New Year, Fresh Perspective

While writing this column, it is around 25°F with snow in Switzerland, and I am overlooking the City of Zurich, as seen in the picture I just took.

From our Zurich residence, it is about two miles to the high school I attended more than four decades ago, located in the heart of the city.

It still feels like a fairy tale that the son of a baker moved from Switzerland, in the heart of Europe, to East Orlando, Florida.

At first glance, my historical hometown of Zurich and Avalon Park in Orlando could not seem more different. Here in Zurich, there is the view of mountains and snow, while in Avalon Park, it is abundant sunshine and summer heat.

After almost one-third of a century, I feel Avalon Park is where I am truly at home, while Zurich remains where I grew up. But in my heart, both towns feel deeply like home. After spending a few weeks in Zurich, I miss Avalon Park, and vice versa.

You might think I enjoy the “extreme opposites,” but when I look at Avalon Park and Zurich, I realize the two towns have more in common than one might think. Both Zurich and Avalon Park are communities where you can live, learn, work, and play. Many buildings are mixed-use, with apartments or offices above retail stores and restaurants. In both Zurich and Avalon Park, you can walk or bike to schools, stores, and restaurants.

I grew up in a small apartment in the northern neighborhoods of the City of Zurich, called Seebach. The apartment, roughly 600 square feet, was a flat my parents shared with my brother, sister, and me. It was located above a bakery and a coffee shop. My dad, now in his 80s, still lives there. Less than 50 yards down the street is a small grocery store, and my elementary school was about half a mile from our home. With our residence being small, the entire neighborhood became our “living room.”

This is probably why my family and I enjoy living on a 10-acre ranch in East Orlando today, with horses, chickens, a dog, and a cat. That lifestyle is certainly very different from growing up in northern Zurich.

Zurich is an international city, and in most parts of town, you can hear all kinds of languages. Besides Swiss German, English is one of the most commonly spoken languages. Zurich serves as the European headquarters for Google, and many American companies choose Switzerland as their European hub, including General Motors, Dow Chemical, Caterpillar, IBM, and more.

Sometimes I hear people say, “These are the most challenging and difficult times in history,” citing the war in Ukraine, the Middle East, economic challenges, and more. However, being born in the U.S. during the last approximately 60 years has certainly been a blessed time of prosperity. Consider the monumental challenges someone born in Germany around 1880 would have faced, enduring two world wars with vast destruction, two instances of hyperinflation, and the Great Depression.

We are truly blessed to live in Avalon Park or Zurich (or both), and I am very thankful for that.

Happy New Year!