Fairwell Switzerland

Well all good things must come to an end to make way for more good things. As my time at WOSTEP was up there were a few spare days prior to my departure from Switzerland left for a little bit of adventure. I have made some very special friends during my time in Champreveyres and I thank each and everyone for the very special experience we created together, and as not previously mentioned thank you to the ladies that helped me get ready for graduation and generously loaned me all my fantastic getup, where would I be without you.

So in the few days waiting for results life was a bit calmer and we managed to get down to the lake for a bit of swimming before dinner and the odd brush with nature walking throught the bush and meadows, places that should have been discovered much sooner. And once graduation was over and done with we managed to venture a little further afield. Anna (from Iceland, partner of Robie from school) organised for John and I and Robbie's brother and girlfriend to catch the train and go a do a wonderful walk at Crux du van, which just has some amazing views and scenery. Unfortunately the day we were up there the alps were completely obscured by cloud except for a couple of the very highest tips. Not to worry as the rest of the scenery and of course the company was well worth the trip.

No farewell would be complete without a visit to our favourite bar and pizzaria so John and I headed to Tony's Bar for one last pizza and beer. Then on to Cafe Du Cerf where some other very good watchmaking friends and fellow housemates from Champrevyres joined us for the last horray!! And no tears even from me, what an achievement. I then got a leaving parade at the train station the following day where a group joined me to say goodbye, I am so priveledged to have met these people and had there support during my time in Switzerland an experience to be remembered.

Graduation

Well my adventure here in Switzerland at WOSTEP is drawing to a close. Two weeks ago we had three days taken up by the final exams. Two and a half hours of theory followed by 16 hours of practical. The practical pieces were a Lemania chronograph which had many faults from the chronograph eccentrics, bent wheels, incorrect end shakes to the centring and flatness of the hairspring etc. Then there was an Omega automatic and an ETA quartz which just needed a basic clean with correct lubrication and timing. There were of course a few dramas on the day but we all made it through and stopped at the pub on the Friday for a well deserved beer, or two, or three . . .

During the following week the professionals from inside the industry came to the school to mark our pieces so of course they needed to kick us out. We spent three days visiting various factories. Monday we visited Chopard, it was a very hot day with temperatures reaching over 30 degrees with not a lot of wind. They have in recent years set up a small museum also inside the factory so it was a lovely morning spent touring the factory. Tuesday we ventured a little further from Neuchatel and had the very pleasurable experience of seeing inside Patek Philippe. This day started at the truly amazing museum, unfortunately two hours is not long enough to really absorb everything. Then onto the factory for a wonderful three course lunch with some of the management before the tour began. At the end we were seated before eleven complicated watches valued at over five million swiss francs. Wednesday was another busy day, the morning started with a tour of the Omega factory, which unfortunately ran over time so we missed out on their museum. Then onto lunch with A.Betti before an extremely interesting tour of two of the many ETA factory buildings.

With the factory tours over and done with we had Thursday to clean the school from top to toe; the fridge had some very interesting specimens growing inside. The motivator for these tasks was getting our results when we finished. At 1630 both the refresher and the two year course gathered in the theory room and awaited our verdicts. There was a very close call but overall the school was very proud to announce everyone passed included the student from last year doing his reset. So once again back to the pub for a couple of beers.

Friday was taken up by sleeping in (no scheduled program) and then preparing for graduation. The ceremony took place at the Château of Neuchatel which is a beautiful old castle where we received our diplomas before moving onto a five star hotel on the lake side to enjoy a wonderful three course meal. After the formal event the partying continued at the local watchmaking drinking hole Cafe du Cerf till the wee hours.



My time here in Switzerland has been a truly wonderful experience not only have I expanded my ability as a watchmaker but I have also had an intense period of personal development. I have not always been happy with the way I handled the pressure but I am now out the other side and can’t wait to experience the industry again and really measure how much I have learnt.

Spring Time In Neuchatel

Well where to start, once again it has been a while, sorry. I have had my final intermediate exam with fab results, easter has been, lot's of school and general socialising at Champreveyres.


We'll start with spring, it is my favourite time of the year, fruit trees blossom, flowers bloom and trees re awaken and with the help of a little extra sunshine you can't help but have your spirits lifted. Day light savings has kicked in and we are now enjoying the extra hours of daylight in the evenings so no more walking home in the dark :-)


Easter weekend was celebrated here the same weekend as down home in NZ 10th-13th April. For me this entailed a extra hour or so of sleeping in (or lying in bed) time each day but we were still able to attend WOSTEP (without tutors) so friday, saturday and monday were spent at school. Achieved quite alot but with the end approaching I am really starting to feel the pinch and wish there were available hours in a day. Stress levels are quite high and school and tempers a little short but thank goodness for us you tutor has done the course himself and knows exactly where we are coming form. He really does have the patients of a saint, thanks Andrea!! Sunday however is our day off and even though it was an overcast day it was still very warm and a few of us heading on down to the basketball courts for a bit of a game (if you could call it that) followed by a walk and of course a well deserved ice cream. With the weather warming we also enjoyed a picnic by the lake last sunday joined with a couple of hangovers and some delishous chocolate turkish bread (thanks Thijs) it was another great day of rest!! Even if I did study all morning before the picnic and go for a run, it is all about balance and just how much you can cram into one day!!

