Christoph Schewe: If you do it, it’s possible!

If it was not for Richard Branson, who recently ‘’took a walk’’ with the stars, to call himself Dr. Yes, I would say Christoph Schewe is Mr. Yes. While discussing about this project, he did not hesitate to say yes to sharing his experience on the beauty of life, of change, of becoming, on the unknown, on his discoveries, his love of reading and travelling and on the unforgettable places and people he met. He has been walking with the ‘’stars’’ his own unique way. Glimpses of his life sound like a movie, so, moviemakers, please, pay attention to this fascinating story, who knows?! After all, everything is a matter of acting, isn’t it? or ‘‘If you do it, it is possible!’’, as Christoph likes to say.

Christoph Schewe, who are you?

I’m a happy Montrealer, a 55-year-old German (and soon to be Canadian as well) who happened to follow a job in 2013 and started a new life in Canada.

Why Canada?

It is a story a bit longer… (smile). I was on this trip to Tanzania… It is a story about this famous German actor and writer, who was very successful in the fifties, sixties, seventies in Germany and became an international actor and worked in Hollywood and elsewhere and then became a writer and director for television and made documentaries about his travelling around the world. His name is Hardy Krüger. He’s now 93. In 1962, he was starring in this movie, Hatari!, together with John Wayne, about a group of men catching wild animals in Africa for zoos. While filming, he fell in love with Tanzania and he bought the farm where they filmed and tried to transform it into a hotel and a farm where they could produce everything on their own and lived there for 17 years besides filming around the world. When I learned later about this story and that this farm still existing, I decided to go there.  So I did it and spent a week on the Momella Wildlife Lodge in 1999.

What drove you to that decision?

I just decided.

I really liked Hardy Krüger, and his movies and I always wanted to see that wild Africa, so, that was the moment. At that time, I was still in the military, in Germany…  The Momella Wildlife Lodge is a small hotel, in the middle of nowhere, about 40 km from Arusha, like a little paradise with animals around; it is their territory. People are coming there from all over the world. My intention was not to make a Tanzania safari tour, but I just wanted to stay at that lodge. I lived there for a week, so I got to know the staff. On the first day, I met an older gentleman and, after talking to him, I found out he was a German, too, and he was not there as a guest but lived there for a few months as part of a project to assist in improving the lodge management. We befriended each other during those days and then became friends from then on, 22 years until now – and counting. The interesting aspect about this gentleman – he was already retired by then – is that he has travelled the world as a tourist guide and as an expert in hotel management. He was sent by a German organization that supports developing projects with expertise; so, this is how he got there. And, finally, we stayed in contact and called each other occasionally, for Christmas or whatever and a few years later, I happened to live in the village next to his. He is still doing this, now at age 82, he is always doing projects from opening a hotel management school in Madagascar, going to Ukraine, or other projects in East Africa. Besides, he tries to find sponsors for goods that can be useful in Africa, like medical equipment and products, or kitchen appliances and he organizes the transport, all on his own. An amazing, unstoppable person.

How is it possible to do everything on your own?

Everything is possible. If you do it, it’s possible. We must pursue it. We should be proactive, but in a nice way.

Could you, please, develop this idea?

To explain “proactive in a nice way”, I refer to what I usually name as the three ingredients for success – be it to get a job or achieve something elsewhere: 1. You must have something to offer, e.g., education, job experience; 2. You must have a bit of luck, meaning there are some favorable factors that you can’t influence much, but that most people have, and 3. Nobody will knock at your door and drag you out. Proactivity is key, demonstrating one’s willingness and availability in a nice and open manner without appearing overly self-confident or arrogant. Be ready to step out of your comfort zone!

Are there other people who made a difference in your life, who inspired or guided you along the way?

I was very fortunate to meet four of the only 12 men who walked on the Moon. The Apollo program and going to the Moon always fascinated me. I mean the technology that exists today didn’t exist in the sixties, but we made that possible, to go on the moon.

If you do something that is so extraordinary at some point in your life, it is a moment like no other, you cannot get any better.

That’s what happened to the Moonwalkers. No matter what they would do after their return, they would always be the guys who were on the Moon. Some of them made it, they had other careers, but they always were the guys who went to the moon.

