Work in progress
- Europe (UK, Netherland, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia, Czech Republic, SLovenia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland
A new job, a new country and kidney stones I never ordered
I started my new job at the beginning of April 1990, still driving around in my English company car for a few weeks like some sort of automotive expatriate. In truth, I rarely used it. The tram was far more convenient—just a few minutes’ walk from our brand-new rented house in Empelde, and, more importantly, it stopped right in front of our office block in Hannover. Continental Tyres & Rubber, my employer, wasn’t just any company. It was the employer in Hannover. World headquarters, two tyre factories, and at least two ContiTech plants making everything else rubbery you could imagine. When such a company hinted—ever so politely—that a tram stop would be useful, the town didn’t hesitate. A tram stop magically appeared. As they say, location is everything, but influence certainly helps.
My first weeks, however, were far from glamorous. The language barrier hit me like a blowout on the Autobahn. Very few people spoke English. Only upper management seemed comfortable with it, and they were not the ones I interacted with daily. I dreaded answering the phone. Each ring felt like a small linguistic ambush. But little by little—by listening, by watching German TV, and by genuine effort—the language started to seep in. At least enough to understand business conversations… and some of the jokes, though usually five seconds too late.
Then, in June, life added a plot twist: a sudden, sharp pain in my side. Kidney stones. That was when I discovered my medical vocabulary in German was non-existent. Not dormant, not rusty—non-existent. Eventually I landed in hospital to have the stones removed, which was about as much fun as it sounds.
Professionally, things were still in transition. The man I was hired to replace hadn’t yet retired, so I shadowed him while simultaneously continuing the large project I had been involved with over the previous two years. Continental had grown considerably through acquisitions, which meant I found myself navigating not one, but several related logistics organisations:
- Uniroyal Europe, headquartered in Aachen
- Semperit, headquartered in Vienna
- Gislaved, headquartered—appropriately— in Gislaved, Sweden
- Mabor, headquartered in Lousado near Porto, Portugal
Eventually I would take over and lead all these logistics units, but in 1990 my job was to prepare the merger scenario for top management. No pressure, of course.
And so, my first regular business trips took me to all these countries—each with its own culture, its own factory, and its own way of doing things. It was the start of a new chapter in more ways than one.
More to follow
2. North America (Mexico, USA)
3. South America (Brazil, Ecuador, Columbia, Chile)
4. Africa (South Africa)
5. Asia (Malaysia, Taiwan, China, Thailand
sauvageraie.fr 