So much for arriving at the airport several hours in advance. I am just starting the first leg of my journey to Zurich which will obviously start in Detroit. Well I arrive in front of the Air Canada ticket counter at 10:45 for my 3:00 flight.
I know it was early – but there was no one in sight. For a brief minute I thought perhaps they had gone out of business and I would be walking to Switzerland from the States – or OK renting a row boat maybe.
Anyway, two ticket agents in the next kiosk over told me that the Air Canada would be back at 12:25 to take passengers. Well a little time to kill here in the terminal. But, where do you go when you really can’t enter the airport where there are restaurants, bars etc. Oh well a simple case of hurry up and wait.
The trips over and back to Switzerland are all day suckers and that’s the price you pay when you want to go to such a beautiful area.
The neat part of the flight to Zurich is that it is an over-night trip. So, you get to sleep on the way over and it gets you there bright and early (6:35 AM Swiss time – which is six hours ahead of our time on the east coast.) Now coming back that truly is a bear as you start in the late morning there and get home in the early evening here ….. no night time flying to trick you into sleeping. Yeah add on the six hours and it is a long day.
I have a loose schedule that has me spending the next ten days on the ground in Switzerland working on football and also having a great deal of spare time to explore the country some more. Actually, I feel a little guilty about the free time because my friends do have to work at their livings while I spend time enjoying the people and the scenery.
Over the past several years I have developed some really good friendships with people in the football community in Europe and in particular my second home in Switzerland. Friends like Stephan and Daniel organized this trip for me to be a part of their team – the Thun Tigers. Well, I was flattered that they would want me to spend time with their team.
Our relationships began while we were working with the Junior (Under 19) National team from Switzerland a few years ago. We played in the European Championships that were held outside of Amsterdam. We all had a great time both on and off the field and our team won their first international game in nineteen years or so.
So our friendship was also strengthened by our successful venture with the team.
But, to have this opportunity to work with Stephan (who is now the head coach of the Tigers), Daniel and the other coaches is a chance I could not refuse.
Going through the long days traveling are certainly worth the payment of working in football and learning more about the game and how it is played throughout the world. Plus the benefit of visiting with friends and meeting new people in this tremendous country is another great (ad)venture for the Konkretekidinfootball.com.