Inside the International Butler Academy: Michelle Khare's Week of Trays, Tea, and Failing Upward
Michelle Khare
Michelle Khare travels to the International Butler Academy in the Netherlands, a school whose students enter for ten weeks and, she says, leave ready to serve billionaires, world leaders, and royalty. She describes the curriculum as essentially secret, with little video footage of what happens inside. Her goal is partly journalistic and partly personal. As she has gotten older, she says, she has realized there are many adult skills she never learned, and she hopes a "literal classroom of butlers" can teach her to manage her own life in ways American schooling never did. She spends about a week living on campus, attending classes and trying to fit in. Along the way she keeps asking whether the school's rigid rules mean anything.
Arriving in Simpelveld
The trip took a long flight and three trains. When the crew told Dutch locals where they were headed, the reaction was bafflement; one person described the town as quiet, with "many old people." The academy sits behind an iron gate in a large mansion, which Khare calls one of the coolest locations her team has ever filmed. She lives on campus like the other students, and her performance during her stay will be graded.
On her first morning, she joins a line of students for a grooming inspection. Even the setup is scrutinized: an instructor points out a small peel visible under a tablecloth and reminds everyone, "Don't forget the small things."
The Headmaster's Tray Drill
Her first lesson is taught by the headmaster, Mr. Kaufman, who students say is as intimidating as his reputation. Khare notes that he has more than 25 years of experience in private service. The exercise is a mental and physical drill. Students carry trays of glasses, each keeping to an assigned space, while Kaufman calls out cities. A city starting with L means turning once to the left, B means walking backwards, R means turning to the right, and F means walking forward again. He mixes in trick prompts and direct questions: the capital of Switzerland, whether a student has been to San Francisco or Florence, the distance between two Dutch cities, whether Khare, who lives in Los Angeles, has considered moving to Las Vegas. Something that isn't a city, like "University of Berkeley," trips people up.
All the while he shouts "Faster, faster," "Smile, smile, smile," and "Now we are coming to the place where it starts to be fun." Then books go on students' heads. He scolds the class for dropping them ("books are a valuable resource for knowledge") and tells Khare she is "costing me a lot of glass today." The drill ends with trays raised to nose height, lowered to the belly button, and set down. When a student thanks him and reaches for their book, Kaufman notes that nobody said anything about taking the book away.
Chores in a 135-Room Mansion
Part of the final grade comes from daily chores. Khare explains this is harder than it sounds: the mansion has more than 135 rooms, including a porcelain room, a room devoted entirely to table decor, and a stained-glass chapel. Students must make each room spotless every morning.
She is paired with Mr. Chalka, a 19-year-old student from Switzerland. He jokes that the house is haunted by friendly, prank-loving ghosts. He also corrects her vacuuming: bending low will eventually hurt her back, so she should keep her body relaxed and straight and not reach too far. When she says she didn't know vacuuming had a technique, he replies that there is a technique to everything in the household.
Chalka says he came because he lacks life experience and thinks the course will help. He also offers one of the video's central ideas. Butlers are still people, he says, but they strive to comfort others at such a high level that "we cannot be considered human in a way anymore. What we are are butlers." He adds that this applies only while working; off the clock, they are completely different people.
Tea Service and the Principal
In the next class, an instructor tells students that the principal, meaning the employer, comes first and everything else is secondary. Even if a typhoon is coming, you still serve the tea or coffee with elegance and grace.
Khare is called up to demonstrate pouring from a teapot. She restarts after a hesitant first attempt, which the instructor says was actually correct. Then he asks what happens if the lid falls off. The fix: point the small nub on the lid toward the handle, and the lid won't come off. He says the biggest challenge in butler service is adapting to the situation. It is "not about doing it a certain way," but about doing it in the way that disturbs the guest the least.
The corrections keep coming: where to put her foot, how to hold her arm, not touching certain things, coming down softly. Khare exclaims that it's "just tea pouring." The instructor answers that they haven't even started the complicated part, which is managing someone's life. The class pours tea for two hours. When the students stop smiling, the instructor tells them that being happy inside doesn't help if you don't show it.
