Dear Family and Friends,
At the beginning of the year 2021, there were quite a few constraints to travel to Nevis, so we decided to stay home in Switzerland, the second time in over a quarter of a century…
The Pandemic was ravaging all over the world, but we were okay staying mostly at our home overlooking Lake Geneva and got our Pfizer shots in March, without any side effects. After our authorities will finally gave their green light, we got the permission for the booster shot in mid-November. We plan to return to Nevis on December 9, 2021, via Miami.
During the year, we had several appointments with the dentist, both Uschi and I. Mine was to finish works which could not be finished by my dentist in Chiangmai, but the two dentists worked well together, and all worked out perfectly, maybe not to the benefit of my purse.
In April, I finally gave in and traded my old iPhone 6Plus to a new 12 Pro Max, but will now keep that for a while until Apple makes a real improvement again, not just cosmetic like with the recently introduced iPhone 13… Uschi us still getting used to the hand-me-down…
In May, I had to cancel my visit to Japan for Sumo because the Japanese Government did not allow foreign visitors to enter the country due to Covid-19, which was later also extended for the Olympic Games in July.
Also in May, we booked a River Cruise on the Seine from Paris to Rouen including to Omaha Beach. When Uschi’s right foot started to act up seriously in early July, the doctor said no to that trip as there were several long sightseeing trips on foot included on that vacation; these were impossible for her, so we had to cancel at the last minute.
In June, we celebrated our traditional BBQ in the Corseaux chalet at Mivy
During the year, several friends have left us. The first was Hans Baumann QC for many years in Kobe who retired in 1993 and moved to Thailand. I last met him in 2019 when he was in hospital in Chiangmai. The Swiss Consul there wrote me that he had arranged his transport to his home in Switzerland but wrote again about three weeks later that Hans had unfortunately passed away. I went to the funeral, but the Swiss Railway had an accident in a station nearby and I was stranded in Zurich, and I could not make it….
The next was Hans Koch, he was a long time with the Hilton International Group in Tokyo and Osaka as well as Shanghai. He passed away in his hometown of Lucerne in late August. There I met several friends and relations to pay our last respects to him and his wife Marlyn.
The last was M. W. O. Garrett, my former President in Nestle Japan who passed away at the beginning of October in Lausanne. We have lost contact after his retirement as he stopped participating in the traditional Mivy BBQ of former NJL expats on the first Sunday each June. Also, I haven’t seen him at Nestle’s AGM’s when they were still held in Lausanne.
On the first Friday in September, we of the 6th Grade Primary school in Schwamendingen have made it a rule to have a class reunion since 1995, and this continued with our former honorable teacher Hans Schwank, now 101 years old. Normally held in a restaurant near the school, now for the second time in a row, we did this at his beautiful Tertianum Residence on Zollikerberg where we rented a small banquet room for an aperitif outside in the garden and then enjoyed a fine menu with wine served inside.
On Sunday, October 24, we were preparing for a nice Kobe steak on our terrasse, just the two of us. Uschi brought a plate with the oil to grease the grill, the spices, an empty glass to drink some Rivella during the grilling, then I got up from the table, and managed to stumble on one of the floor tiles. I fell with a cry that Uschi heard in the kitchen saying she never had heard something like it before. I had to call an Ambulance as I could not get up by myself. They wanted to take me to a hospital, but I refused as there is no service available excepted medication which I had at the house.
I went to the doctor myself for X-rays; nothing broken but a long recovery was to be expected as I had a pulled muscles in the lower back, more on the left than on the right side. But nothing broken. I had to use crutches and sleep on a deckchair first as the bed was not possible despite a hospital like contraption to pull oneself up. Later I developed fluid in the feet and lower legs and had to go to the hospital where I was checked out, given proper medicine, and sent home after 1,5 days as there was nothing else to do as wait and start physio as soon as the pain subsided.
At present, I am walking without crutches, have had 9 physios’ sessions and we are preparing for our trip to Nevis via Miami.
In closing, Uschi joins me in wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a most wonderful, happy, successful, and healthy New Year of the Tiger 2022!
W I L L I & U S C H I
The VoiP number +41 44 586 5060 is in Zurich, Switzerland and reaches us anywhere in the world over the Internet; if no answer, please just leave a message on the answerphone with your number and we will call you back within 24 hours.
The Nevis numbers: Land line +1 869 469 8818 with answer machine; Cell Willi +1 869 660 2000, Cell Uschi + 1 869 665 8322 – these numbers are only valid when we are on the island of Nevis! Please use WhatsApp/FaceTime!