So, the cast of characters on my trip to Switzerland:
Me: no further explanation needed
Monique: my best friend from high school
Ben: Monique's husband
Kurt: Monique and Ben's son (who will be referred to as Kurtley to differentiate from Monique's dad, whose name is also Kurt)
Kurt: Monique's dad, born and raised in Switzerland
Eileen: Monique's mom
Beat and Adi: Kurt's childhood friend and his wife
Trulla and Hans: Kurt's sister and her husband
When I got off the plane I took the train to Kurt's hometown, a gorgeous little village called Hedingen, 20 minutes outside Zurich. I think Hedingen was my favourite place on the whole trip, in part due to our hosts, Beat (pronounced Bey-at) and his wife Adi. They live in a beautiful old house that was once, in typical Swiss style, a small house front attached to a large barn. The barn has now been renovated into more living space and it was a lovely, rambling farm style house with several dogs and cats running about the place. I felt immediately comfortable there and it was like a constant slumber party, as I slept a few feet from Kurtley, who slept at the head of Monique and Ben's futon, and Kurt and Eileen slept in the loft above us.
I loved their multi-leveled backyard, complete with fishpond and ping pong table, and set out to explore it one afternoon, but was sidetracked when I found a sun lounger on the top level and spent the next hour lounging on it, with a half a bottle of white wine and a bowl of pretzels. By the end of the hour I had been joined by Monique, Kurtley, and one of Beat and Adi's daughters and her husband. But they brought more wine and snacks with them, so it was all good.
Every morning we were up early and on the trains, traveling to cities, villages, and of course to the stunning Swiss Alps. We went to Mount Rigi, the Jungfrau range, and to Santis – none of these names will likely mean anything to anyone, so I'll let the photos tell the story. We also visited Bern, the country's capital; Appenzel, which is what everyone imagines Switzerland to look like; and Einsiedeln, which is a place of pilgrimage and is also impossible to spell/pronounce. I was so exhausted by the end of every day I was often asleep by 10pm, but then was awake before 6 almost every morning, which was a new experience for me – being among the early risers is not something I'm known for…
The food in Switzerland was wonderful. We had countless yummy meals at Beat and Adi's – roast pork and lamb, plates of sliced meats and cheeses, fresh bread, and one night, tandoori chicken, courtesy of Eileen. At Hans and Trulla's place we had roast beef, and more Indian food, and on my last night we had a very Swiss meal called Raclette. Monique always used to talk about raclette back in Kimberley, mostly to tell me how much I would love it, because basically it's a special cheese that you broil and then pour over potatoes and eat with various pickled salads – I wonder why she thought I would love it…? But because they had to special order the cheese, I never had it at their place in Kimberley, despite being there almost every other day:) So I complained about this (just kidding – it was more like campaigning for us to eat it) and they very kindly and generously arranged for us to have it on my last night. It was so fun and totally delicious. I took pictures:)
And of course, we ate tons of chocolate, because when in Rome….right? We even visited the Lindt factory, which was really just about buying lots of chocolate and smelling the sugar-filled air.
Switzerland is one of those places that you can't help having pre-conceived ideas of how it's going to look… There's just a stereotypical image of just how beautiful it is, and I have to say, it's just as picture perfect as it appears in those postcards; it just may be the most scenic place I have ever been to. There are hundreds of shiny blue lakes, low-lying green valleys dotted with orange-roofed houses at the foot of snow-capped mountain peaks. The contrast of the colours is stunning – the blue of the water, the green of the grass, the white of the snow. I kept exclaiming over the sheer beauty of the setting of the hundreds of little villages that we passed during our many hours on the trains. And of course the sheep and cows dotting the green pastures only added to the pastoral picture.
Oh, and I was completely unprepared for the unseasonably warm weather we encountered – I think we all were actually. I had to go and buy a couple of tank tops because I was dying even in short sleeves, and I rolled my long pants up into capris – black capris with white runners – I was looking good:) I got pretty sunburned, but now it has now faded to a nice base of colour – I'd almost go so far as to say I look tanned!