Learning to Smile, Pack, and Open Doors
Khare is then sent to a smiling lesson with an instructor whose name the captions render as "Mr. FCO." He teaches her not to show too many teeth and to find a comfortable smile, but stresses that she also has to smile with her eyes, which he calls one of the most important signals that a smile is genuine. She says she "suspiciously" got sent to a dozen classes on basic human functions: opening doors properly, folding napkins, shining shoes, and packing a suitcase in five minutes or less for a last-minute business trip.
The packing lesson is the first one she says she truly understood, because she could see how the details might improve her own daily life. Heavy items go at the wheeled bottom, since everything settles there when the suitcase is upright. Packing starts with the heaviest items, shoes, and spare space can be filled by tucking things like a belt inside a shoe.
The Suitcase Challenge
Wanting to prove she wasn't as useless as she suspected her instructor thought, Khare challenges him to a five-minute packing race. The scenario: an employer is going on a one-day business trip to London and also needs a nice informal outfit for dinner with his wife. The clothes are expensive, so wrinkles must be kept to a minimum.
After an awkward start, Khare remembers the rules and gets her shoes in at about the same time as her opponent. Then her hands start shaking and she wrinkles "literally everything." She asks him how he is so calm; he says that's the secret. Underwear goes in easily, but with 45 seconds left the panic returns. She asks how to get more time and is told you don't. At the end, she looks over at his full, orderly suitcase and accepts she has lost.
The judge says her folding was "quite bad" but her organization was very good, and gives her 5.5 out of 10. Her opponent gets 9 out of 10.
Why Someone Becomes a Butler
Khare says she understood why she lost but was still trying to understand why people dedicate their lives to such small details. Her opponent admits he hates the question because everyone asks it. He says he was drawn in by butlers in TV series and films, where the butler is the reference person for an entire family, and he wanted to be that for someone. He says the work is impossible without passion and is always done with a smile. If a family member died tomorrow and he had to work, his employer wouldn't need to know; he would smile and work like any other day. Asked whether he has ever had to hide and cry, he says yes: sometimes you step away, hide in the back for about five minutes, calm down, and return.
The Mississippi River Lunch Exam
Khare then rejoins the other students for one of the semester's most intense exams. They have 30 minutes to set a decorated lunch for 11 people, with five on one side, four on the other, and one at each end. The day's theme is the Mississippi River. She says the last thing she wanted was to hurt other students' grades or their chances of graduating.
Classmates coach her as the clock runs down. Trays go on chairs, not the table, because they are dirty and could leave marks. Items must face three o'clock. The pre-folded napkins must face left. With 12 minutes left, a student reminds her that they have to rush and still be perfect. With five minutes left, they vacuum up any debris.
Afterward, one classmate explains why they came: to learn the actual rules for how things are done, "not because they're right, but because it gives you the feeling of comfort." This student says they are a programmer who has never worked in hospitality. They describe the academy as a gold standard, ten grueling weeks where everything must be perfect, and say they wanted to learn that different approach to detail.
The Venus Speech
The exam's second half is a public-speaking test during the meal. Khare announces that lunch is served. A toast congratulates a student who has just landed a job, along with a reminder that they still need to graduate. The instructor asks for Khare's speech; when someone asks whether the topic should be hard or easy, he says she's used to speaking in public, so it shouldn't be too easy. The topic: Venus.
Khare herself calls what follows excruciatingly embarrassing. She opens with the solar system, mentions that there used to be nine planets before Pluto was removed, and muddles "men are from Mars, women are from Venus" before correcting it. She then pivots to the vastness of space and her experience training with NASA astronauts at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. She describes her fear of space, the nightmare of drifting off like George Clooney in Gravity, and how that training helped her ask whether her fear was rational. Her takeaway is that some of our biggest nightmares are irrational and sometimes controllable. She closes by saying she won't be going to space anytime soon.
The verdict: 1 minute 39 seconds for a three-minute speech, which the instructor calls a record for the shortest one ever. He says being off topic isn't his main concern. The bigger problems are that she "didn't close the circle," her posture was very stiff and not entertaining, and she should keep eye contact throughout. Khare later admits she doesn't know what "the circle" means, and that the hard part wasn't speaking but making things up.
