Meanwhile in Switzerland - 20 Years in a Nutshell

This post is a long overdue answer to an e-mail to an old friend, whom I last saw in Chicago almost 20 years ago.

I could have just replied "doing well, thanks". 

Instead, I'm doing this.

The four of us had breakfast in Chicago Downtown, and you kept dropping hints about romantic destinations to get engaged at. I remember some talk about Sedona, AZ.

Well, our road trip's itinerary took us to Grand Canyon first, and that's where he actually popped the question. Still, your instincts were right on! 

We tied the knot a year later in the old knights' hall of Lenzburg's castle. 

It was my first year of many that I worked for Starbucks Switzerland and Austria. I used to think the Landis & Gyr / Siemens merger was a stressful time, but I stand corrected. A fast growing retail / gastronomy business, operating in three different language regions made my previous work experience seem like a walk in the park.

I did love the fast-paced, international environment though, and while I never got to sit down and breathe on the job, it kept me caffeinated alright! It came with several stays in Seattle, too. 

Working long hours and traveling internationally didn't seem feasible as a new Mom, so after my maternity leave I did not return.

I was going to take it easy and stay at home with my baby boy for at least a couple of years. 

That was the plan, at least. 

Colin was 15 months old when he first joined the airport daycare. 

Airport?

Yes. I figured since we were probably stuck in Switzerland for a couple of years now, why not at least apply for that job with Swiss International Airlines as a former coworker suggested? A part-time position for an experienced HR / Recruiting person who speaks German, French and English, that was me, right? Considering they received 100+ resumes, the chances of actually getting the job were slim anyway.

Think again.

I loved working at the airport. Since I was responsible for looking after the aircraft engineers, I got access to the tarmac area, and on any given day I would walk through departures' security check, flash my badge, putting on my yellow vest and take the side exit, walking past the gates to the maintenance offices.

With the job came the benefits. I didn't even think of that. In my employment category they include an annual business class flight for me and my immediate family members to any destination the airline flies to. That's how we ended up visiting California with our little one way earlier than I dared to dream!

Because our toddler did so well, we kept traveling internationally, even after I quit my airline job. 

For the second time in my career, the German management style had disgusted and driven me away. It didn't even have to do with the fact that Swiss has been part of the Lufthansa Group. Actually they did a nice job restricting their influence to the use of synergies. 

I just had the misfortune of having a self-promoting supervisor born in East Germany with no idea or experience about a) Swiss labor law, social securities, let alone corporate culture, and b) an international company in the airline industry, put in front of me who not only micromanaged me, but also alienated the people in our support area.

What's more, my husband's business partner died unexpectedly, leaving hubby, the thorough techie, to manage vendors, clients and employees, which was all extremely out of his comfort zone. 

So before Colin joined Kindergarten, for the first time in my life, I issued my own employment contract and started working for hubby's IT business. Believe it or not, even as an average computer user, one is still able to help customers whose knowledge and abilities are even more limited ;-)

While there's not much to do in terms of HR - we are a pretty stable team of ten people - I support users in the accounting and payroll part of the business software that we distribute. Now it's me who's out of her comfort zone!! I'm definitely more into people than numbers, but I manage. 

Mostly I enjoy the increase in quality of life.

Remember the drive to the airport or any destination north of Zurich? Does Gubrist tunnel ring a bell? Yeah, I don't miss that commute! We live five minutes from the office, giving me the opportunity to run home at short notice, be it when C's school is out, or I need to let a handyman in to fix the washing machine.

After all, the washer and the dryer are a Hockey Mom's lifeline. More about this later though.

Back to the nice part of life. Travel.

We even came back to Chicago in June 2013 - that's when the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup. It was very exciting to be there, even though the decisive game took place in Boston, and we had to be on our flight back the next day.

Even though Colin had been interested in ice hockey before, this experience may definitely have jump started his career.

A few years later we visited your old homeland! It's also where my late father in law was born and raised, btw. We absolutely loved the game drives and the things to do, see and eat (and drink) in the Cape Town area.

We met up with a dear friend who lives in Johannesburg. She insisted Colin dressed properly for the 2015 Rugby World Championship!

I'm so glad we did a lot of traveling within the first decade of his life. We all know what happened in 2020, when we found ourselves stuck at home for an unknown period of time, making the best of the situation. 

Our Lockdown Project included doing research and cooking the cuisine of a different foreign country every day.

Even though we had our share of loud anti vaxxers in Switzerland, the majority of my fellow citizens was behaving reasonably, and people who were either fully vaccinated or had recovered from Covid, were able to resume an almost normal life right before Christmas 2021. The last pandemic measurements were lifted as of April 1st of this year.

What a relief to be able to move freely! 

Unlike season 2019/20, which was canceled right after the pre-season, and 2020/21 that was put to a halt mid-October, Colin and his teammates were finally able to train and play all throughout season 2021/22, and we thoroughly enjoyed watching the games and going out for pizza after many wins!

Yes, even though we live in Aargau, Colin trains and plays a 50+ minutes drive away for EV Zug, right next to the Landis & Gyr campus. In 2010 the old "Herti Stadium" was replaced by the new and improved (heated!) Bossard Arena.

It has become by second home, and I enjoy the changes of the season. Fall fair!

And Christmas Time!

We have Andy Tresch to thank for this. Well, not the arena, but the fact that C plays in Zug. Remember our coworker from the Finance Department? He's the Youth Manager.

We always attended the annual fund raising event. When C was 2 years old, Andy told him to join Zug's hockey school when the time comes. The rest is literally history. I have to admit though I had no idea what exactly I was singing up for.

It started innocently enough. Hockey school took place once a week between October and February, minus school and public holidays. 

When Colin managed to make the youth team at age 9, we got slapped with a training schedule of 3 - 4 times a week between May and July for summer practice and August through March in winter. Plus games on the weekend. Try to coordinate this with your day job and your youngster's school schedule. 

That's where working for my husband turned out to be a brilliant situation. It's most helpful, too, that Colin is a good student, allowing us to get him out of school early year after year. 

When Ford finally decided to launch a Mustang model for the European market, I moved heaven and earth to get my hands on one of the fancy convertibles. We had some fabulous times, and sadly some bad times, too. A day after my birthday this year we had to part ways. 

No thanks to the aftermath of the pandemic, new as well as preloved cars were hard to get, and I had an even harder time dealing with the insurance company. Well, my perseverance paid off.

So here we are, the month of May almost done, the hockey world championship is in the books, and strawberries and asparagus season is upon us.

No travel plans just yet, we'll have to wait and see about the situation come fall. Should we come to the Midwest, I'll be sure to tell you! In the meantime be well!