learned to do was ice cream and banana split and lava cake. We had so much fun working in the kitchen.
The students at the school where from Cambodia and they go there to study hospitality and tourism. We sat with them during lunch because we were told to talk to them so they would practice their English. Most of them were really good speaking English they were just a little shy. They told me they want to get a really good job so they can work at different countries and travel. I didn’t know you could study so much to work at a hotel. There, the students study for 10 months and after they graduate they do an internship. Most of them get really good jobs, working at five star hotels around the world!
While we were learning all these skills at the school, we were putting them to practice at the hotel we were staying at, called Soria Moria. We worked shifts in the front desk and the restaurant. We were like trainees there. In the front desk we would sit with them and they would tell us how they use the computers to keep track of the guests, how they color coded the rooms’ availability, and all the services they offer. We would also help the guests with whatever they needed, although I would always end up asking the lady. I missed working in the restaurant because I got sick those days, but I saw my friends doing it during breakfast and they seemed to enjoy it. They would do stuff like open the door and greet the guests, ask for their room number, clean their plates, and refill the water and juice jars. The days where long but they were fun. I thought it was going to be boring but it wasn’t serving and talking to the guest was a fun experience.
I really enjoyed our time at Paul Dubrule and Soria Moria and in the city. Siem Reap was a nice place to stay. It was really close to Pub Street where there were a lot of cafes and restaurants and bars. There were a lot of tourists too and touristy things to do. There were plenty of souvenir shops and markets. There where people in the streets selling fried snakes, crickets, and spiders. There were a bunch of fish tanks with fishes that would eat your dead skin out of your feet and they would call it a foot massage. Honestly, I don’t know why they call it a massage. I did this and it was so ticklish at first I couldn’t even keep my feet inside the water for more than 5 seconds. I made myself get used to it and at the end I had them in the entire time. It was definitely not the most pleasant thing I’ve done but it was so fun. There was this one woman that could not stop screaming, it was hilarious.
Thanks for reading!
Next Stop: Mumbai, India
