Be it the cup of coffee that you had with friends sitting on the staircases of the university building, or the cup of coffee that accompanied you late at night when you were trying to finish course assessment before the deadline, almost for sure, there is always a cup of good coffee deep in your memories of your student life in Switzerland.
That's why we thought about offering the alumni of Swiss schools and universities an unique opportunity to make their own coffee with professional coffee-making guidance given by Nespresso Coffee Ambassadors and to recall their memorable experiences in Switzerland while enjoying the coffee on the occasion of the All Swiss School & University Alumni Gathering, which took place at the Embassy of Switzerland in Beijing on 21st October 2016.
Invited by the Ambassador of Switzerland to China, H.E Mr. Jean-Jacques de Dardel, and Science Technology and Education Section of the Swiss Embassy in Beijing, together with contribution from swisslearning and support from Nespresso, over 100 alumni from Swiss schools and universities participated the gathering despite the raining weather.
The drizzling night was immediately warmed up by the Nespresso Barista Workshop - 4 tables on which Nespresso Coffee Machines and various ingredients were nicely presented with a Nespresso Coffee Ambassador standing beside each table waiting for the guests. Each of the participants got a seat at the one of the tables and took on the journey of exploring the dynamic world of coffee-making presented by Nespresso and finally made their own cups of coffee with their choices of flavor.
Filled up with the excitement of the alumni from their achievement at the workshop, the night was further highlighted by the Ambassador's welcome speech. Ambassador de Dardel has been attaching great importance to alumni events as he values significantly the ties created by students from both countries. He invites alumni to get together at his residence on a regular base in order to let the them continue their close ties with Switzerland after their studies, and it's a great pleasure to see that the alumni enjoy and appreciate such kind of opportunities evidenced by their enthusiastic participations.
The Ambassador's speech was followed by a buffet reception including raclette made with Swiss cheese that we ordered from Switzerland especially for this evening as well as Swiss wine. Authentic Swiss food like a time machine that carried all the guests back to Switzerland and opened up warm exchanges among the alumni no matter if they knew each other before as Swiss food is their shared memory and common language.
It is our wish to provide opportunities for alumni to meet up once in a while to catch up with old friends and make new friends, and to feel that their study experience does not finish after their returns, it is in fact a long-lasting story which will develop further with new elements added over time, and we are here to support and connect each of them.
By Science Technology and Education Section of the Embassy of Switzerland in Beijing.