But really, the best part about being in Switzerland was being there with the Gross family. Monique and I fell right back into the rhythm of our friendship like we were teenagers again and talked about everything and nothing for hours on end, and I hugged Eileen every 5 minutes because I don't know when I'll get the chance to do it again. It was really special for me to be there with them and I feel grateful and lucky to be so welcomed into their family.
Pictures are here as usual.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Job news
I forgot to put my last group email on the blog, and today I wrote a follow-up to it, so I've posted them below in chronological order:)
#1: May 1, 08
And here I thought April was going to finish up being completely uneventful…
On Tuesday morning, we got an email from our CEO at work with the news that "significant redundancies" were about to occur in the company, due to a softening in the order book and the continued weakening of the US dollar – financial speak for "tanking" I think.
Predictably, no one did any work for the rest of the day while we waiting for axe to fall, and in the end over 60% of the company was let go, including the entire documentation team, save one trainer.
Here's where things get a bit strange… When they told us the news, they said we could basically leave at the end of the day and we would be paid a month's salary as notice. So we all went in yesterday to clean out our desks and sign whatever we had to sign, and another email came out saying that there is a new law stating that whenever a company lays off such a significant portion of a workforce, there has to be a 30-day period of consultation. And then our notice period begins.
So they went from telling us we could leave at the end of the day to telling us we not only have to work the consulting period, but we now have to work the notice period as well – a total of two months working for a company that has just laid you off. You can bet how well that's going to go down!
My manager was so furious she told us all she's going to bring a book to work, that she'll be there in body but nothing else. The chances of people actually working out that two-month period are slim-to-none. The job searching has begun.
Anyway, while I'm disappointed, and was initially pretty shocked, the market in Dublin is still fairly buoyant and Mary, my manager, has already passed on some contact information to the team of people who have immediate positions to fill. I still have 5 months left on my visa, so hopefully I can find an employer who will keep me on beyond that, and if not, well, that's life. Just gotta roll with it. I already feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity to live and work overseas, so it'll be fine either way.
And, in other news, on Saturday I'm going on my first "European vacation" and I'm totally psyched!
So the story is: My best friend from high school, Monique Gross, had a baby last January. I haven't seen Monique for over three years -- I last saw her when I was in Alberta the Christmas my nephew Jeremiah was born (she lives outside of Edmonton). Anyway, her dad is Swiss born, so Monique, her husband Ben, her son Kurt, and her mom Eileen, and dad -- also Kurt -- are all going to Switzerland to show the baby around. And since I'm practically part of their family because I basically lived with them when I was in high school, I'm going too:) Got it?
I'm so looking forward to this trip. I'm going to meet them in Kurt's hometown, a little village called Hedingen, about a half hour outside Zurich. We'll be there for a few days, and then will be in Zurich at Kurt's sister's place for the rest of the week.
I cannot overstate how much I adore the Gross family and how happy I am that I get to spend a week with them in Europe. It's good timing really, as it will be nice to have some support right now, and it take my mind of the job thing and help me enjoy the vacation.
---------------
#2: May 13, 08
Well, where to begin...
So because I was going on holiday to Switzerland just a few days after we got the layoff news, I didn't really do any job searching in the immediate aftermath. The only thing I did was on Wednesday I sent my updated resume to one of the recruiters I had worked with back in October when I first arrived in Dublin. Brian got in touch with me on Thursday morning, asked me a couple of questions, and then called me again that afternoon to schedule an interview. I said I was available the following day (Friday) but would be out of the country all the following week. I didn't really think they'd be available at such short notice for an interview -- esp on a Friday, but he called me back and told me to show up at 3pm the next day.
