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Sunday, January 29, 2012

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MetrOasis® Advanced Training Center

 


This is the main page of our news letter, but if you'd like more in depth news just click the News link at the left, on this page.

I am confused by a lot of what I see every day, and what I hear for that matter. 

I just don't get it. I watch people make stupid decisions and then try to put myself in their situations to figure out just what they were thinking when they made that decision. It doesn't work. Well, hardly ever.

Recently some of my students took their state board practical exam and passed this information along to me. During the exam, one of the people being tested from another school tried to leave the exam right in the middle because they realized that they didn't have a clue what they were doing, and they realized that they couldn't answer any of the questions the "examiners" were asking them. They were refused. So, to start with, they decided to attend a school that doesn't provide them with any esthetics machines whatsoever. Duh! 

What are they going to be using then they get a job, that is IF they get a job. They aren't supplied with anything near the supplies we supply to our students, the esthetic materials, the tools, and certainly not the study materials. What did they get? Well, I guess they saved $575. But they can't pass the state board practical exam, which is the easy exam. They can't pass the state board written exam, the hard exam. They don't have the tools to work, the machines to work, the products to work, or the training to work. So what did they really save?

They didn't really "save" anything because they spent thousands of dollars but didn't get what they "paid" for! To me, it's a bit like "saving" a couple hundred dollars on a car but the car doesn't have an engine or any wheels. WHAT A BARGAIN!

Certainly this person went back to their school and told everybody else about their horrible experience?

Nope!

At the state board exam we just had, three more people showed up from that school again just to be humiliated. 

Do these guys NEVER learn? I mean seriously?


Nearly four thousand dollars for no machines, no equipment, no products, no training, no license... therefore no job.

or

For just $575 more, success!


You know what though? It just goes to show that none of us can think for other people. If we could... ahhhh! What a world. I wouldn't have to weave in between sleeping idiots & texting morons every single morning on my way to work.

While we're on the subject of thinking for other people.  I recently had a couple of people be dishonest with me, and their rationale was that "nobody would know"... What a telling concept. When we are honest, it is not about the people we are honest with, it is about us. So, doesn't it seem pretty plain that when we are dishonest, it's not about the people we are dishonest with, but rather, being dishonest is also all about "us"? "Nobody would know"? In fact, WE would know. Saying "nobody" really betrays a deep inner feeling or belief that "we" are "nobody", or in other words, "we are nobody". When we are honest, it's not really about getting caught because that's not really what honesty is all about. If you're only honest when there is a chance of getting caught, that's drama club nonsense. Honesty is when you do the right thing, even when it costs you something, WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE TO because you respect your own integrity!

The second problem I have with "nobody will know" is that God will know. Do these smoe's really think that God can't see around corners, through walls, or deeply into our spirits? God, by the very definition of the title "GOD" means all-knowing, all-seeing. Are some people really so clever as to be trickier than God? How stupid, truly, how stupid IS that?

Well, I said it before and I'll say it again, we can't think for other people. So now that the real identities of these guys are known, why in the world would I get into any kind of relationship with these guys where trust is expected?



Barcelona & Carcassonne & Paris - March 2010

We just returned (safely) from Barcelona and Carcassonne and Paris in March 2010. We learned a lot! We attended Cosmobelleza (which I still can't spell without looking it up), in Barcelona. We then drove to Carcassonne by way of Tassa de Mar, and hit the Gorges de Saint Georges on the way back. Then we hung around Barcelona a few days and then flew to Paris where we attended classes at Art Libre and attended the Mondial Spa & Beauty Show. At Art Libre we learned some new haircuts an some chignons. We received our certificates for both.

So, beyond these tangible results which can easily be photographed or journeled, the intangible lessons are a bit harder to measure. Easily the first thing we noticed was that we are all horribly out of shape. It seemed outrageous that we had to walk so much, but everybody in the largest cities walk everywhere. All the time. This is largely due to the fact that these really large cities are very old and most of the streets were built before there were cars and busses. This isn't the only reason though. The other reason is because these cities were designed to be walking neighborhoods. On top of that people like to walk. In fact, given a few minutes, the people in Barcelona and Paris (weather permitting) would love nothing better than to take a walk through their neighborhood, do some window shopping, or run (literally) some errands, even though they've already been walking around all day. Americans seem to think that we're being picked on. My knees go out so I usually carry a cane. But then again, I'm old and fat.

So... walking.

We just complain about it. In fact, it was so strange to return home where people at the local Fred Meyers and the Costco try to actually park IN the entrance of the store. Not near, IN. Everybody else has to walk between the cars just to get inside the stores. This is true of the movie theaters too. I just saw a movie at the Century Theaters and there were nearly a dozen vehicles parked in the "Fire Lane - NO Parking" areas. I mean, come on now! We can already get into just one of our cars and drive to within a hundred or so feet of the entrance to our favorite stores, and we have to park inside the opening?

How have we become this lazy?

