European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 17, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Fashionable finishing school etiquette Savoir-1 by Brenda Watson associated press High in the Swiss Alps in a turn of the a Colury Villa at Glion with a breathtaking View of Lake Genova Viviane Nori is leaching Young ladies How to function in High society Bui unlike finishing schools of Iho past her curriculum includes instructions on such things As How to clean a Lilot and run a vacuum cleaner it helps keep Thorn from becoming snobs says Neri. Who has run the Villa Pierre flu finishing school since 1972 anyway you can t train a servant to do something Well if you Don t know How to do m yourself " Nen s Elc gang Villa in the Small Lown of Glion above Mon Reuk. Is one of a handful of finishing schools in Switzerland in the Early part of the Century Switzerland Wilh its Many private schools for Young ladies was the place for the Well to do in Europe and the United states to Send their daughters 1o learn european culture and the French language. But As finishing has gone out of fashion Many of those schools have introduced courses in by pm business and hotel management As Well. Neri s school is considered the most traditional offering Only a rigorous finishing program and is the most expensive Al $30,000 Lor a one year slay others average about $18,000. Students come irom around the world she says because there really in l another school like this " some schools in England come close she adds bul they Don 1 require fluency in French. Finishing schools were among Switzerland s Many private schools and universities that successfully fought a proposed Law last summer thai would have sharply limited the slay of foreign students in the country Tho Villa Pierre Lou has room for 34sluden1s and is full every year. This year s group inc Purjes primarily West europeans and latin americans with one american Severa australians and one japanese. Courses include protocol etiquette and Savoir Livre or How to be at ease in any situation As Well As French and English. And it s net the bed of roses some might think. I never toll people Al Home that i m going to a finishing school because they think i m just going to Lay Oil in some posh school and not do anything says Rebecca 1b, irom Wichita Kan. It s been quite the opposite. We have to do students who were interviewed declined to give their last names to protect their privacy. Slide nos at Villa Pierre Feu have 38 hours of classes a and cleaning toilets Apelt Mottl the proper Way to told a Napkin to Juat one of Tho Many skills that vivians Neri second from left teaches thu agents at Tho Villa Terra Feu finishing school in gallon Switzerland. Week. They make their own Beds clean their bathrooms and Iron their own clothes. They prepare and serve meals for each other Wilh varying degrees of Success cooking is not my Forte said Josne 24, irom the slate of Queensland in Australia. She explained that she had to remake a Batch of Flaky pastry because she mistakenly added 1vi Tablespoons rather than Teaspoons of Salt. A class on " Able decoration one Day found a group of Young women studying what looked like a complicated civil engineering blueprint bul was actually a diagram of How to fold a dinner Napkin. At final exam time the Young ladies must prepare and tie hostess of a banquet for two dozen people. Neri does no find i surprising that parents pay Largo sums for heir children to earn something they could probably learn at Home. You Don t always listen to your Mother because she s been nagging you All your life she says you listen to your teacher because she has students say the school is worthwhile because of the emphasis on learning French on mingling Wilh other cultures and on running an organized household Many Hope eventually to have High powered jobs thai will require a touch of worldliness. The Young women Are not dimwit red socialites As most people think Neri says we had girls who won on to be journalists. Bank managers Art dealers restorers of antique Booths and one even went to work in a Field Hospital in Colombia of course some do just Vanl to get married " their parents Are mostly lawyers doctors executives one girl s parents were Farmers Neri says of it was a very big farm bul still they were Farmers " Tho Young women look and dress like Young women anywhere with Severa exceptions. No Blue jeans no jogging suits no ski pants and no contour hugging knit leggings Are per milled Al Neri s school. The hours Are strict in by 7 . Weekdays 9pm fridays and sundays and 11 . Saturdays Neri says Villa Pierre Feu has evolved to meet today s needs. The school teaches Young women How la do things that have been done for them All their lives one european Girt did t realize before she came Here that a vacuum cleaner had to be plugged to a Wall socket in order to function Neri claims looking Good when you Don t feel so great have a cold and i look As bad As i feel itchy irritated red eyes swollen eyelids at Hall Mast a Runny red nose and dry cracked lips but i can t slay in bed. Responsibilities require me to get up and got going. Maybe you can relate. If soil s Lime to follow some tips on How to look like you re on top of the world instead of under he weather. While you re still in bed in the morning Light Back Wilh a series of stretches to Timber up and pump oxygen through your bloodstream to help gel you moving stretch your right leg Lowa
