Polyglot as a “major”...

Forty years ago, I graduated after a second stint in Tübingen, Germany, as a German language student. This was the last piece of the puzzle that I thought I needed to postulate for a “real job” in the ski industry.

I could speak English alright, wiggle my way with a bit of Italian, and German was to be the cherry on the cake. I needed year-round employment so badly and didn't want to be a retailer or a restauranteur. Further, I had hit some kind of an opaque, glass-ceiling at the Avoriaz ski-school.

In retrospect, that language gamble was the right thing to do at that particular moment in time, and it did pay off handsomely...