"Behaving Like Someone You're Not"
Afterward, Khare asks the programmer whether they ever feel the point is missing, or that they are acting like someone else. She says that is how she feels; in all the exercises, she felt she wasn't being herself.
The classmate calls that natural, but says the school is teaching students to transform and adapt themselves to the principal. Nobody needs to talk about Venus for three minutes for its own sake. The point is that being a butler "is not about us." If the employer wants a speech on Venus, you deliver it the way he likes. They describe attending the academy as an ego check. In the tech world of San Francisco and New York, they had started asking whether they were getting too comfortable: many people would want their job and salary, but were they improving as a human being, not just financially? Going back to the basics, they say, "the way down is the way up." If you can humble yourself to do this kind of work, you're well positioned to be a leader.
The Final Exam: Table Setting by the Centimeter
Khare goes into her final exam feeling wildly unprepared. She says she has failed every task so far, so this is her last chance to save her grade. The instructor demonstrates a table setting that she must memorize and copy. The cover plate goes exactly in the middle, 2 cm from the table edge. Cutlery sits 2 cm from the edge of the plate. Further spacings of 4 and 8 cm follow.
She gets five minutes, since a professional butler should be able to set a table for two in that time. She asks to use her phone as a calculator and is refused. When time runs out, her table "doesn't look like much." She says measuring and doing the math takes too long. The instructor replies that mental arithmetic matters not only for table setting but in life generally; people shouldn't rely so much on their phones.
She asks whether there is a practical reason to measure everything. He seats her as a guest and has her pretend to butter bread. Some people place the knife in an awkward position, he shows her, and reaching for it from there is clumsy. In the correct position, it is easy to pick up. Every table decision, he says, comes down to which way is easiest for the guest. He then has her set the table again at her own pace, aiming for accuracy.
What Changed
In closing narration, Khare says she came to learn how to take better care of herself and manage her own life. After the first lessons, she was frustrated at being bad at everything, and the rules seemed arbitrary and meaningless, so she questioned all of them. Talking with the students, she says, showed her where she was wrong. Their reflections are woven in. One says the work requires passion, with some days starting at 4 a.m. and ending the next day, always with a smile. Another says it is a very fulfilling job about the comfort and ease you give people, with a thank-you and a smile as the greatest reward. A third says that if they can open the gate for their mom and cook her favorite scrambled eggs, that joy is something she can't buy.
Khare concludes that it isn't really about a second-course wine glass sitting 2 cm from the charger plate, but about making a moment for someone else. She says she still doesn't necessarily agree with many of the rules or the way students are critiqued, but she now appreciates their drive for excellence and their wish to serve others.
Her second table setting is still slightly off in its measurements, and the instructor says she needs more practice. Out of a possible 1,000 points, he calculates she would receive about 580. That earns a certificate of attendance at graduation rather than a diploma. Khare ends by saying that although she failed her final challenge, she is grateful to have met so many talented people who have chosen to dedicate their lives to others.
We cannot be considered human anymore. What we are are butlers.
Coming here to the number one butling school, it's far more surreal than you might think it is.
Faster, faster, faster, faster. Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk. Let's go. Now we are coming to the place where it starts to be fun.
We strive to comfort others. We do it at such a high level that butlers are not normal human beings anymore.
Do you just feel like you're behaving like someone you're not?
Even if someone in my family dies tomorrow, I have to put a smile on my face and work like the other days.
What?
We're going to the Netherlands. I'm so excited. We're going to the International Butler Academy. This place is really interesting because a group of people show up, go inside, and 10 weeks later they emerge ready to serve billionaires, world leaders, royalty. Up until now, the entire thing has been basically a secret. The curriculum is a secret. There's very little video footage of what the hell goes on inside there, but I'm going to find out.
Uber's here.
Oh my God, I don't even have my shoes on. Where are my slippers?
I'm so excited. It's been a really long travel day. We had to take a long plane. This is our third train. We told a few people who are Dutch natives where we're going. We're like, where?
