Switzerland’s Last Finishing School

If lunch at the 2)Institut Villa Pierrefeu (IVP) often feels like a rehearsal， that’s because it is.

Under the watchful eye of Rosemary McCallum， a 3)Cordon Bleu-trained chef and expert on table manners， 13 female students practice the skills they’ve studied in courses on European 4)etiquette and table service. As the meal unfolds in a 5)stately dining room with 6)corniced ceilings， McCallum gently reminds the five student servers that they must pick up champagne glasses near the bottom of the 7)stems and offer the pear-and-8)Roquefort tarts from the left. Back home， four of the five women serving have 9)live-in staffs. But the program requires them to 10)rotate through the service role anyway so they can better train and manage their employees. Vera， a 30-year-old playing the role of hostess， steers the conversation from her work with orphans back home in Lebanon to a Mexican guest’s love of horseback riding. All goes well until Vera’s fondness for 11)Toblerone 12)mousse leads her to commit a crucial error. “Your husband is still eating， and you’ve already finished，” McCallum says.“Remember to 13)pace yourself.”

For nearly 60 years， IVP—Switzerland’s last traditional finishing school—has taught women social graces， from floral arrangement and table decoration to the art of serving afternoon tea. Updated annually， its intensive six-week course consists of 216 hours of class and， for those working toward a diploma in international etiquette and 14)protocol， 45 exams. Daily practice brings students up to speed on how to 15)whip up the 16)trendiest desserts and how to gracefully adhere to local customs in 20 countries， including Mexico (where you may shake your waiter’s hand) and Japan (where you should never use chopsticks as decorations in 17)swept-up hair). But contrary to stereotype， the motive is not marriage; it’s money. “Lots of people have 18)M.B.A.s， but few have the 19)extra knowledge we can give them，” says Viviane Néri， the school’s principal.“People now realize that good manners make for good business.”

Among those who agree is Christopher Earley， the incoming dean at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management and a co-author of Cultural Intelligence. Before globalization became the norm， “cultural issues were of less immediacy to businesses，” he says. “But that’s all changed in the past several decades with the flow of goods， services and information across transparent borders as well as the increasing interdependence of firms and 20)subsidiaries.” It’s this reality that draws mid-career executives to enroll at IVP， where they hope to gain an 21)edge with international clients; younger students come to prepare for careers in public relations and the foreign service. The school’s recent 22)roster listed 36 women， ranging in age from 18 to 46 and 23)hailing from 14 countries including Syria， Thailand and the U.S.

“This isn’t about staying at home and saying yes to everything my husband says or serving him，” says Polly， a 39-year-old wearing pearls， a blue dress and a pink 24)cardigan. “It’s about knowledge that empowers you as a modern lady.”Polly， who speaks fluent English， Mandarin and Cantonese， retired from a 25)lucrative job as an investment banker in 2007 and now manages her family’s funds from her home in Hong Kong. She plans to 26)deploy her new knowledge—like how to peel and eat 27)kiwis using only 28)cutlery—at 29)philanthropic events where she encounters Indian， Malaysian and Chinese investors. “Good manners are essential to business，” she says. “If you don’t have good manners， then your clients and colleagues will question your competence.”

Néri believes there is more pressure on women in the business world. “Generally their mistakes are less easily forgiven than those of men，” she says. To help more of her students obtain C-level 30)suites (CEO， 31)CFO， etc.)， Néri serves as an 32)encyclopedia of cultural 33)taboos: Don’t ask a Spanish businessman about his family. (He’ll consider it invasive.) It’s not acceptable to talk about money in Europe (unless you’re in Russia). “We’re actually 34)antisnob，” Néri says. “The snobs are the ones who operate by secret codes and don’t explain them to you.”

35)Dissecting etiquette in a formal setting also gives women the opportunity to learn some unpleasant truths. “If a student’s outfit is in bad taste， then we tell her it doesn’t work，” Néri says. “She comes to get the feedback she won’t get from her friends or colleagues.” Teachers are equally quick to tell students if their table settings look 36)rushed or violate the rule of keeping plates at least 55 cm apart. Anna， a 40-something financial controller at an international company， 37)rolled her eyes， when teachers brought out irons during a class on folding napkins. But an hour later， she was 38)hooked. “You see the exactness and the 39)symmetry， and it gives a completely different atmosphere，” she says. “If your table is slightly 40)sloppy， your deal could 41)fall through. The client might think， ‘If the table is set like that， how will she treat my contract and our relationship?’”

Back in the dining room， the five student servers—stomachs 42)grumbling—have more pressing concerns. Their hostess’s husband continues to 43)spoon his Toblerone mousse. “Take your time，”says Nouf， a 19-year-old student from 44)Oman. When the man of the house finally finishes， they clear the table and escort the guests to the 45)drawing room for coffee. The waitresses return to the dining room， take off their gloves， wipe their foreheads and let out a massive sigh of relief. “I’ve been thinking about my servants all the time，” says Nouf. “It’s really hard work. I definitely have more respect for them.” For a true lady， that unexpected lesson may prove the most lasting.

瑞士“淑女班”

在瑞士女子精修學院，午餐讓人感覺就像是在排練，事實上也的確如此。一切都在羅斯瑪麗·麥克卡倫那敏銳雙眼的嚴密監視下——她不僅是高級大廚，還是餐桌禮儀方面的專家。在場的13名女學生在課堂上學習了關于歐洲禮節和餐桌服務的課程后，就要在此練習相關禮儀。學生在一間有斜頂、氣氛莊嚴的餐廳里用午餐，麥克卡倫婉轉地提醒五名學生“侍應”在上香檳酒時要拿著靠近杯腳的地方，從左邊給用餐者上梨撻餡餅。盡管這五名充當“侍應”的學生中有四名家里有傭人服侍用餐，但是教學內容要求所有學生都要輪流擔任“侍應”，這是為了讓她們在今后的工作中能更好地訓練和管理下屬。30歲的維拉扮演的角色是“女主人”，在餐桌上負責引入談論話題，她從自己在黎巴嫩從事有關孤兒的工作，轉而談到一個喜歡騎馬的墨西哥客人。一切都進行得很順利，直到維拉喜歡的一款三角巧克力鮮奶油慕思上桌，這導致她犯了一個嚴重的錯誤。“你‘丈夫’還在用膳，而你卻已經結束了。”麥克卡倫說，“記住要調整你的速度。”

近60年來，瑞士女子精修學院（瑞士僅剩的一所傳統精修學校）一直教授女性社交禮儀課程，內容包括插花、餐桌布置、下午茶服務技巧等。課程內容每年都會更新，課長六周，強度非常大，共216個課時，學成并成功通過45項考試的學生能獲得國際社交禮儀學位。學生們每天要進行大量練習，例如如何快速制作出最流行的甜點、如何得體地遵循20個國家的社交習慣，如墨西哥（客人可以和侍應握手）及日本（筷子絕對不能插在發髻上做裝飾）。……