BOOM in Switzerland – 爆炸瑞士。

我去了瑞士 – I went to Switzerland.

三月是实现我们的梦想、我们的家庭绿洲的特殊月份。 付款来自我们青年交流计划的第一批客户（请参阅我的上一篇文章：我们的第三支柱）。 有了这笔收入，我可以买一张飞往瑞士的机票，去拜访神秘的庄园主人。

March was a particular month for realizing our dreams, our Family Oasis. The payment came in from the first customers for our Youth Exchange program (see my previous article: Our Third Pillar). With that income, I could buy an airoplane ticket to Switzerland to visit the mysterious owner of the estate.

普通读者都知道，他一开始花了三年多的时间才完成购买，甚至在过去的两年里，尽管他现在是正式的业主，但他甚至没有去过这个地方。

As regular readers know, it first took him more than three years to finalize the purchase and even during the last two years, and even though he is now the official owner, he has not even visited the place.

在最初的三年里，我经常与前任业主联系，他想把这个地方卖给我们。 然而，公证人不允许他取消他（仅）收到首付款的销售。尽管没有进一步付款。

During the first three years, I was in regular contact with the previous owner, who wanted to sell the place to us. However, the notary did not allow him to cancel the sale for which he had received the down payment. Even though no further payments were made.

最终，买家支付了最后一笔付款，但令所有人惊讶的是，他让豪宅空置了。 他甚至没有要钥匙。 去年八月，他允许我出价，但从那以后我们就没有收到他的消息了。

Eventually, the purchaser made the last payment, but to everybody’s surprise, he left the mansion standing empty. He did not even ask for the key. In August last year, he allowed me to offer a bid, but we haven’t heard from him since then.

现在，能够去他居住的瑞士，将是我们的千载难逢的机会。 也许今年夏天，我们可以再次组织我们的第一次夏令营？

Now, being able to go to Switzerland, where he lives, would be our golden opportunity. Maybe this summer, we can organise our first summer camps again?

我查了一下他是否在家，并订了第二天的航班。 飞行结束后，我乘坐两个小时的火车前往他的城镇。 十几岁的时候，我访问了瑞士，这次旅行印证了我的记忆以及你听到的许多关于它的故事。 瑞士很美丽。

I checked whether he was home and booked a flight for the next day. After the flight, I took a 2-hour train ride to his town. As a teenager, I visited Switzerland, and this trip confirmed my memories and the many stories you hear about Switzerland. Switzerland is BEAUTIFUL.

这座豪宅的主人住在一条山路上，从那里他可以看到瑞士最美的景色：雪山环绕着美丽的湖泊，路上的每个人每次去自己的城镇都会经过这个湖泊。

The mansion’s owner lived on a mountain road from which he could see the best that Switzerland offers: snow-capped mountains encircling a beautiful lake that everybody on his road passes whenever they go to their town.

我并不是空手而来。 距离复活节还有几天，我带了一个复活节蛋糕和一本绘本，里面有100多张我们户外青少年活动的照片，因为他曾经是一名老师。 按照计划，我在他的门前留下了一张可爱的卡片，上面写着我希望那天或第二天见到他。

I did not come empty-handed. It was a few days before Easter, so I brought an Easter cake and a picture book with over 100 pictures of our outdoor youth activities because he used to be a teacher. As planned, I left that in front of his door with a lovely card mentioning that I hoped to meet him that day or the next day.

我听他的一位邻居说，他通常在19:00之前回家。 我把礼物放在他的门前，并在山上找了一个我能看到他来的地方。 19:00，还没有人到； 20:00 相同，21:00 同上。 我觉得这么晚了不能打扰他，就沿着长长的盘旋路下了山，到村子里找了青年旅社。

I heard from one of his neighbours that he usually returned home before 19:00. I placed the gifts in front of his door and found a place on the mountain from where I could see him coming. At 19:00, nobody arrived yet, 20:00 the same and at 21:00, idem ditto. I felt that I couldn’t disturb him that late, so I walked the long swirling road down the mountain and went to the village to find a youth hostel.

我怕第二天早上会想他，所以很早起床，七点半就回到了他的住处。 令我高兴的是，他的车停在他家门前。 他在那 ：-）。

Afraid that I would miss him the next morning, I got up early and at half past seven, I arrived back at his place. To my delight, his car was parked in front of his house. HE WAS THERE 🙂.

现在，我要做的就是等待他的出现，然后，数年之后，我终于可以见到那位神秘的主人了。

Now, all I had to do was wait for him to appear and then, after several years, I would finally meet the mysterious owner.

如果您在博客中关注过我们的旅程，您就会知道我们称他为神秘是有原因的。 当他付完房子的首付后，他经常会失踪几个月。 他没有对电话、电子邮件、短信或通过电子邮件发送的信件做出反应。 他花了三年多的时间才付清最后一笔款项，而且那是在合同取消、房产出售给我们的最后期限之后。

If you have followed our journey in the blog, you know we called him mysterious for a reason. After he had provided the down payment for the house, he often disappeared for months at a time. He did not react to phone calls, emails, text messages or letters sent by regular mail. It took more than three years before he made the final payment, and that was only after the deadline had passed upon which the contract would be cancelled and the estate would be sold to us.

我也没有好到哪里去。 尽管我们发送了电子邮件、信件、WhatsApp 消息并要求一位迷人的律师去拜访他，但我们没有得到任何回复。 律师安排我们获准提出要约，但那是八个月前的事了，尽管我们方面做出了许多努力，但自那以后我们就没有收到任何消息。

I did not fair any better. Despite emails, letters, WhatsApp messages and asking a charming lawyer to visit him, we did not get any response. The lawyer arranged that we be allowed to make an offer, but that was eight months ago and despite numerous efforts from our side, we haven’t heard since.

现在他就在那里，距离我只有一百米。 再过一会儿，我就能见到他了。

And now he was there, just a hundred meters away from me. Just a little time, before I would see him.

失望 – Disappointment

十点差八点，他从家走到车旁。 我已经知道他看到了我的天赋，所以我满怀期待地接近他。

At 10 to 8, he walked down from his House to his car. I already knew that he had seen my gifts so I approached him with great expectations.

我用我最好的德语问他：“Guten Morgen，sind Sie Herr ******？” 他回答道：“Jawohl”，然后继续走进他的车，然后开走了，留下我，想知道刚刚发生了什么。

In my best German, I asked him, “Guten Morgen, sind Sie Herr ******?” He replied, “Jawohl,” continued stepping into his car, and drove away, leaving me behind, wondering what just had happened.

我们神秘的主人本人似乎与通过电话、电子邮件或普通邮件一样善于交流。 但他仍然没有使用拥有美丽庄园的豪宅。 我已经尽力了，但现在是放弃的时候吗？

Our mysterious owner appeared to be just as communicative in person as he was by phone, email or regular mail. But he is still not using the mansion with the beautiful estate. I have now done everything possible, but is this the moment to give up?

当理想的家庭绿洲空荡荡时就放弃？

Giving up while the ideal Family Oasis is standing empty?

PS (post scriptum):