What do people do in Simpelveld?
Simpelveld is very, very quiet. Many old people.
Oh my gosh. We're literally going up to an iron gate.
It's the door.
For the next week, I will be living on campus just like every other student, attending classes and trying my best to fit in. This is so cool. Definitely one of the coolest locations we've ever filmed in.
As I've gotten older, I've realized there are a lot of things about being an adult I never learned how to do. And so, I'm hoping that this experience can teach me how to manage my life in all the ways American school fails to teach you.
Is this nice? This looks awful.
And what better way to do that than with a literal classroom of butlers?
Good morning.
Good morning. Good morning. My name is Miss Khare, and I'm so excited to be joining you all for the next three days. Very grateful to be here. Thank you.
Thank you so much. Miss Khare, would you please be so kind to join the line next to Miss Ruo?
Thank you.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Good morning, Mr.
I can see from here a little peel under the tablecloth. Don't forget the small things. You may proceed with the grooming inspection, Mr. Shimac. Thank you.
After meeting the rest of my class, it was time for my first lesson. However, I was starting to hear murmurs that this lesson would be taught by the school's headmaster himself.
Mr. Kaufman seems very intimidating.
He is.
You got to make him like the principal here. That's my God.
And with over 25 years of experience in private service, he has garnered quite a reputation.
Well, everyone grab their trays, line up.
They're not allowed inside that field. That's my space.
So, ladies and gentlemen, you know the drill. Miss Khare.
Yes, sir.
Well, start. A little bit faster, Miss Khare. Now, whenever I start a city with L, you will start turning once around your left side. If I mention a city with B, then you start walking backwards. And the R is for turning once around your right side. If I mention a city with F, you will start walking forward again. Well, Mr. Shala.
Yes, sir.
What is the capital of Switzerland? What are you thinking about?
I don't want to say serious, sir.
Why not? Bern is the capital of Switzerland. Don't shortcut, Mr. Come. That was not a city, Mr. Louis.
Oh, my son.
No.
Mr. Come here. Have you been to San Francisco?
No.
What about Florence? How far away from Leven is Rotterdam? Well, Mr. Bazooni, I didn't say stopping. Go, go, go, go.
City.
Oh my God.
Faster, faster, faster, faster. Smile, smile, smile, smile. Miss Louis.
Yes, sir.
That's not your space.
That's true.
Continue, continue, continue. Move, move, move, move. Smile, smile, smile, smile. Now we are coming to the place where it starts to be fun. Faster, faster, faster, faster. Mr.
Rotamik.
Ria.
S for stop. Get your trays, line up.
Is it?
Yes, sir. Let's go on a walk.
Yes, sir.
Well, Miss Khare.
Yes, sir.
You said you live in Los Angeles.
I do, sir.
Have you ever considered to move to Las Vegas?
I have not, sir.
Why do I hear so many books falling on the floor? Books are a valuable resource for knowledge. Come on, gentlemen. Ladies, keep those books on your head. University of Berkeley. Berkeley.
Miss Khare.
Yes, sir.
You're costing me a lot of glass today.
Yes, sir.
Be more careful. Grab your books. Stretch your tray. Smile. Smile. Smile. Mr. Rose, lift your tray up to the height of your nose. Higher, Mr. Bush. Nose height. Nose height. Higher. Higher. Good.
Lower. Lower. To your belly button. Put your trays down. Line up. You're dismissed.
Thank you for everything, sir.
Who said anything from taking the book away? You're dismissed.
At the end of my time here, I will be given a final grade based on my performance. And a portion of that grade is my ability to complete a set of daily chores, which is actually a lot harder than it sounds because this mansion has over 135 rooms, including a porcelain room, an entire room dedicated to table decor, and even a full stained glass chapel. The students are responsible for making each of these rooms spotless every single morning. And so I was paired with Mr. Chalka, a 19-year-old student from Switzerland, to learn how it's done.
This house is haunted, by the way.
We're in a haunted mansion?
Yes, but don't worry. They're all friendly, and they love to play pranks.
