Wienachtsdorf am Bellevueplatz, Zürich

As my friends expressed correctly, I was a Saisonarbeiter in the Zürcher Wienachtsdorf auf dem Sechseläutenplatz from 23 November for three weeks. I couldn't have done it without illness if it wasn't for the surrounding people who worked around me, those lovely, amazing, witty, wholehearted sellers who went (and still go) through the same, till 23 December. Love you All, and hold on, just 2 more days before Christmas!! 🎄

Was indeed a bonding time. Insightful conversations by other sellers at the beginning of the day, later on by customers, cute kids, fantastic experiences! Conversations with people from all around the world: Canada, China, Australia, US, UK, Ireland, Japan, India, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Sweden, Italy, France, Hungary, Switzerland of course.. Such a time it was! Some of them literally saved my life by bringing food at the last moment - or helped when my finger cracked by the cold.. and so on.. I don't remember how many times did I help them by tissues.. Well yes, definitely, that must be in the pack of a market seller. All those jetlag kid cries.. I appreciated all the parents who dedicated enough attention to their kids.

Now I have a schedule already teaching Sanskrit and manage my plans and little projects too, just sharing a few things, as many people were asking how was it?

So like this for the first..

The age of innocence

The journey through Austria and Germany was quite exciting, I knew that I gonna meet my friend in Vienna, and it was really nice to see her. She was a constant information source, helped me a lot (Emő, szuper vagy), and the origin of this whole journey was possible thanks to her.. and later on for all others who participated - just like my colleague on the pic. I found some photos about the beginning - how fresh and cheerful we were at the beginning. We still didn't suspect what is awaiting us ;)

It is not the complexity of the job what was challenging, but the weather and the hours.. As for the weather - it rained cats and dogs (plus squirrels, foxes and pinguins as well, I swear). Since I had no rainboots, my boots sipped up all the water and I worked in wet shoes for 2 days, while my hiking shoes were promised to come by the shipment - yet didn't come - I finally ended up buying a new pair of wintershoes - unexpected vis maior.

Since I got to know that “It’s raining cats and dogs" is "Kǫttum rignir, ok hundum.” in Old-Norse. Just so if you are interested. From the Old Norse For Modern Times by Ian Stuart Sharpe, which book I especially recommend hereby.

As for the hours and the watches - they were extremely punctual. A funny event when the snow fall down on 30th November, the trains were late - but all of them exactly by 3 minutes. Punctually. Don't ask me how is this possible. Once it happened, that I sat on my usual train (10.17) and checked my watch (tbh if my clock was punctual, not the train), but the look on the gentleman's face explained everything: they possibly don't even check their watch. (The whole traffic stopped in my country as a contrary.)

The snowy landscapes were really beautiful... and that feeling under my feet.. mmmm..

But unfortunately it started to melt, and the rest I wrote already above..

"Grüezi!!"

This is how all my conversations started in Zürich during the 2023 Zürcher Weihnachtsmarkt am Bellevue.. but Pardon my German.. I really used it only when I was forced to use that compartment of my brain..

German Swiss people usually spoke more English than French Swiss people, but saying goodbye was a bit confusing, as they told most of the times "Ade" or "Adieu", but sometimes a very polite "Auf Wiedersehen" arrived. Meanwhile French speakers rather said "Au Revoir", and "Ciao" was also common from Germans, what sometimes made me think if they were Italians in fact, because many of the visitors were from North-Italy, and thanks to their Goth origin, you might not be able to tell they would be Italians.

So basically me and my colleague were doing nothing but selling, having a shower, sleeping, and selling again.. Quite simple, not much to talk about our daily routine... oh yes, it was a bit of housework, washing clothes after 11pm and desperately cut time to buy food in the store..

I couldn't really follow most of the background stories on apps.. Not just on time or it's content, but literally anything that was on the phone, as I had a very limited Roaming network, and had around 70-110 customers per day.

Also you simply scare off customers by a mobile - they think you are busy, or not care about them - so when it was really urgent to discuss-organise something with the office around logistics, I straightforward told to the customers that it is office work, so they could know Im there for them. People are very sensitive seeing any mobile, and it is understandable in a Christmas fair, where they expect your full attention.

"Riesiger Bleistift!", "Was für ein riesiger Bleistift!" "Wie kann ich das schärfen?" oder "Wer kann das schärfen?"

My head was so full of these Belistift stories by the end of the day, these sentences went in my head till sleep.

The most unexpected things come from the kids. A toddler told one of the cutest thing, when her Mum showed a bird puzzle:

"Schau, hier ist ein Kakadu"

"Kakadu, weil er gekackt hat?" - her Mum asked me while laughing if I got it..

Really easy to smile when you are selling kids' stuff.

An other time there was a little girl who just forgot to raise her leg, and turned back to check the stand again, and the result was the cutest acrobatic thing I have ever seen.. they can be truly adorable.. and dogs too.. ok, becoming cheesy.

By the end I started to become tired for many reasons.. it's a massive workload to serve around 100 customers a day and to tell the same thing in 3 different languages - well, I got use to German basics, and used French besides English, Polish and Hungarian were my happy hour, when a few expat families came. Similarly the peak of the day was eating a warm lunch, and also if I had any time or rest to do that.. sometimes it took an hour to finish a sandwich. However I, and WE were all helped by the other sellers - the Hungarian "Mama lángosa" indebted me for my whole life with their lifesaving lángos.

Now this had a good kind of cheese - definitely.

Similarly the Kolumbien Atinkana Kaffee seller kept me alive, and all of the close stands: Paola, Gareth, Céline, Sarah, Kristina, Wassilissa, Rachel, Ellie and Auguste :) and the British Fudge Guys, and so on, everyone just helped as much as he or she could on other sellers, so this was real teamwork.

I will always remember the colourful and inspiring graphics by @thisislekka I just felt so lucky to see their talented colorful work, and to get know these l amazing people! Some thought that Gareth was my boss - but we were in fact first time besties there :D

Working in a community was always a dream of mine, and it all came through in Zürich. Everything we got into our neck: rain and ice, cold and warm, all that background radiation and weird music.. sometimes it was a real science fiction. Like logistics.. tell me about it.

I think I called Gareth for Gerald and Jared at the beginning, (possily never Günther, like the German singer, mehehe), but eventually I managed to learn his name. Aron was really a cutepie, I called him August for two weeks, and when I got to know, he told he also has troubles with remembering names. One of the last days Gareth bought some snacks, and it looked like Chicky Nuggies, so when we closed at 10, I happily ran to him, and cried: "Chicken!"

"Nope. Apples with cinnamon." So that was a moment that.. that will never happen again.

(whoever owns this meme, just claim your copyright, and you can get a free banner).

Overall: I didn't exactly understood the difference between our situation and the Swiss and other sellers' at the beginning. It took time to get that these people honestly respected me for my long working hours, which was possibly one of the reason they cared for me - the other reason is that they are real people :) So whatever I just wasn't prepared for, was balanced out by them in Zürich, the financial capital of Europe, this is the Karma Bank what not everyone understands..

What else? My fingertips freeze down, they become desensitized and then become scarred and withered - so I need to wait till the regenarate to get back to normal and tablet weave again. Definitely makes me appreciate the work of outdoor workers much-much more..

Whatever happened in Bellevue, will stay in Bellevue. Miscommunication happens, that is kind of normal during work. Especially that I don't speak German (khm-khm.) Hopefully the company will profitate not only from my work, but from my shared experiences as well. My biggest insight was that if I wanted better conditions than working 87.5 hours a week with travel, I had to immigrate.