The interview was with a company called Fineos, who are a financial software company. They have really taken off in the last few years and seem to be doing really well. They've recently gained a ton of new clients all over the world, and have been adding to their technical writing team steadily -- there's currently a team of 5 people. Ironically, the woman I replaced here at Xsil is at Fineos, so I got a hold of her and picked her brain about the company and her interview experience. She had only positive things to say and seems very happy there.
The interview went well, and even though the HR woman I met with in the beginning told me they wouldn't be making a decision until the end of the following week, I was standing at the bus stop 20 minutes later when Brian phoned me to tell me they'd made a verbal offer to him and wanted to know if I could start on the 19th of May. I couldn't believe it...in some ways I still can't. I'm still in a slight state of shock that it happened so fast.
I was on a mountain train in the middle of the Swiss Alps the following week when Brian called with news of the official offer, which was pretty surreal, so it's a done deal now! I start this coming Monday, and I'm really looking forward to it. I know I've said this before, but I have a good feeling about this place. My whole first two weeks are classroom training, with more to follow. They have a whole training department, which I'm delighted about because I might be able to move into that space eventually, which is a goal of mine. And their trainers do lots of on-site training, which means travel!!!
More good news is that it's more money and more holiday time than my current position -- woo hoo, more European vacations!! And it's also located in the city centre, which likely means lots of pub time:) I have been thinking of moving for a while now, and this just adds to my motivation -- it would be great to find a place just near the outskirts of the centre so I could continue to walk to work. I'll keep you posted!
Anyway, I wanted to say thanks for the dozens of lovely supportive emails I got in response to my news about the layoff. They were so nice to read, and I wanted to write this email as soon as I could to let you all know the good news. It took me until today because I had almost no time online when I was in Switzerland, which was fine with me because it made it feel like a real vacation, and yesterday I was too exhausted to do anything but lounge around the house doing nothing. Oh yeah, even more good news is that I don't have to go back to Xsil this week, so I'm essentially having another week of vacation. I'm planning on spending it doing some shopping, errands, and maybe playing a little bit of tourist in Dublin, since I haven't really done much of that.
AND it's sunny and warm -- first time I've been able to wear a short-sleeved shirt outside here. Does it get any better??
I'll write again with details of my wonderful week in Zurich once I've sorted through the hundreds of photos of snow-capped mountains, because really, all you need to see is 3 or 4:)
tm
#1: May 1, 08
And here I thought April was going to finish up being completely uneventful…
On Tuesday morning, we got an email from our CEO at work with the news that "significant redundancies" were about to occur in the company, due to a softening in the order book and the continued weakening of the US dollar – financial speak for "tanking" I think.
Predictably, no one did any work for the rest of the day while we waiting for axe to fall, and in the end over 60% of the company was let go, including the entire documentation team, save one trainer.
Here's where things get a bit strange… When they told us the news, they said we could basically leave at the end of the day and we would be paid a month's salary as notice. So we all went in yesterday to clean out our desks and sign whatever we had to sign, and another email came out saying that there is a new law stating that whenever a company lays off such a significant portion of a workforce, there has to be a 30-day period of consultation. And then our notice period begins.
So they went from telling us we could leave at the end of the day to telling us we not only have to work the consulting period, but we now have to work the notice period as well – a total of two months working for a company that has just laid you off. You can bet how well that's going to go down!
My manager was so furious she told us all she's going to bring a book to work, that she'll be there in body but nothing else. The chances of people actually working out that two-month period are slim-to-none. The job searching has begun.
Anyway, while I'm disappointed, and was initially pretty shocked, the market in Dublin is still fairly buoyant and Mary, my manager, has already passed on some contact information to the team of people who have immediate positions to fill. I still have 5 months left on my visa, so hopefully I can find an employer who will keep me on beyond that, and if not, well, that's life. Just gotta roll with it. I already feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity to live and work overseas, so it'll be fine either way.
And, in other news, on Saturday I'm going on my first "European vacation" and I'm totally psyched!