You've seen a ghost here?
Yeah, a talking fish, I must say.
What?
If I may interrupt you quickly, going down like this after a while might be a little bit hard on your back. How you should vacuum is a very relaxed, straight body and not going further than this.
I did not know there was a technique to vacuuming.
There's a technique to everything in this household.
81.
So you're 19?
I am 19 years old currently. Yes.
What made you want to come here?
I do not have a lot of experience yet in life, and so this course will help me greatly in that regard. Now, coming here to the number one butling school, it's far more surreal than you might think it is because still we are all persons.
Good morning, sir.
Thank you, sir. The only thing that we do differently is just we strive to comfort others. We do it at such a high level that we cannot be considered human in a way anymore. What we are are butlers. Butlers are not normal human beings anymore. But that is only while we're working.
Are you good?
So you're a completely different person off the clock.
Totally. Everybody is.
Well, good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Morning, sir.
When it comes to being a butler, one thing you always, always must take care of is your principal. Everything else is secondary. Remember that when you're out there working as a butler, there might be a typhoon coming along. You still serve that tea or coffee with elegance and grace. Now that we have a new training member here, Miss Khare, why don't you come and show me how to pour with a teapot?
Yes, sir.
I'm going to start over.
Yeah, you shouldn't have.
Was that right the first time?
Yes.
But what if the lid comes off?
What if the lid comes off? When you make tea, make sure that the nose on the lid—you see that nose—that the nose is pointing towards the handle. And if you do that, the lid won't come off. In butler service, the biggest challenge that we have is to adapt to the situation. It's not about doing it a certain way. It's about doing it the way you interrupt the guests the least.
How would you like your tea today, sir?
Strong.
Of course.
It's a bit easier if you come with that foot a bit closer. No, not keep that arm straight. Don't touch.
Okay, there's so many details.
It's just tea pouring. We haven't even started with complicated stuff.
What's the complicated stuff?
Well, we have to manage the life of somebody.
Thank you, sir. We've been pouring tea for two hours.
What is that? This is Chiao. The position you were in looks really not good. Stop. So when you come down, you need to be soft. Ladies and gentlemen, what's the matter with you? Why are you not smiling?
I still can't do it right.
I know it sounds easy to pour tea. But if you want to do it correctly, you have to train it. And it is, like everything else we do, a matter of training. Remember to always smile when you serve. Even if you're happy inside, that doesn't really help if you don't show it. Keep those smiles on the lips.
Now, I thought I knew how to smile, but apparently not because they literally sent me to a class with Mr. FCO to teach me how to smile.
We have to be careful to not show too much teeth. I have my comfortable smile, which is a simple...
That's it.
That's it. It's a bit too much right now.
I feel crazy.
But you also have to smile with your eyes. That's one of the most important parts to show that your smile is genuine. Yes, that's great.
But apparently, it wasn't just smiling I wasn't good at because they suspiciously sent me to a dozen different classes for basic human functions. From learning how to properly open a door to folding napkins to shining shoes and even how to pack a suitcase in five minutes or less for a last-minute business trip.
Here's the bottom side, and we have the wheels here. So that means the heavy items will be at the bottom here. When you go around with your suitcase up, everything will stack to the bottom. Usually, since we start with the heaviest, we start with shoes. And if we don't have enough space, we can always put something inside the shoe. For example, we can put a belt in.
As I learned from Mr. Chalka, there is a technique to everything. But this was the first lesson I actually started to understand this firsthand and how these little details could be used to improve my own day-to-day life.
Wow. So, everything we just did, we have to be able to do in five minutes?
Yes.
Okay. Well, I think it's time for a butt-off. Me versus Mr. FCO. Five-minute clock. Whoever can finish the suitcase the fastest and the bestest.
Certainly.
So why did I challenge an expert so soon after just learning his craft? Well, this was the guy who had to teach me how to smile. And so I wanted to prove once and for all that I was learning and that I am not as useless as he probably thinks I am.
Michelle, good morning. Welcome to the suitcase packing challenge. Your employer will go to a one-day business trip in London. You will have also to prepare a nice informal outfit because he will have a nice dinner together with his wife. So, I will give you five minutes. You may start now.