Another thing that is easily noticed is the coffee. We drink more coffee than anyone else in the world, but the coffee here is absolutely the worst! If the GOOD coffee here was served in either Barcelona or Paris the place would go out of business the first month. It's strange to have a few cups of coffee in either of these two cities and then order coffee here. You can't find a single bad cup of coffee in either city. Finding a good cup of coffee here is a serious task though. And the sizes! In Europe you order a cup of coffee and you enjoy the flavor, the aroma, the ambiance, the experience. Here you order a "latte" and you have enough milk and syrup for a family of six for an entire day just in one cup!

The shopping is amazing too! In Europe you can find many different stores, of many different price ranges, of many different styles. Here it seems like we are programmed to all dress with one style, we all have one look. Well, most of YOU do, I have somehow been unharmed by this trend. So how have we become so brainwashed? In fact, just before we left I was really, really frustrated by numerous attempts to submit to a make-over by several people. Most of this pressure came from Wasilla. As soon as I arrived in Europe I instantly fit right in. So, do I really have to forget the fashion centers of the world and become Wasillized? I'm not going to do it, I'm just not! And I shouldn't have to. Have we actually got so much time on our hands here because we drive absolutely everywhere that we can spend this extra time criticizing each other and trying to get those around us to conform to our own sense of style. Wasilla style at that? There were some signs of conforming to a zombie mind-set there but it was only in the form of the really stupid "zipper-head" haircuts. I'm not sure how many of these clones were from the US though. There were all kinds of styles, all kinds of different looks. Thus, all kinds of stores. Here I have a choice of buying the exact same pair of Dockers from seven different stores.

Did I mention that I'm not going to do it?

There is a reason that people travel from all over the world to go to Barcelona an to Paris and NOT to Wasilla. Get over it!

Another thing that was really annoying to return to here was the teen-o-centric mindset here. One of the very first comments I heard regarding our trip is "That's really stupid to pay nearly $500 dollars for a hairstyle that I don't even like that much". Nobody asked you to... idiot! The people that pay that much for a "chignon" can afford it. They appreciate it. They understand it. The person that made this statement to me was an idiot, but being an idiot, they didn't understand that they WERE an idiot and somehow thought that they were the actual center of the universe and that their decisions should guide the rest of us. I would imagine that one of the first reasons I could come up with for their incredibly stupid statement is that YOU DON'T HAVE $500 TO START WITH! The person that we took our class from charges about 350 Euros per chignon and they do them in about half an hour. When they work in bulk, they do them on already prepared hair for between 250 every 15 minutes on the fashion runways. But instead of learning how someone else does something, they have to engage their mouths before they even understand the concept. Arggggggghhhhh!

Carcassonne was really cool. This was a really old place, as the very first fortifications on this hill were built about 450 BC. It was cool spending the night inside a castle. There are some photos at here.

Because I am still processing everything that happened, I will write this article in stages in the next several days so watch here for additions.

Sigel

 



Salon Parisian & Salon Venetian & Salon AlyAska

We have completed the introduction of our Salon Parisian hair and skin care line. This line is a luxury line that is botanically based, professional salon line with a distinctly French feel. You can find more information regarding these products if you click the Salon Parisian link on this page, on the left side. Our Salon Parisian is not just an informational web site any longer, it is now also an online store. There is a great sound track of a French accordian. Salon Parisian


We have also completed our Salon Venetian hair care line. This line is also a luxury line that it botanically based, professional salon line with a distinctly Italian feel, but contains more specialty items. If you'd like more information on these products click the Salon Venetian link on the left, on this page. Salon Venetian is also an online store now. There are some photos of Venice as well as a great sound track of a Venetian gondola singer and water lapping up against the gondola and the buildings. Salon Venetian

We also have a Salon AlyAska web site up now which is also an online store. Salon AlyAska There is a really great sound track on this web site that is recorded at a lodge in Canada and you can hear the wind and the snow blowing in the background as well as an incredible mountain photo.

Sigel is selling some of his jewelry online now too at Sigel's Jewelry. This web site is pretty new so only some of the pieces are listed but it's still pretty good sized.


Our Esthetics Program (DaySpaSchool.Net) is going strong and we are usually book with new students about two to three months in advance. Ask Sue if you'd like to book a facial. If you want to find out more about our facials, ask Sue for our facials brochure. For more information on this program just click the link (left side of this page) for Esthetician Training. The Hairdressing link is located just below the Esthetician link. We also launched an online store for esthetician equipment for estheticians that want to expand their offering or upgrade their equipment, or that attended another school that doesn't provide any equipment for their students in their student kit. (weird huh?)


We will be adding more features to this news letter in the next few weeks.

Contact

MetrOasis® Advanced Training Center
401 West International Airport Road, Suite 1C
Anchorage, Alaska 99518
(907) 276-4110


Sue Shroy - Aly Shroy - Franz Sigel Shroy


Enjoy, Sigel, Sue, & Aly Shroy