Zurich Jan 12
This was my first one-day trip ever for business. And, it was my first trip in European economy class. I had to go to Zurich in order to teach one day in the new Graduate Training Program for new joiners of Swiss Bank Corporation. I was teaching about the Bank's global proprietary technology systems and spreadsheet modelling on the first two Fridays of the 8-week course.

I remember not liking travelling in economy within Europe. Previously, I'd always travelled to Europe on an International Business class ticket and then within Europe in the First Class section. Economy was quite a shock since it took me ages to get off the plane and collect my luggage. I remember being nearly late for class since it took so long. I solved this problem by upgrading myself on the way home. The cost difference between the fully flexible economy class ticket work had purchased for me and a business class ticket was a whopping CHF35 (or GBP 19.92, ~30 U.S. Dollars at the time).

Straight away after getting back to London, Seth and I got on a British Rail train up to Derby to go visit Tim for the weekend.

Zurich Jan 18 - 19
For this second week where I introduced spreadsheet modelling to the new graduates, I was scheduled to teach from 10am to 12noon and then again from 1:30pm to 3pm. Therefore, I went the day before and spent one night at the Zum Storchen. I also made sure my ticket was booked in Business Class.

Chicago + Chicago March 8 - 23
This was an exceptional trip since we were both back in Chicago on business!
Ate at California Pizza Kitchen the first night. Also enjoyed Shine Garden, Giordano's pizza, Taco Bell
We really, really, really loved our Swiss Hotel corner room. It was so much nicer than the Intercontinental where we originally stayed. However, it was COLD that night we arrived and Tara insisted and going to many other hotels in town to find a better room. Then the next morning, she was very sheepish after she came up from her morning swim. The Intercontinental had a beautiful pool. Even so, we moved to the Swiss Hotel and loved it too.

Chicago May 19 - 27
Tara had to teach a week-long Business Basics class.
We went shopping at Target, ate at Leona's Edwardo's Twisted Lizard and had a great time. We stayed again in the Swiss Hotel.

Singapore June 21 - 28
I had to go to Singapore to teach a business basics class. Seth was able to come with --- which was GREAT! We even planned to spend the weekend after my class in Hong Kong. This was Seth's first time to Singapore, so we had a fun time.. especially since Chris was in the Business Basics class I taught! We joked that we were "living at the Ritz Carlton, shopping at Kmart". It was amazing how many American products the Kmart in Singapore stocked compared to the stores in Britian. We bought ALOT from KMART to bring home. I especially remember the Hershey's chocolate sauce and the suntan lotion! We also enjoyed S$ 66.95 worth of massages on June 25th. The start of many, many massages we were to get at the Ritz Carlton.

Tara's work colleagues (Chris & Geoffrey), plus Seth all went to night safari on Thursday night, June 27. I enjoyed lots of watermelon juice while in Singapore. My expense account is littered with lots of similar notations: "WJ (NR) 2". ie. Watermelon Juice (No Receipt) 2 Singapore Dollars!

The promotion lists also came up while I was on this trip to Singapore. It was nice to see my name on it. I was also surprised to see Geoffrey's.

In Hong Kong, we started at the Hyatt Regency in Tsim Tsa Tsui. The hotel recommended Baron Kay's Tailor as a good place to get some shirts made, so Seth was measured, picked out the colors he liked from swatches and his shirts were dropped off directly at the hotel when finished.
 

Zurich July 14 - 19 (+Chimsee)
We took adavantage of me already being in Zurich to meet up with Mark and Tara at an Armed Forces Recreational Center in Chimsee, Germany. The logistics of getting us all together is as follows:

Friday, July 19
Seth boards a Lufthansa flight at 3:15pm in London and lands in Munich at 6pm
Tara boards a train in Zurich at 5:41pm and arrives into Munich at 9:52pm
Seth and Tara get on a train headed to Salzberg at 11:15pm. We arrive at 00:58am.
Mark and Tara drive North from Vicenza to Saltzberg to pick us up.
We were so glad to find them waiting for us in the Saltzberg train station!
Now together, Mark drove us back into Germany to Chimsee.

Sunday, July 21
Seth and Tara get on the train in Saltzberg at 3:18pm. Arriving into Munich at 5:09pm.
After we were on the train for an hour or so, we passed a really nice lake with sail boats on it. And, then we recognized this lake! It's where we'd spent the weekend!
Our Lufthansa flight 4104 left Munich at 7:25pm and we landed in London at 8:30pm.

Tara's Swiss Air + Lufthansa ticket cost GBP 394.40.
Seth's Lufthansa round trip cost GBP 165.30.
 
New York Sept 8 - 12
I don't remember what this trip was for. I did go for a "group dinner" and contributed US30 - maybe this was with Chris & Winner?

Zurich September 22 - 25 (+Munich)
I paid CHF 58.80 (GBP 30.80) to the Railway on 26 Sep and then another CHF 42 (GBP 22) on 27 Sep. I just don't know if this is when I upgraded myself to 1st or if it was on the way to Chiemsee. I spent CHF 1,329.80 (GBP 697.50) at the Zum Storchen.