Are we actually starting? Sorry. We're actually starting. Okay, go.
After that awkward start, my mind is racing, and everything is already scrambled in my head. But I remembered: heavy items at the bottom. Shoes go first.
Try to organize everything in your mind, Michelle, so you can work as fast as possible because we have Mr. FCO that is very, very talented in preparing suitcases.
I'm trying my best not to panic, but I did get the shoes packed at the same time as Mr. FCO. And now it was on to the shirts.
Remember that your employer uses expensive clothing, so please, as few wrinkles as possible, Michelle.
Packing a suitcase should be so simple, but my hands are shaking. Time is moving so fast, and I'm wrinkling literally everything I'm packing. Meanwhile, my opponent is barely fazed.
Three minutes left.
Oh my God. How are you so calm right now?
That's the secret, Michelle.
I'm trying to calm down. I get the shirts packed. Underwear is no problem. I think I'm still on par with Mr. FCO. And now I'm on to informal wear.
Right back. Valentine's Day. Valentine's Day.
You have last 45 seconds.
What do we do to get more time on the clock?
You don't.
Okay, now the panic is back. There is still so much to pack and for me to mentally unpack later. Where are the socks?
Faster. Faster. 15 seconds left.
With so little time left, I looked over at Mr. FCO. And he was so calm, so peaceful, his suitcase so full. And in my head, I began to accept the inevitable.
Five, four, three, two, one, stop.
Woo!
The way you fold was quite bad, but the organization of your suitcase was very good. Five and a half out of 10.
Thank you.
So now, Mr. FCO, I would give you nine out of 10. It was a very well-done job. Congratulations. You won the challenge.
Thank you.
I accept Disney.
Thank you, Mr.
He was a good match.
Though it is obvious why I lost, something I'm still seeking clarity on is why people like Mr. FCO would choose to dedicate so much of their life to perfecting such seemingly small details.
Why did you want to become a butler?
I hate this question.
Really?
It's the question that everyone asks me. For my case, it's after seeing butlers in many series, film, and all that kind of stuff and saying that they are the reference person for a whole family. I really wanted to become that person for someone. It's not a work you can do without having any passion for it.
And you do it with a smile on your face.
Always with a smile. Let's say someone in my family dies tomorrow, and I have to work. My employer doesn't need to know that. So I have to put a smile on my face and work like the other days.
Have you ever felt on the job that you just have to go into a closet and bawl your eyes out and then get it over with and then go back out there?
Yes. Sometimes you just step away from your job, from the scene. You go in the back, hide there for five minutes, calm down, and then you are ready to go back again.
After learning the basics from Mr. FCO, I was finally allowed to rejoin the rest of the students for one of their more pivotal tests.
Basically, we have 30 minutes to set up lunch. And lunch every day consists of, as you can see, decorations. Today's theme is going to be the Mississippi River. We have 11 people. Five over there, four over here, and then two on the sides.
And apparently, this is one of the most intense exams of the semester.
All right.
The last thing I wanted to do was negatively impact the other students' final grades or their chances of graduating. So, it was really important for me to do my best.
Deep breath. Deep breath. You're doing great. You can only have nine on here. So, feel free to put nine teacups. Take this. And let's go ahead and—oh, no. No. No. Not on the table. It's okay. On the chair is fine.
Why not on the table?
Because the trays are dirty, and we don't want to leave any marks. And then exactly what you want to do is you want to make sure it all faces at three o'clock.
All right, ladies and gentlemen. 12:15. So, we have 12 minutes. You got to rush. You got to do these things, but you also got to do it in perfection.
Setting the napkins. They're all folded already, but you want to make sure that this is facing towards the left. Fantastic.
We have five minutes left.
And then feel free to use the vacuum to vacuum what you saw.
Good job.
Thank you.
What a whirlwind.
It's fun, huh?
It is fun. It's exciting to learn the actual rules for how things are supposed to be done. Not because they're right, but because it gives you the feeling of comfort.