So the story is: My best friend from high school, Monique Gross, had a baby last January. I haven't seen Monique for over three years -- I last saw her when I was in Alberta the Christmas my nephew Jeremiah was born (she lives outside of Edmonton). Anyway, her dad is Swiss born, so Monique, her husband Ben, her son Kurt, and her mom Eileen, and dad -- also Kurt -- are all going to Switzerland to show the baby around. And since I'm practically part of their family because I basically lived with them when I was in high school, I'm going too:) Got it?
I'm so looking forward to this trip. I'm going to meet them in Kurt's hometown, a little village called Hedingen, about a half hour outside Zurich. We'll be there for a few days, and then will be in Zurich at Kurt's sister's place for the rest of the week.
I cannot overstate how much I adore the Gross family and how happy I am that I get to spend a week with them in Europe. It's good timing really, as it will be nice to have some support right now, and it take my mind of the job thing and help me enjoy the vacation.
---------------
#2: May 13, 08
Well, where to begin...
So because I was going on holiday to Switzerland just a few days after we got the layoff news, I didn't really do any job searching in the immediate aftermath. The only thing I did was on Wednesday I sent my updated resume to one of the recruiters I had worked with back in October when I first arrived in Dublin. Brian got in touch with me on Thursday morning, asked me a couple of questions, and then called me again that afternoon to schedule an interview. I said I was available the following day (Friday) but would be out of the country all the following week. I didn't really think they'd be available at such short notice for an interview -- esp on a Friday, but he called me back and told me to show up at 3pm the next day.
The interview was with a company called Fineos, who are a financial software company. They have really taken off in the last few years and seem to be doing really well. They've recently gained a ton of new clients all over the world, and have been adding to their technical writing team steadily -- there's currently a team of 5 people. Ironically, the woman I replaced here at Xsil is at Fineos, so I got a hold of her and picked her brain about the company and her interview experience. She had only positive things to say and seems very happy there.
The interview went well, and even though the HR woman I met with in the beginning told me they wouldn't be making a decision until the end of the following week, I was standing at the bus stop 20 minutes later when Brian phoned me to tell me they'd made a verbal offer to him and wanted to know if I could start on the 19th of May. I couldn't believe it...in some ways I still can't. I'm still in a slight state of shock that it happened so fast.
I was on a mountain train in the middle of the Swiss Alps the following week when Brian called with news of the official offer, which was pretty surreal, so it's a done deal now! I start this coming Monday, and I'm really looking forward to it. I know I've said this before, but I have a good feeling about this place. My whole first two weeks are classroom training, with more to follow. They have a whole training department, which I'm delighted about because I might be able to move into that space eventually, which is a goal of mine. And their trainers do lots of on-site training, which means travel!!!
More good news is that it's more money and more holiday time than my current position -- woo hoo, more European vacations!! And it's also located in the city centre, which likely means lots of pub time:) I have been thinking of moving for a while now, and this just adds to my motivation -- it would be great to find a place just near the outskirts of the centre so I could continue to walk to work. I'll keep you posted!
Anyway, I wanted to say thanks for the dozens of lovely supportive emails I got in response to my news about the layoff. They were so nice to read, and I wanted to write this email as soon as I could to let you all know the good news. It took me until today because I had almost no time online when I was in Switzerland, which was fine with me because it made it feel like a real vacation, and yesterday I was too exhausted to do anything but lounge around the house doing nothing. Oh yeah, even more good news is that I don't have to go back to Xsil this week, so I'm essentially having another week of vacation. I'm planning on spending it doing some shopping, errands, and maybe playing a little bit of tourist in Dublin, since I haven't really done much of that.
AND it's sunny and warm -- first time I've been able to wear a short-sleeved shirt outside here. Does it get any better??
I'll write again with details of my wonderful week in Zurich once I've sorted through the hundreds of photos of snow-capped mountains, because really, all you need to see is 3 or 4:)
tm
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