Stuffed Pig

Today is the first dinner I have had in the past week that did  not last 3+ hours. It's also the first dinner I have eaten at home in the past week. Unlike dinner meals in American restaurants, the dinners in Switzerland are slow paced meals....not meals...events. Dinner is an event in Switzerland where the meal is expected to last most of the evening.

My workmates and I experienced these events for six consecutive nights. We definitely bonded during our dinners and learned more about each other than we do during our regular working time together. We become closer which results in us working more effectively when in the office The only downside I can see from an extended meal time is that we all tended to eat too much. As the high quality food and wine came in wave after wave, and the conversation ebbs and flowed, I, for one, lost track of how much I had eaten until, suddenly, I felt like a stuffed pig.

The meals ended very late, typically, after 10 pm then we had to walk home making bedtime sometime after 11 pm. With work starting early in the morning, I found no time to exercise. I feel like I gained 5-10 pounds during my week in Switzerland. Coming Monday, it's back to the gym and back to smaller dinners.

Speaking in Tongues

America, I believe is the greatest country in the world. I believe Americans are some of the most caring people on the planet, a people that will stand up for the oppressed and offer a generous helping hand to those in need. I also think that the majority Americans are deficient in one particular way that can be summed up in the following joke that is both sad and true.

Q: What do call someone that speaks three languages?
A: Trilingual

Q: What do call someone that speaks two languages?
A: Bilingual

Q: What do call someone that speaks one language?
A: American

The vast majority of Americans (excluding immigrants) speak only English and American English at that. Sadly, most Americans don't care to speak another language nor do they understand why anyone would want to speak another language. They also believe anyone living in the US should be required to understand and speak English despite there being no government sanctioned "official language" in the US. There are also Americans that believe, when visiting a foreign country, the locals should be able to speak to them in English. I hope these are few and far between but my gut feel is there are more of them than is comfortable for me to admit. When it comes to language, Americans have a very myopic way of thinking.

Learning another language is a good way to learn about other cultures as the spoken language tends to reflect that way in which one views the world, the way our voices represent the culture in which we live. I have heard of cultures without a concept for the number zero. I have heard tell of cultures that have no word for the concept of the phrase "I'm Sorry". If someone steps on your foot, the act of them removing their foot is sufficient. If they truly wanted to hurt you they would keep standing on your foot.

Languages have different positions for the words in properly structured sentences such as the positions of the noun and adjective? In English, we say "the blue car" while in Spanish the phrase becomes "the car blue". Does this juxtaposition affect the brain's cognitive abilities in any significant way? Does being fluent in both affect our ability to ponder a subject from multiple angles?

Some studies have shown that there are benefits of learning multiple languages at an early age. Among them, being multilingual:

• Has a positive effect on intellectual growth and enriches and enhances a child's mental development
• Leaves students with more flexibility in thinking, greater sensitivity to language, and a better ear for listening
• Improves a child's understanding of his/her native language
• Gives a child the ability to communicate with people he would otherwise not have the chance to know
• Opens the door to other cultures and helps a child understand and appreciate people from other countries
• Gives a student a head start in language requirements for college
• Increases job opportunities in many careers where knowing another language is a real asset.

Based on these points, it seems to me that we are cheating our children if we don't help them to learn multiple languages starting from their youngest days. Is it any wonder, that America education is taking an overall backward step when compared to the education system in other parts of the world.

I have friends on delegation in Europe who have not delved deeply into the language of the country they are living. They are in a country where most people also speak English so they can get by speaking their own native tongue. Both can understand the countries language but are not completely fluent. I wonder how their lives would be different if they fully assimilated the native language of the country in which they are living?

As I have blogged, there is a slight possibility of me being delegated to India for a year. I don't know if this will actually happen because there are way too many variables to know if a stint in India is where my future lies. However, if a delegation does occur, I plan on studying Hindi so I can more fully understand my hosts.

In the meantime, I think I will continue improving on my marginal Spanish. It would be nice to know what the players are saying about me when I referee soccer games composed of Spanish speaking teams. I know when they are calling me 'bad' names. It would be nice to know if I also get the occasional compliment.

Food and Drink as Bonding Agent

For the past two work days, I have been a key member in a workshop comprised of Italian, Swiss, and Americans where we discussed the finer points of a software development process with an eye towards increased efficiency, reduced process waste, and an alignment of terminology which will be relevant across the cultural contexts of India, Italy, Switzerland, and the USA. So far, we have spent a good 18 hours together in a conference room exchanging ideas and coming to reluctant agreement in some areas and making plans which we will execute over the next months. Making plans are great but, in my opinion, we have not reached a level of team work where we will strive to make each other successful. We needed something to glue ourselves together. I would say the most progress we made toward becoming a cohesive group was over a shared meal.