 Zurich October 27 - Nov 1
Oct 27 - British Airways 720 from London to Zurich Club Europe
Nov 1 - British Airways 719 from Zurich to London Club Europe
The education department paid GBP 433.70 for airfare.
And I was not taking a taxi both to and from Heathrow (notice earlier in the year I took the tube!) GBP 30 at least one way.
I went to dinner with Jaqui and Eric. We went to Mamma Mia Ristorante in Glattbrugg and spent CHF 60 (GBP 30.42)
The Zum Storchen cost CHF 1,321.25 (GBP 655.12) and I also spent ALOT on Kinderbuch at the Flughafen on my way out (to help me study german!) The kinderbuch cost CHF 91.15 (GBP 44.67) this could have also been up-ed if this was when I bough the Toy Story computer game auf Deutsch.

New York Dec 4 - 6 (with Seth)
We were in New York at the perfect time since we attended the office Christmas party at Tavern on the Green. Chris K. from work was also there and I remember talking to Julie about moving to Zurich. Thus, I think Sept 8 - 12 WAS the first GTP class since I bet that's when Julie met her husband.
We moved rooms for some reason on Dec 5th.
We then went to Columbus Ohio for just Saturday night. On Dec 7th, we had bfast at TJ's in Columbus,Ohio. On Dec 8th, we ate at Bob Evans (maybe with Tim & Marsha?)
Then, it was onto the Swiss Hotel in Chicago until Dec 15th.

Chicago Dec 6 - 15
My Dad and Norma came into the city and we dined at the Palm restaurant in the hotel ($72.86)
We also ate at: WEndy's, Potbelly's subs, California Pizza Kitchen, Burrito Buggy, Pizza Capri, Twisted Lizard,
Seth "lost" his wallet in the taxi when in Chicago & I'd written Paul Blumka's phone number on a sticky pad and put it in Seth's wallet earlier in the day. Thus, Paul got a surprise call & Seth had to go to the taxi lost & found place to get his wallet back. All in all, it was very, very lucky and easy to get it back.
We also were able to attend the Chicago xmas party on Dec 13th!! what timing.
We shopped at Marshall Field's and Borders (Borders = US54.89) !! GBP = 33.81

General Work Memories from 1996
- by Tara
I was working as an instructor for the Education Department within SBC Warburg's London office.
I was officially transfered from Chicago to London in December 1995 since there was a big demand for classes in London following the Swiss Bank & S.G. Warburg merger in 1995. 1996 was also the year I was really surprised when I was promoted to an Associate Director within the bank.

My most popular class was "Business Basics for Technoloy" - a one week class that introduced the Bank's technology employees to investment banking. I discussed the structure of Swiss Bank Corporation and, in particular, the businesses SBC Warburg was involved in: trading, risk management, corporate finance. Plus, I introduced the products traded within the Rates, FX and Equity business lines.  There were fun exercises like mock trading, a mergers & acquisitions game, plus a study of Traflagar House & P.T. Telecom. I continued to teach this course with Hank - which was always fun since we'd done it before so many times, we knew what the other would probably say and had fun "taking the other's part" instead of our own. Plus, I liked how I was teaching about more challenging subject matter. New-ex S.G. Warburg employees started to teach parts of the course including Geoffrey and once even Sue. A few new teachers were also hired: Emily, Hugo and Pam. Ceri in London organized all the course specifis. I really liked teaching together with Hugo and Ceri was also fun to work with. Others in the London office during 1996 were Joe, Glen (part-time), Linda, Susanne, Jonathan, Steven and Francesca.

Another class I continued to be involved in was the Graduate Training Program. The eight week class meant for new graduate hired into the bank. I taught lectures that focuses on describing the Bank's global proprietary systems to the students. Plus, I had to make sure everyone could use their spreadsheets tfor modelling cash flows.

There was also a new weekly seminar that Tara organized. These "Technology Awareness Talks" were fun to organize in the beginning because I got to talk to lots of people I'd met in my classes since 1991 and ask them if they'd like to organize a presenation on their system to give in Chicago, New York, London, Zurich, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. Then, I made advertising posters and attended various meetings to drum up interest in the talks. The first one was held Wednesday, April 3rd and soon afterwards everything was running smooth enough for them to be handed off to an assistant in the department. Dionne organized them really well and they continued to run through the year to raise people's awareness of the technology systems the new merged organization would be using going forwards.

Tara also continued to star in videos covering the Bank's proprietary software. Tara was research, script writer, computer operator and star. Chris was producer, sound, camera, editor and duplicator. Making videos was always alot of fun. I really wish we'd compiled a "bloopers tape" that I'd be able to watch today!