Time is flying and graduation is 29th May, can't wait, as much as I love WOSTEP I am ready for the next step. Sometimes I do think when you know the end is near you just can't wait whereas if you knew there were still another two months to go you wouldn't be hanging out for the end. Does that make sense?? I have been sending my application to various places here in Switzerland and London hoping for the best however like every industry times are not so hopeful. I do know of a couple of opening at two fantastic brands in London though so fingers crossed, it will be easier to be back in an english speaking country too I am sure.


There is lots going on back home too of course my newpew will be turning 22 next week and of course we are still waiting patiently for the arival of his and Aleisha's baby, hmmm how much longer?? And my most favourite news of all I am to be an aunty again with dearest sister and bestest friend Lee-Anne 12 weeks pregnant!! Perhaps having to go home early will not be such a bad thing after all.

Must away to dinner followed by more study. Happy reading and kindest regards,
Donna

Baselworld

Well what kind of watchmaker would I be if I was in Switzerland and did not attend the Basel Fair? Baselworld is a huge watch and jewellery fair held here in Switzerland every year with retailers and wholesalers coming from all over the globe to attend. The day began with both John and Hakan sleeping in. We were to leave at eight but when I was ready I went to see if John was ready I woke him up but not to worry Hakan didn't arrive till nearly nine anyway as he had done the same thing. So whilst waiting I had a fresh croissant from the bakery and a cup of tea (the only one open on sunday and its right next door ;-) they made a wise business decision to close saturdays and open sunday and they are always busy). It is really quite mind boggling the extent some of the companies go to. The stands cost some of the companies millions of dollars and take months to construct all for one week. As an example Brietling had a huge tropical fish tank in the side of there display which I think had three or four levels to it. There are six different halls, one for big swiss watch brands, one for tools and one for brands from China, Hong Kong etc. My favourite part of the show was seeing the pieces individual watchmakers had hand made, there was a section set aside for these people that only had three or four pieces on display each but the craftsmanship and creativity displayed in this small corner would almost out do anything else I saw. I was a little disappointed to find some of the brands I really wanted to see, Audemars Piguet and Jageur-LeCoultre, did not attend Basel this year having opted to go only to one of the other fairs :-(. There are thousands of people to weave your way around, creating very tired feet and weary minds after a day. It was a great experience and as we had free tickets compliments of Rolex and Patek Philippe I had to go and now I can say I have been but unless I have an actual purpose of going I am not in a hurry to go back.

We got home at about half seven or eight I think and I went straight to bed without dinner. Day light saving started that saturday night and we had had a farewell dinner for someone leaving Champreveyres which all contributed. The week was very long and I went back to sleep after my alarm three mornings in a row! Well that is all for now plenty of study to be done but once again my blog is well overdue, can't believe it is April already!

Happy reading Budha ;-)

Home

Well I have now been out of New Zealand for three months. It feels like not so long ago that I was at home and Lee-Anne and Jade got engaged, ate too much at christmas and had a very tearful goodbye. Yet at the same time it feels like I have been gone for ages! So much has been going on in my absence, friends having engagement partys, people getting new jobs and shifting houses. When friends are away and you read all the exciting new experiences they are having you wish you were out there doing that too and then on the flip side when you are out there trying new things and experiencing different countries you wish you could still join in with what is going on back home. I guess it comes down to enjoying where you are at in life and appreciating what you have. I was saying yesterday that there are always people better off than you in the world same age with more assets have done more things with your life, this is to give you motivation to continue to strive for what you want out of life and then there is always someone worse off than you also, there purpose is to keep you thankful for what you do have.

I would really like to thank all my precious friends and family back home for all the letters, postcards, emails, photos and gifts you have been sending me over the last three months. Even just a couple of lines in an email can really lift you spirits at times. My wall of NZ is growing all the time and it always a special feeling when I hang the next item up, it is almost like a little ritual I have. (Yes hairsprings have sent me loopy and if anyone has got a padded cell up for rent I maybe requiring it shortly, he he he. Not really.) The wall has grown alot since this picture was taken!

Life her in Champreveyres is actually pretty great if you close your eyes, don't eat anything and just absorb the attmosphere. There are some really special people I have met from all over the world that make my time here in Switzerland so much more bearable. Last weekend a group of ten of us went out for chocolate and coffee. It wasn't a huge expense but it just made me feel like I was human again and that there is something out there besides the walls at Champreveyres and WOSTEP.

