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So who is behind this website?

Good question.... I grew up a tomboy with a bit of a rebellious streak in a small town in Austria where I spent the first 20 years of my life. Before the age of 20 I had traveled to about 15 countries which is not all that difficult, considering that the distances are much smaller in Europe than in North America. My favourite job back home was working for Avis Rent-A-Car as a car jockey, transferring rental cars from all over Europe back to the local rental station.

I always had a bit of a cosmopolitan bent to me and this manifested itself in my love for languages. During high school I learned Latin (not too useful for communicating with living people, but extremely useful as a basis for learning Romance languages), French and English, in addition to my native German. After highschool I decided to enroll at the University of Graz in English and Spanish translation and interpretation studies.

In the middle of my program I decided to spend some time in an English speaking country and in 1986 I was able to get a work permit as a translator, working for an automotive company in Toronto, Canada. During my stay I realized that Toronto was a pretty cool place, as it is one of the most multi-cultural places in the world. As a result, I kept renewing my work permit and 18 years later I am still here in Toronto.

Toronto and its unique multicultural ambience, have had a significant impact on my philosophies and really shaped the way I view the world today. As a matter of, issues of cultural exchange and understanding are very dear to my heart.

I spent most of my twenties working and studying. After a college program in HR management I took a degree in labour management relations and economics at the University of Toronto which I then followed up with an MBA, also from U of T. These academies studies were all done part-time and took me about 10 years of my life, while always working full-time. 

 My first 5 years in Canada were spent working as a translator, then I switched and worked as a trainer, recruiter and HR manager, later on I also added some short stints in advertising and corporate sales. In 1991 I had enough of the corporate world and decided to become self-employed. I initially started as a translator, later added on other freelance translators to cover more languages and today I run a full-service language and translation company called Textronics Communications Ltd.  With translators all over the world, we now offer virtually every language and every language combination that exists on the globe.

But despite having a business background and running a small but growing business, there is another side to me, a side which I haven't really nurtured in the past 18 years. As a matter of fact I would say I experienced a bit of an early midlife-crisis that made me completely reevaluate what I wanted to do with the rest of my life.

So while other people go out and buy a Porsche when they hit that midlife crisis stage, I decided to get myself a website.

I realized that hidden inside me was the traveler, the explorer, the adventurer, the hobby photographer, the person who likes to go out and discover and connect with foreign cultures. My mid-life reflections have made me realize that I need to pursue this side of me, and so I embarked on a new journey, a journey of self-discovery and of global discovery if you will. 

This is just the beginning and I definitely am very excited. I have decided to share my journey on the Internet with like-minded people. When I am out of town and unable to update this website, I keep in touch and file regular live travel reports through my blogging website. I am sure there will be some interesting turns and twists ahead. Hopefully you'll enjoy coming along virtually on this journey.

Related articles:
My philosophies - What makes me tick
The beauty of a midlife crisis: what pushed me to start creating this website
My reflections - 60 years after the Second World War
Looking ahead to a new year: 2006
Celebrating diversity with my multi-lingual multi-cultural team members Information about my blogging website