I want to come here because of exactly that. I wanted to learn what makes something look so comfortable. And I'm actually a programmer. I've never done hospitality in my life.
No way.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Never. This is the gold standard of, right? You kind of go through this. You survive this 10 weeks, this grueling activity of everything needs to be perfect. There's a different way of approaching the level of detail. And I just wanted to learn that.
The table is set. And while I think we totally nailed the Mississippi River thing, the exam isn't over yet. This is actually a two-part test where I'm going to have to deliver a speech during the meal in order to practice my public speaking.
My lord, ladies and gentlemen, lunch is served.
Ladies and gentlemen, enjoy your lunch.
Thank you, sir.
If everyone would raise their cup of tea, congratulations to Mr. Khair, who got the job.
Oh, congratulations.
Cheers.
We of course wish you all the best with that, and fantastic. Well done. Excellent.
Mr. Comm, the pressure is on. You got the job, but you haven't graduated yet. So, make sure you do.
Sir, you didn't ask me to research anything, but you said that I may be
Ready to provide a speech, should you ask.
Well, are you ready?
I believe so.
Wonderful. We shall find out shortly.
Not yet. Not yet.
Do you have a topic, or is she hard or easy?
Well, she's used to speaking in public, so it shouldn't be too easy. What do you think? Venus.
Certainly, sir.
My lord, ladies and gentlemen, I'm very excited to tell you today a little bit about our solar system and specifically Venus.
Hold up. What you're about to witness is excruciatingly embarrassing, and most other people would never let this see the light of day. So before we watch this incredibly embarrassing moment in my life, please hit subscribe. Thank you.
Now, you may be aware that Venus is one of our planets. Previously, there were nine, and Pluto is no longer one of them, unfortunately. We've heard the phrase men are from Venus, women are from Mars. Actually, I think it's the inverse. Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. But what this actually reminds me of is the vastness of space and what there is to explore.
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of getting to train with NASA astronauts at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. I personally have a great fear of space. Maybe some of you have had that dream that you are George Clooney in Gravity, going out into the vastness of space. I've definitely had that nightmare a few times. And this experience was incredible for me to confront that fear head on and to consider, is this an actual fear I have, or is it completely irrational?
That experience really taught me that some of our biggest nightmares are in fact irrational and ones that we can even control at times. I will not be going to space anytime soon. Thank you so much.
Mr. Januza.
Miss K, it was 1 minute and 39 seconds long.
1 minute 39. I think that's a record of the shortest 3-minute speech ever.
Okay. Yes. Short, off topic. Off topic isn't so much my concern, but you didn't close the circle. And you are not very entertaining when it comes to your body posture. Very stiff. Try to maintain eye contact at all times. Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
So intimidating, right? But no, you did really, really great for first—
I think it was pretty bad.
Maybe.
It's not the speaking part, it's the making things up. It's like, why am I talking about Venus? I realize I don't even know what the goddamn circle is. What is a circle?
Do you just not feel sometimes like, what's the point? What's the point? And also, you're behaving like someone you're not, because that's how I feel right now. All the other things, I felt like I was just not being me. It was very weird.
That is pretty natural, I would say. But at the end of the day, as butlers, I would say what they're teaching is you have to really transform and adapt yourself to the principal. And you're right, what am I going to do with the skill of talking about Venus for 3 minutes? But the whole point of being a butler is, right, it's not about us. It's about pleasing him. And if he wants to talk about Venus and whatever, we have to deliver that speech in the way that he likes it. It's just one of those things. I think attending something like this is also an ego check for yourself. At least that was for me.
You've probably heard about the technology surge in San Francisco and New York. Navigating that life, am I just getting too comfortable? I would say, how many people would love to have my job and my salary? And I started to ask myself, am I really improving myself, not only financially, but as a human being? I'm going down to the very basics, right? The way down is the way up. If you really can humble yourself to do work like this, you're very much in a position to be a leader.
Going into my final exam, I must admit I feel wildly unprepared. And because I have failed every single task that has been asked of me up until this point, this is my last chance to save my final grade.
Good morning, Miss Khare.
Good morning, sir.
