The 411: Co-workers edition

Steve: Nationality: Swiss. Blondish hair, blue eyes, nice build. Age: Looks 25ish, but not sure. Stop right there. I know what you’re thinking and the answer is no. (And as a side note, before I arrived, Andy apparently told all the employees that I am off-limits. “Touch her and you die.” So yeah, that’s great.) Anyway, I digress... Steve’s a super nice guy and is very good at his job, but he’s definitely not my type. I only worked with him the first day, so that’s pretty much all I have to say about him for now.

Nicolas (1): Nationality: French, Parisian to be more specific. Dark hair, dark eyes, very skinny, pretty tall, gold necklace chain, and slightly intimidating. Age: too afraid to ask (yet). Okay, I’ll admit, I was initially scared shitless of “Nico.” He didn’t smile, didn’t say much and squinted his thin face every time I spoke French to him, as if that would help him understand me better. Ha. Good try. But after a few days of working with Nico, he’s opened up a bit. Okay, we may not be giggling and talking like we’re BFF, but he seems like a nice guy and he actually has started smiling on occasion, though he remains faithful to his Parisian culture. We’ve talked about traveling a lot, and Nico told me about a friend of his working in San Diego (we bonded, I know). He spent some time working at the French restaurant in Miami at Disney World and has visited New York and LA. He may not be the chattiest person, but he’s nice enough and gives me constructive criticism that I appreciate.

Lea: Nationality: French and a Parisienne as well. Light brown hair, brown eyes, small frame. Age: 21. Initially, not so friendly, but she definitely warmed up to me and we’ve laughed about random stuff. She spent some time living in Sydney, Australia, so her English is fairly good. Sadly though, she leaves on Saturday morning as her time in Montreux is over. Bummer.

Alexandre: Nationality: Also French and yes, also from Paris. Dark hair, dark eyes, smaller guy. He has the warmest eyes, and we’ve chatted in the cafeteria a few times. The conversation was sufficiently awkward but only because the cafeteria fosters awkwardness for a lot of people (or at least it seems to me). He’s made a few jokes here and there which made me feel comfortable and he’s great with helping me in French. He corrects me when I say something wrong, but not in a condescending way, which I’m grateful for. Sadly, Alex also leaves at the end of the week, so poof. Another one gone.

Nicolas (2): Nationality: Don’t know. Blondish hair and blue eyes. Age: 23 (but only because I asked Lea). Nicolas is the boss. And he definitely seems to take his position extra seriously. I appreciate the effort and attention he pays to his job, but he’s extremely formal and completely unapproachable. In a nutshell, he intimidates the hell out of me. He has not smiled. Once. And walks with his feet turned out to the side, and perhaps has a bit of a waddle. Duck-like maybe. I can’t quite pinpoint it.

Liza: Nationality: Austrian. Darker hair with darker features. Age: 16! Speaks four languages, though she’s not quite fluent in English or French (yet). Apparently for the school that she attends, she needs to learn five language. Yup, FIVE. Crazy talk. Liza works in the cafe that joins Le Brasserie, mostly in the morning into the early afternoon. She seems nice, though I really haven’t spent much time working with her. She also leaves in a few weeks to go back to school.

Diana: Nationality: Kazakh. Dark brown hair, dark features, taller than me. Age: 21. She speaks great English and definitely likes to party. She mainly works in the cafe, but she usually shows up at the end of the night to help with polishing glasses and cleaning up last minute things. I’ve asked her about the best bars in the area, and she’s provided some solid guidance on which places to check out and which ones are a total bust.

Ali: Nationality: Moroccan, from Casablanca. Dark features and a little bit taller than me. Age: 19. Excellent English. Ali’s doing his internship for hotel school at Suisse Majestic. Apparently, he goes to the second best hotel IN THE WORLD. Uh yeah. I told him that he’s a sort of celebrity to me. He thought that was funny. To say that Ali is my favorite employee is an understatement. From the second I met him, he welcomed me with the warmest smile and didn’t make me feel like a total foreigner. He is incredibly patient with me and expertly dishes out constructive criticism, which I am so grateful for. He is VERY good at what he does, a total natural as his family is also in the hotel business (more on that in a moment), and has adopted me as his protege. He is constantly showing me how to do things, only the “professional” way, which translates as 5-star hotel status. A few more weeks and I’ll be serving the Queen at Buckingham Palace! Ha, I joke I joke. But the amount of detail that goes into every little thing (serving plates, setting tables, stacking plates, etc etc.) is unbelievable. I’ll have to write an entire post on that later, so don’t you worry.

Lucky for me, Ali and I work together quite a bit, so I can count on learning new skills every day. And more than being nice, Ali is actually interested in getting to know me, which makes me feel less like an outsider. On the first shift that we worked together, he asked me about my family, home, and what I think about Islam (this last question totally caught me off guard, but I appreciated his honest curiosity). Then I proceeded to ask him about his impression of Americans/ the U.S. We didn’t really get to dive into the conversation because of work and all, but he told me we should have a conversation about both sometime after work. And when I said that I like running along the lake, he suggested that we be running buddies. Don’t freak out, he’s definitely NOT hitting on me, he’s just a sweet kid with a great heart and a genuine curiosity about other people and their traditions. As for him, he is fasting in honor of Ramadan (the Muslim month of fasting during which you cannot eat or drink anything until 8:30pm). The moment the minute hand finds the six on his watch, he nearly sprints to the kitchen, chugs milk and eats bread or whatever the kitchen staff can make him. And when I asked him about it, he was more than eager to explain more about his religious beliefs and life in Morocco. One night after work, I went to his room and he showed me a bunch of pictures on his computer. Pictures of the mosque in Casablanca, his HUGE family, the hotel his grandfather started and father now runs (called Le Palace Blue, this place looks GORGEOUS. OMG.), and the decorations involved in putting on a Moroccan wedding at his parents hotel. If you haven’t seen pictures or heard about these kinds of festivities, wow. You’d die. To say that it’s beautiful does the celebration no justice. Oh, and side note... seeing his room made me REALLY appreciate mine cause his is more like a jail cell. Lastly, when I mentioned that I wanted to visit Morocco sometime, he said that I’d have to go and that he would show me around and take me to all the coolest places. Awesome Foreign hookup number 1: Check!

Obviously, there are plenty of other people I’ve met, but this is the low down for now. Hopefully I’ve painted a better picture of the people for y’all. And obviously, the moment I get pictures, you’ll be the first to see!