Christian, you have a short sabbatical ahead of you – what are you planning to do during your month off?
I will be going to Switzerland with my family to visit my parents, my sister and her family. We want to ski and snowboard to our hearts’ content, do other winter sports and enjoy nature as much as possible. As a Swiss living in Hamburg, I really miss the mountains. All the exercise in the great outdoors in my home country helps me to recharge my batteries.
Is this simply an extended vacation for you or do you have another motivation?
Of course, I’ve been hearing this question a lot recently. My answer is that I really want our 5-year-old daughter to ski down the World Cup downhill run in our ski resort. That’s just a joke, of course. As a Swiss person, skiing is simply part of life and I want her to learn it as well and as quickly as possible. She has already lost a “season” because of corona. I myself have been skiing since I was a child and worked in a ski school during my studies. Now I want to pass on my passion for snow sports to my children – if they even want it.
You also work part-time and look after your children a lot. How important is this flexibility to you?
For me, it’s super important – you can’t have children without it. Anyone who has children knows this well. And if you weren’t already flexible, you probably will be when you have children. The great thing is that children give you additional skills. During the pandemic, I sometimes made appointments with a child on my lap, but that doesn’t have to be the case. That’s why I’m glad that I can also do my work in the evenings. For example, when I have a sick child at home and can’t just devote myself to work from 9 am to 3 pm.
What words does a Swiss man use to say goodbye to his sabbatical?
Of course, it depends on where he comes from and whether his mother tongue is German, French, Italian or Romansh. We Bernese say “Tschou zämä, bis gli”.
Dear Christian, thank you very much! We wish you all great weeks together and lots of fun with family winter sports.