Schedule of Courses:
Graduate Training Program - Friday, January 12 - Zurich
Graduate Training Program - Friday, January 19 - Zurich (10 - 12 & 1:30 - 3)
Business Basics for Technology - Monday to Friday, February 5 to 9 - London
Business Basics - Monday to Friday, April 22 to 26 - London
Business Basics - Monday to Friday, June 24 to 27 - Singapore
Business Basics - Monday to Friday, July 15 to 19 - Zurich
Business Basics - Monday to Friday, July 22 to 26 - London
Graduate Training Program -
Business Basics - Monday to Friday, September 23 to 27 - Zurich
Business Basics - Monday to Friday, October 28 - November 1 - Zurich
 
 
 

Itinerary Details
Zurich Jan 12
Friday, January 12, 1996
London -> Zurich on British Airways 710 at 7:45am to 10:20am Economy Class seat 28F
Zurich -> London on British Airways 719 at 6:50pm to 7:35pm Business Class seat 2D. I paid GBP 19.92 in Zurich and upgraded to Club Class. I expensed this amount + 3.20 for a tube ticket in London, lunch of 5.45 CHF, bus ticket to and from office for 5.20 CHF. Food at Zurich Airport of 7.05 CHF and finally a taxi from Heathrow to home that cost GBP 45. A grand total of GBP 57.91. The Swiss was converted to GBP at a rate of 1.822!

Zurich Jan 18 - 19
Thursday, January 18, 1996
London -> Zurich on British Airways 714 at 12noon to 2:35pm Business Class seat 7A
1 night at Zum Storchen Hotel, Weinplaz 2, CH-8022, Zurich, Switzerland, phone 211-5510
CHF 230 per night + other = CHF257.90 total (*.57002 = ) 147.01 GBP
Also spent GBP 7.80 on train tickets to Heathrow, CHF5.60 bus ticket, food of CHF 5.60, 8.75, 7.60, 20.80 and another bus ticket for 2.60. GBP 3.90 on a train ticket home from Heathrow. For a grand total equivalent of GBP 193.01
Friday, January 19, 1996
Zurich -> London on British Airways 719 at 6:50pm to 7:35pm Business Class
Ticket cost in GBP = fare of 386 + tax of 17.80 = total 403.80 GBP (~600 USD)

Chicago + Chicago March 8 - 23
Friday, March 8, 1996
London -> Chicago on British Airways 297 at 2pm to 4:55pm Business Class
6 nights Hotel Inter-Continental Chicago, Room 3301
505 North Michicago Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611 USA, phone 312-944-4100
9 nights Swissotel (switched hotels on Thursday, March 14th)
323 E. Wacker Drive, Chicago, IL 60601-9711 USA, phone 312-565-0565
Saturday, March 23, 1999
Chicago -> London on British Airways 296 at 7:15pm to 9am Business Class
Seth's department and Tara's department split the costs for the trip of Seth = GBP764.36 and Tara = GBP 878.27
Doing this expense report was a doozey!!
 

Chicago May 19 - 27
Sunday, May 19, 1996
London -> Chicago British Airways 297 departing London at 3:15pm. seat 56J.
Sunday, May 26, 1996
New York -> Chicago British Airways 298 departing Chicago at 4:35pm. seat 56A.

Singapore June 21 - 28
Friday, June 21, 1996
London -> Singapore British Airways 11 at 12 noon
Arrive Saturday, June 22, 1996 at 8:05am
Stayed at the Ritz Carlton for S$ 215 + tax of (2.15+7.16+21.50) each night. Total bill = S$1915.81. This converted to GBP 904.49
Friday, June 28, 1996
Singapore -> Hong Kong
Monday, July 1, 1996
Leave Hong Kong on British Airways at 10:30pm
Tuesday, July 2, 1996
Land in London the next day at 5:15am

Zurich July 14 - 19 (+Chimsee)
Sunday, July 14, 1996
London to Zurich on Swiss Air 809 at 7:15pm to 9:50pm Economy Class seat 22F
I stayed in the Zum Storchen in Zurich for 5 nights in room 407 at CHF 225 per night. I also bought CHF 11 worth of stamps for postcards home to friends and family. Hotel zum Storchen for 5 nights . 225 CHF per night + 11 CHF in stamps = 1,136.
CHF 149 for a one-way train ticket from Zurich to Munich. This translated to GBP 81.54

New York Sept 8 - 12
Stayed at the Millenium Hilton Hotel Next to the world trade center. 55 Church Street, NY NY. The room was US$204/night + taxes of (16.83+10.20+2)

New York Dec 4 - 6 (with Seth)
Stayed at the Marriot World Trade Center from Dec 4 - 7. Paid US279 + taes of 23.02 + 13.95 + 2 !! Total = US$ 1,221.35. Must have gotten a massage on 12/05 for 77.60
We then went for one night to Colubus Ohio & then onto Chicago to stay in the Swiss Hotel from 12/08 to 12/15.
At the Swiss Hotel the room was $201 per night + 29.95 in tax.  $1,917.75 = GBP 1,185.98 was the total.

Dec 4 - British Airways 179 Heathrow to JFK in NY. leaving at 6:30pm. Arriving at 9:30pm
Dec 7 - CO (Continental?) 1845 from Newark at 7:20am to Columubus at 9:03am
Dec 15 - British Airways 296 from Chicago at 7pm to Heathrow at 8:45am the next morning.
Education paid for Business Class tickets. Perot paid for economy class tickets.