In many cultures, eating/drinking brings people together. Tonight, our team spent an extended period sharing an Italian meal in a little restaurant in the Swiss town of Zug. There were 7 of us....3 Americans, 2 Swiss, 1 Italian, and 1 American expat who has been living and working in Switzerland for about 5 years.  It was amazing to watch walls begin to crumble as we clinked glasses of wine in a toast to each other before partaking of the excellent faire. Over the course of our time together we talked of work and family and hobbies and dreams.We conversed in English, German, Italian, and Spanish. English was by far the dominant language but we native English speakers made attempts to use what little of the other languages we knew and to learn phrases of the other tongues.


I learned that Peter and Bea love to cook and enjoy the cycle of cook, eat, drink, repeat. Dan spoke to me of the particulars of a Siemens delegation as I consider moving to India for a year. Mike and Markus discussed the finer points of sailing and the lack of good sailing weather on the Zugersee. Maruizio talked to me about Inter Milan, his favorite football team. All in all we learned about each other at a level that was much deeper than could be gleaned during our workshop and brief lunch interludes


The meal lasted nearly for hours and, by American standards, cost an ungodly amount of money. But this was so much more than a meal. It was an investment in the companies future and our futures.  During the meal, we made the transition from colleagues toward friendship.The food and wine transcended sustenance for our bodies. The elements combined and acted as a bonding agent which knitted us together as a team. Because we now know about each other on a more personal basis, our bond will be stronger and help carry us through the challenges we will face.


Tomorrow we meet for a 1/2 day to outline actions items and to finalize our recommendations for the immediate future, the 2-3 year horizon, and the 5+ year vision. For the first time in the past two days, I am confident that we will succeed. And I credit the belief because the 7 of us took four hours out of our lives to share a meal.

Opportunity of a Lifetime

How much life do we miss making a living?

How much living is lost in our haste to make a living?

How much living do we miss trying to be comfortable in our life?

How much living do we miss sitting in front of the TV?

How much living do we miss not reading a book to our children?

How much living do we miss not looking deeply into the eyes of our loved ones?

How much living do we miss not accepting challenges?

How much living do we miss by not pursuing opportunities that push our comfort zones?

How much life would I miss if I pass on the opportunity to move to India for a year?

Traveling Solo

More often than not, when I travel, I travel alone. Many of the places I choose to visit are places with few people to no people. One of my favorite places to spend time alone is in the stark lands surrounding Moab, UT.

It's not that I don't like people. On the contrary, I love people. It's just that in my day to day life there is always something happening, some distraction going on, some event to attend, someone that needs my attention.

I like to travel alone, particularly to remote locations, because those are the times when I finally find silence...silence in my surroundings, silence in my head. I find a silence that lets me delve deep into my own mind and catch a glimpse of who I am, of who I was, of who I want to be. Diving into those deep recesses of my mind, I begin to understand why I do those things I do, or don't do.

Yesterday, I walked around Lucerne on my own time, my own terms. I was alone so I could see what I wanted to see, when I wanted see, for as long as I wanted to see. I sat on a bench for a long time during which my mind generated ideas some of which I captured as fodder for future blogs. The entire time I sat on the bench, I said nothing, just observed... observed the people walking by sharing smiles with their mates, observed the lake before me rippled by the gentle winds, observed the colorful sailboats in the distance against the backdrop of hazy blue mountains.

 One of the ideas I captured demanded to be turned over and over in my head. I was being forced to consider more deeply an opportunity that was posed to me last week. An opportunity that, if I choose to accept it, will result in a one of the most drastic changes my life has ever experienced. I did not come to any conclusions on accepting the opportunity but I was able to consider it from many different angles and from some of those angles catch glimpses to answers I was posing. I didn't always like the answer but truth is truth whether we like it or not.

Also, while sitting on the bench, I realized that despite constant flow people walking along the shore line, and the children laughing and giggling, and the cars rushing around behind, and the people sailing their boats. I was completely alone. Among all these people, there was no one with whom I had a personal interconnection or a connection based on common, ancestral linguistics, there was no one that spoke my language with my accent. In the stark realty of my aloneness, it soon became evident I was in a beautiful country seeing breathtaking sites and I had no one with whom to share in my delight or to share her insights. I was utterly and completely alone.

 .

While perched on the bench, I couldn't help wishing She was here with me to share in my joy and I in hers, and more importantly I wanted her to show me those sites that my tunnel vision missed because I am  too focused inward and her sweeping awareness alows her to collect vision in abundance. I believe, if she was here, she would have, in that moment, completed me and we would have been as one.

Thoughts on Moobs...

Physical decay has it's way of sneaking up on us as we age. I remember as a child, I could feast on a host of treats such as ding dongs and twinkies and chocolate bars and hot dogs with impunity and never ever gain an ounce. Problem was back then that I couldn't gain an ounce. My brothers and friends and I were so active that we burned off two meals before we sat down with the family for just the one. I was skinny, too skinny to play football which is why, when I joined the 5/6 grade team in grammar school, I did not play much. My entire 5th grade year I played in one play at the very end of the season. In my 6th grade year I was allowed to play on the kicking and receiving teams which amounted to about 4 plays a game. Only getting the rare opportunity to play in the games is tough on the psyche of young boys and leads to questioning of one's own worth. When I did not come out to play in 7th grade the coaches wondered why? Look in the mirror coaches the answer is written on your faces...for you winning games was more important than developing human beings.