Today we are going to have a look into how to set a table, and after that you will have to memorize it and make an exact copy of it.
All right.
Is that understood? Good. Well, let's get started. The cover plate now has to go down exactly in the middle. What we then need to know is how far away from the edge is the plate, and that should be exactly 2 cm. What now follows is the cutlery, and it is being measured exactly 2 cm from the edge of the plate. Four, four, 2 cm, 2 cm. This is your cutlery. Which distance, you guess?
2 cm.
Four.
Okay.
Four, four, eight. And that's how you set a table.
It's beautiful.
Well, I'll give you 5 minutes.
Yes, sir.
Are you up to the challenge?
Challenge accepted.
Wonderful.
Sir.
A professional butler should be able to set a table for two in 5 minutes. So, here's that. Time starts now.
Can I have your phone to do calculations?
Why would you need a calculator?
Seven.
You have 1 minute left.
10 seconds. Five, four, three, two, one, hands up.
Well, it doesn't look like much, does it?
No, it takes so much time to measure everything and do the math.
Calculating in your head is something that is very important, not only for table setting, but in general in life. We shouldn't rely too much on our mobile phones to do that.
Sir, if I may ask?
Yep.
Is there a practical reason to measuring every item on the table?
Okay. Now, if I may, have a seat. Sit down. Pretend to be a guest. Now, you have your bread in your hand and you want to put some butter on it. Take the knife. Which hand holds a knife?
The right hand.
Yeah. So, it was supposed to go around.
No, no, no. It goes on the plate. You see, the thing is, first of all, some people would place their knife like this. I'm pretty sure you've seen that before. Try to take the knife. It's a very awkward move. No, that is why the knife goes right here. Try to take it. And that is what we always think about when we do something on the table. Which way would it be easiest for the guest?
Anyway, I still want you to set the table. Do it at your speed and try to be as accurate as possible.
Okay. Thank you, sir.
I originally came to this school to learn how to better take care of myself, to better manage my own life. And after my first few lessons, I was so frustrated at how bad I was at everything. And it all just seemed so arbitrary and meaningless. I quickly started to question every rule I was being taught. But the more time I spent talking to the students, the more I started to understand why I was wrong.
It's not a work you can do without having any passion for it. Sometimes we start at 4 in the morning and we finish the day after. But we have to go for it always with a smile.
It is a very fulfilling job. It is just a comfort that you provide them. The idea of being at ease whenever you're with them. The thank you and the smile will be the greatest reward you can get from them.
If I can wake up, open the gate for my mom, cook her a nice little scrambled egg, her favorite, and she gets joy out of that, that's something that mom can't buy.
It's not really about the second-course wine glass being 2 cm from the charger plate. It's about making a moment for someone else. And while I might not necessarily agree with a lot of the rules or how things are critiqued here, I can now appreciate the students' desire to strive for excellence and wanting to serve others in the process.
Three, two, one, hands up. The measurement's slightly off. Well, I guess you are still going to have to train a little bit on that one. The maximum amount of points you could reach would be 1,000. Calculating it, you might receive 580 points, which would give you a certificate of attendance rather than a diploma at graduation.
And while I failed my final challenge, I am so grateful I got to meet so many talented, incredible human beings who have chosen to dedicate their lives to others.
What many of you might not know is that I am often training for multiple videos at once. And so while I was attending the International Butler Academy, I was also separately training to run an ultramarathon for a completely different video. A key part of that training was hydration. And so I want to say thank you so much to Liquid I.V. for sponsoring this portion of the video.
While I was in Europe, I made sure to pack some of my favorite Liquid I.V. hydration packs to keep me hydrated on my long runs. Drinking one Hydration Multiplier hydrates you two times faster and more efficiently than water alone. It also has three times the electrolytes of traditional sports drinks, is made with clean ingredients, and packed with B3, B5, B6, B12, and vitamin C.
So, if you want to try Liquid I.V.'s hydration sample pack for yourself, be sure to click the link below to get free shipping with your purchase, or they're also available at Costco. Thank you so much to Liquid I.V. for sponsoring this portion of the video and for making videos like this possible.
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