Practical Training 1 at Solo Sokos Hotel Paviljonki

My name is Nhi Phan and I am a Tourism Management student. During Spring 2021, I had a
precious opportunity to do my training as a chef assistant in Sokos Solo Hotel Paviljonki, Jyväskylä.
Specifically, the hotel is the most renowned hotels of S-Group and the best hotels in Nordic region.
It has gained many awards, in which the most honor awards were given by the World Luxury Hotel
Awards.

My training was full of memories with laugh and hilarious stories. I was responsible for preparing
food and decorating the breakfast buffet. There are high standard rules and recipes to follow but
every employee is empowered to be creative in their own ways. I made my version for smoothie, porridge, dessert
and so on. Italy is the hotel’s theme, so every detail, from the hotel to restaurants brings up an Italian vibe.
Moreover, their customer service and staff caring are worth to learn. They always put effort to bring the best to
everyone. The work environment is very pleasing and motivating. Most employees agree that
their managers are supportive, and their colleagues are lovely with ‘a bit crazy’. We had a nice
time together and I had learnt a lot.

As a foreigner, Finnish is my biggest disadvantage, but it had been improved clearly without my
intention. At the very first week, I could only understand a few words but then everyone repeated
the keywords many times, so I improved very quickly. Listening to people talking really helped me
learn the language actively. Even though my speaking and writing skills are still limited, I surprised
that I can now understand most of their sayings. Working with those people and receiving their
encouragement did help me find back my interest with the language and be willing to learn more.

Written by Nhi Phan
Bachelor’s degree programme in Tourism Management