After my 39th birthday, my lithe physique began to change....gradually, almost imperceptibly, until one day when I happened to step on a scale and found my self to be over 200 pounds. I topped off at 210 pounds or so in my mid to upper 40s. I saw a picture of me and my grandson in a pool and I thought...what the hell happened. I was developing moobs.

This revelation came at a time in my life when things were going a little bit crazy. My dad had just died of cancer and my wife decided she was no longer happy being married so divorced me and moved out of our home leaving me and my kids behind. I kept the kids with me because there was no way I was ever going to allow anyone to take my family from me....probably the best decision I have ever made in a life of many suspect decisions.

Fast forward to today and I find myself to be 50 and in much better shape. I began lifting weights and returned to cycling just after that tumultuous year. The result is I am down to 192 lbs with a lower fat content than my mid 40s and better muscle definition than at anytime in my life. In some respects, I am in better cardiovascular shape now than I had been in the past 20 years as evidenced by the 107 mile bike ride I underwent last weekend. I am of the opinion that my moobs have turned into hard pectoral muscles but my son, a devotee in the cult of crossfit , still tells me I have a long way to go.

All these thoughts bubbled up today as I went to the "fitness center" at my hotel in Zug, Switzerland. Not much of a fitness center really...it contained a nautilus type machine and a few dumbbells in a very small room but still a place to exercise my aging muscles. It's a good way to start my day, a day in which I am now heading out to take the train to Lucerne where I will take in the sites of this quaint little city in Switzerland. The last time I visited Lucerne was about 5 years ago during Fauschnaut Day, also known as Fat Tuesday or Carnival. I had just come off the plane with little sleep and was dragged out by coworkers to to enjoy the evenings festivities which included a great brat, copious amounts of alcohol and a never ending parade of people in very large paper mache heads. It was definitely a party of the bizarre! Today I will finally get the chance to actually see the city.

4500 Miles....

I arrived in Switzerland today. I had forgotten how challenging it can be to fly to Europe. It's not nearly as difficult as flying to India which takes twice as long as flying to Zurich and puts you in a country that is literally as far from the West is from the East in terms of culturalism.. I have not flown to India in over 4 years but that seems about to change as I expect to spend quite a bit of time next year in India but that's a matter for a future blog.

This was the first time I had flown Air Canada and I was pleasantly surprised that at least one carrier has moved into the modern times and installed USB ports at the back of each seat allowing passengers, including us low life, back of the plane in the cattle car, types to have the ability to charge our portable devices while we travel. This, for me, is a game changer because when I travel I always have a few electronic items in my carry on that would benefit for a bit of juicing. In particular my phone which drains the battery like a wino jonesing for  a MD2020 and my trusty iPod nano where I store a mixture of music, audio books, and podcasts.

On the second leg of the flight (Toronto to Zurich) I was a bit disappointed in the Air Canada. Oh, it still had the USB ports and had a grounded 110v output on every other seat for running a lap top. The problem I experienced was the cramped seating. Hey Air Canada, aren't you aware the a large number of the people in the West are fat bordering on obese. Those of us that are not bloated beyond healthiness must suffer with those others over flowing into our seats! Hey Air Canada, aren't you aware that the average male in the west is about 5'10? Those seats you pack us into barely have enough leg room for a tiny person let alone some of my friends who stand over 6' tall. Hey Air Canada I think your Marketing group needs to get a better understanding of the customers you serve.

I arrived in Zurich and took the train to Zug. I have not been here for a number of years yet was still able to find my hotel without aid of a map....just the map in my head which was sketchy but still accurate enough to find my digs. And nice digs they are!

The room includes a sun room for relaxing in the early morning or the evening.

Going to meet my buddy Jack in a few hours, better get some rest because I didn't get much of that cramped into the airplane.

Seth Said...

I read a great article on the Seth Godin blog today that challenged me to begin my own blog. So, away we go.

After not having traveled internationally on business for 4 years, my company is sending me to Switzerland for the next week. I am part of a two man delegation from my office attending a workshop of our counterparts in Switzerland and Italy. Our goal, reach an agreement on the evolution of our main software development process in which we must align existing disparate terminology and harmonize the various implementations into a unified implementation that can be effective across various cultures. I am one of the key players that will need to bridge the cultural gaps help the team come to agreement. This trip will require me to use my leadership skills which are manifest in a Servant Leadership style, my emotional intelligence to try understand the unvoiced words of my workshop teammates, and my knowledge of cultural nuances of our three very different cultures. My favorite and most challenging aspect of my job is working cross culturally to create solutions to difficult challenges.

It should be a very interesting week ahead.