Been A While

Sorry folks I know it has been a while since my last update and of course so much has happened I am not sure how best to share it with you all!! Firstly my second exam has passed a couple of weeks ago now with a dissapointing result but still a good pass and we are now into our second week of hairsprings which is a very intense subject leaving us all very exhausted at the end of the day. At long last sleeping well again, had a couple of weeks where I kept waking during the night which as we all know can leave us feeling very tired in the morning. I have started writing some job application letters and distributing my CV to the companies I would most like to work for. We have the Basel Fair on next weekend which is a massive international watch fair and alot of company developements (including staffing) are hindering on the result of sale level etc at this fair.

So outside of school I don't have too much of a life with having only Sunday not at school but this is what I am here for and what I paid to come and do so I am enjoying soaking my time and energy into this. A group of us from school went to the Geneva car show last sunday, Hakan (from Sweden) drove. It is the biggest car show in the world, can't say I was overly impressed but there are alot of people and anything really exciting you want to see so does everybody else. It was a nice day outside of Champreveyre and Neucatel though and it was great to see a little bit of Geneve again. The picture shows one half of the show. It was pretty big.

Backing up a little, a couple of weekends ago a group of ten of us had a FEW drinks and headed on into to Neuchatel city for a bit of the night life. We had a fantastic time dancing the night away, can't remember exactly what time we got home but then sat around the kitchen having cups of tea before bed. An American has a fantastic bed time tea which I NEED to get for myself. It is a herbal tea of course and after drinking this I had only 4 1/2 hours of solid sleep and woke up feeling fantastic!! But all round a cheap night for me having only spent 5FR on bus there and taxi home as I had had enough to drink at home and it was far too much fun dancing to require more liquor only H2O required.

I have been in touch with another kiwi watchmaker over here that went through WOSTEP with my tuitor in NZ Richard Burgess in 1993 doing the complicated watch course. Robert and his wife Beatrice (also a watchmaker) live in Le Lecle which is 40minutes by train from Neuchatel. They invited me over for dinner on friday night and we had a fantastic time talking about watchmaking and life in Switzerland. They both work for fantastic companies Renaud & Papi and Vaucher respectively. Whilst I was there another kiwi watchmaker Dean (also former WOSTEP student) phoned, it was weird to hear a NZ accent. I have been speaking to friends and family back home of course but it is not the same as hearing a stranger talking. Hhhmm does that make sense or am I just weird??? I also have the contact details of another family friends friend but unfortunately have not made the effort to visit yet. She is alot further away and it would not make sense to only go for dinner and of course with working saturdays this posses as a small problem. It is not a very good excuse and I should really make more of an effort as it is very generous for people to offer hospitality to someone they have never met before.

I also had the wonderful experience of having authentic Italian rissotto cooked for me on wednesday night by a fellow Champreveyrien which tasted absolutely devine and is much better than the food down stairs. It was fresh and hot which is an improvement right from the start! Last night I was also spoiled by a different Champreveyrien cooking us authentic Bangladesh food, which was also very devine. He was slaving away in the kitchen for quite some time and made us four different dishes using wonderful spices that add flavor but not heat!!

Once again it is Sunday and with nothing open it is a great oportunity to catch up on Blogs (been very slack), letter writing and the all important study. Hope everyone is well, keep in touch, love hearing from you all. Best wishes very tired but inspired watchmaker Donna.

Bergeon

Yesterday (being Friday 21st Feb) we went on a field trip to Bergeon and to visit a clock and watch museum in Le Locle. We had a wonderful experience at Bergeon with the sales manager sharing some interesting information but even better was the absolutely devine lunch we had a lovely restaurant. Salmon ceasar salad to start, wonderful local wine, delicous chicken main and even chocolate mouse desert. YUMMY especially after the wonderful we are being fed at Champreveyre. It was nice to see the Bergeon show room and see all the latest products to be released at Basel Fair (massive international watch and jewellery fair here in Switzerland held every year), we also have the oportunity to place an order and get some very good prices before the end of our course. However the highlight of the day would have to be the visit to the museum. The whole building /castle is full of clocks from all centuries as well as a few music boxes and whole floor dedicated to watches and there development through time and a wonderful collection of automats also which were truely fascinating to see. As you can tell from the photos there is alot more snow in Le Locle even though it is only 20km from Neuchatel. It was loads of fun the snow kinda looks hard but your foot goes straight through it. Good thing the boys have bad aim and the few snow balls thrown around missed their target.

Life here in Neuchatel has become a bit of a routine which is nice all the same and to add a bit of flavour to the diet we have started going to a near by pub on a wednesday for FR1o pizza night with some of the watchmakers from last years refresher course.