Interview with Andréa Howald Nigg
Swiss logic and composure meet Brazilan fire and passion.
"After moving to Switzerland, I had to learn to be quieter, to control my Brazilian passion for life," said Andréa hands flying, eyes smiling and energy flowing. Okay, maybe she hasn't entirely lost her South American passion in the last 27 years. Her energy and positive outlook are the exact tools she needed to build her new home in Switzerland.
Let me introduce you to another VIP from the region.
Andréa, you're a mother, a small business owner, a photographer, a Portuguese translator and a member of the intercultural mediators. You are also a medieval maiden named Mechthild at the castle in Werdenberg.
Tell us how you became involved at the castle in Werdenberg and the living history project?
The castle has always impressed me, and I went often. When friends visited from Brazil, I took them there. I answered their questions and filled them in on the history. Mr. Karl Blass, the former castle attendant, asked me, "Since you're always here, why not conduct the tours yourself?" That is how I started.
Each year we had more and more groups visiting. My friend Karin Steiger and I wanted to catch the visitor’s attention, to fascinate them and bring the castle to life. We had an idea for new tours. We would sew medieval costumes, dress up in them and play the roles of the Countess Clementa and her maiden, Mechthild. That is how the project “Bewegtes Werdenberg -“A Living History" was born.
Today, experts have been recruited, and the annual program is professional and extensive. It includes audio tours in different languages, cultural, audiovisual and musical highlights. My character, Mechthild remains. We; This Isler, Maja, Urs, Marco and Peter Sünderhauf, Karen Van Rekum, Flavio and Isis Nigg, Gerald Luck, his wife Mona and daughter Chantal, Stefanie Hagmann and I belong to the “Moonlight Team.” It is amazing to dive into the middle ages with this group and to make this epoch come alive for the visitors. This year our special tours take place on the June 6th and on the 8th of September.
See www.schloss-werdenberg.ch for more information.
Let’s jump back in time. How did your Swiss adventure begin?
I attended the university, and although I was only 20 years old, I ran a small pension in a holiday spot in Rio de Janeiro. I met my first husband, a Swiss, in Brazil. We married. Within a few weeks, I was the owner of a red passport - I became a Swiss citizen.
It must be fate.
My family always thought we had German roots-but they were Swiss. From the area around Zurich! And that is where I moved in 1989.
Did you speak German already?
I went to German classes for six weeks while I lived in Rio. "I learned the really important stuff like;" I'm hungry” and “I got to go to the bathroom."
The dictionary accompanied my mother-in-law and me everywhere. Even later, cleaning, my dictionary went with me.
I beg you; find the word "Lumpa" (Swiss German for rag) in the Duden dictionary. It’s Impossible. I love learning languages.
Did you experience culture shock?
The cold weather was hard for me. Everything was completely different, and I did not understand a single thing.
The new lifestyle was partly to blame, but moving from a big city to a rural area was just as difficult.
Everything was and still is so regulated. At 18.30 the shops close, Wednesday afternoons as well. I thought "What’s going on here?" The church bells ring at noon. Everyone should go home for lunch. Washing was/is allowed only on the laundry day. The life here was so structured. Everything was completely foreign!
We Brazilians are incredibly heart-driven, Swiss brain-driven. A mixture would be desirable. We could all benefit from the Swiss calm and logic and our fire and zest for life.
Let's take an example. A Brazilian woman tells her family that she is pregnant. Everyone screams, hugs cry – it’s a huge drama – cheering. Everyone tells someone - somewhere. A huge impromptu party takes place.
I can just imagine it, phone and Facebook are running hot, and the plans for the christening are in the making.
Now let’s take the Swiss scenario. A woman tells her family, full of joy, "I am pregnant!" The response is "nice." Merely nice – that’s it? (She is shaking her head and throws her hands in the air) Nice is when the newspaper is in the mailbox every morning. Nice. (She is still shaking her head – somethings we will never understand.)
It's not that the Swiss act this way to make us angry - they are this way.
Did you work?
Pretty quickly I started cleaning. I arrived in March. In June, I got a job cleaning at the NTB, the technical university in Buchs. There I met Paul Milsom and other teachers. They were super friendly and positive to me. No one put me "down" – instead they helped. The cleaning people are treated like everybody else - as a member of the team. And they earn a reasonable salary.
Positive Culture Shock.
In Brazil it is different. The cleaning people are ignored and treated as second-class citizens.
Were you frustrated because you had to start from the bottom up? What helped you to overcome the difficulties?
I saw it as an adventure. Although initially, I thought, "Why did I go to school so long to "putza go (clean)?" I made a conscious decision to think, "I have arrived." I am a doer. I ask myself, "What do I want exactly? What do I have to do for my wishes/goals to become true?" And that is how my Resume looks.
Besides, I wanted to prove all my relatives wrong- they were taking bets that I would come back home!
From Cleaning to a Commercial Business Diploma
When my children were small, I worked part-time in retail. After I separated from my ex-husband, I went back to cleaning. I cleaned in an office in Liechtenstein while an employee was out sick. After the employee returned, I helped out. One day, I expressed interest in studying business. They said, “why not” and paid for my education. First, I received a diploma as a Burofachfrau (office clerk) and then completed the KV (commercial business) and earned my diploma at the BZB in Buchs. I received the Goethe German Diploma in Winterthur.
If I had the time and the money, I would take every course they offer. I love to learn.
Did you learn photography at school as well? You are now an owner of the company, "Traumblick Photography." I know you do weddings and other celebrations, but you have found a niche – animal photography.
No, I started after my family gave me a camera. I was fascinated. I took a course, read and practiced a lot.
I’m sure you have made a few German mistakes along the way - as we all do. Do you remember one?
Oh yes. I've was on the soccer field. A colleague ordered a Cervelat (sausage). It smelled delicious, and I wanted to try it. Unfortunately, I said, "Can I bite your Wurstli?" Everyone died laughing. I had no idea what I said that could be soooo funny. I guess if you asked a man if you could bite his “little sausage thing,” you might be embarrassed as well.
When did you notice that Switzerland had become home?
After my daughter was born, I felt rooted – as though I had arrived. Now I feel Swiss. I dream and live in Swiss German. And anyway, what I remember of Brazil is from 27 years ago. I don’t know if it today would be nicer "at home." It has changed so much. I've changed. When I visit, I find everything wrong that is not like in Switzerland.
I call it "no-man's land!" I think all VIP's visit and know the feeling.
'Aha' moment
I heard a newcomer make a German error and I started to grin. Instead of saying überflutet - flooded"-she said over and over again, "we had over-water." I thought to myself, "stop -you’ve been there.” Instead, I changed course and thought, great, she is trying, and you have to make the mistakes to improve.
In an Interview with the "Tagesanzeiger," Peter Keller, SVP National Representative and acting editor of "Weltwoche" answered the question, Who is Swiss? " In legal terms, this question is easily answered: one is a citizen of Switzerland if you have a passport."
This means Andréa Howald from Brazil, (like me) was a Swiss citizen before she ever saw Switzerland. Not to mention speaking a national language, or understanding its traditions or culture. But somehow, as you have read, it turned out super for Andrea and pretty good for our region too.
Thanks Andréa
Photos: Andréa Howald Nigg
© Copyright Vicki Gabathuler 2017