The first astronaut I ever met was the German astronaut Thomas Reiter who logged a total of 350 days in space, a record at his time. He flew with the Russians and spent time on their MIR space station (1995/96) and later with the Americans and spent time on the International Space Station (2006). He happened to be an Air Force Pilot. For him, I was just another comrade and when I met him before he was to give a presentation at my unit, we had lunch together and he was just like any other person.

In 2007, I also had the chance to meet the last man who walked on the moon in 1972, Eugene Cernan. It was at a conference in Geneva that I attended and where Gene Cernan was brought in as a special guest. I had no clue how many people would be coming to this event, but despite no registration fees, there were only 100 people, quite an exclusive group. He spent all day with us, and he and I happened to share the table. It was fun and exciting.

I also visited the Kennedy Space Center in Florida a couple of times.

2016 marked the 50^th anniversary of the TV Series Star Trek. I admit I am a little Trekkie and that led me to spend an event with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon. Buzz wanted to commemorate his flight to the Moon, and it was possible to purchase a ticket for a dinner with him. This seemed to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I took it despite not being a cheap dinner; after all, it was also my 50^th birthday. The gala dinner was served under a Saturn V rocket. I expected it to be very crowded but found myself in a quite exclusive group of around 200 people.

But, even better, it was not just a seated dinner, they made this event differently, more interactive, so we were more like a big family getting together, a lot of aerospace enthusiasts, people from the industry you can chat with, take pictures with Buzz and other guests of honor. What was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity turned out to be repeated another three times until the 50^th anniversary of the first Moon landing in 2019.

By the way, the other two moonwalkers I met repeatedly were Charlie Duke (Apollo16) and Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17).

To connect the dots, as Jeff Bezos has just travelled to space this 20^th of July, the same day as Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon 52 years ago, I would mention that I had the chance to meet him in 2017 at one of those Apollo 11 Galas where he was presenting about his activities in private space travel. And no, we did not share our experiences with hair care products 😉.

How do all these people you meet inspire you?

The inspiration comes from the fact that none of them started their lives with being famous or a celebrity. What they have in common is that they chose their path on their own, worked and trained very hard, followed their passions, were not afraid of setbacks and finally succeeded in their field.

Where does your passion for travelling come from?

What triggered my passion for travel, for seeing so many places, is this quite famous and most read German author Karl May (1842-1912).

He wrote many books and stories, but most famous are his adventure stories where he pretended being the hero himself and, what is interesting is that some stories are about the west, the Wild West, yet, he had never been there. He just read books and his descriptions felt being authentic. He was probably the first pop star in Germany of his time.

Generation after generation of Germans grew up with his stories, with his heroes – Old Shatterhand, Winnetou, Kara Ben Nemsi, Hadschi Halef Omar, to name the most famous ones – adventures and values. Until today, German people imagine the Wild West as in his stories. Interestingly, his only trip to America he ever did near the end of his life just brought him not further than Niagara Falls. Like so many Germans, I started reading his books as a kid and this is how things started for me. I also developed this persistence:

If I liked one story, I read all his stories.

And I began to look beyond the fiction and get to know more about the person, about the real life of the author. A young man who had grown up in extreme poverty in Germany, being among the 5 surviving of the 12 children of his parents and, due to some circumstances, as a young man he spent a total of eight years in jail. Then, he worked for magazines; already in jail he had developed his sense of writing. In the 1890s, at the height of his success, he was doing tours like pop stars today. He met princesses and kings… He was a celebrity before this work existed, every new generation read him and, later, in the 1960s, they produced movies which – until today – are the most viewed films in the German film history…

This is where the passion for travelling comes from, the openness for other cultures and continents.

My first and second trip outside of Europe (1987 and 1988) brought me to Egypt… and that was also because some of Karl May’s stories were happening in the Orient.

A few years later, I became a very regular traveler to the United States, and all goes back to reading Karl May…

Now, back to Hardy Krüger. I had originally heard about him through my mother. They were roughly of the same age. My mother admired him in the 1950s and 60s when Krüger was a famous movie star in Germany.

In the 80s and 90s, Hardy Krüger produced a travel documentary series for German TV, 35 episodes altogether… That was a time where travelling was not yet that popular and affordable as today and people loved to see the world through Krüger’s eyes. In each episode, he met someone local who introduced him to the life and culture of the place, and so he introduced the viewers to those places. Krüger made you feel like he is sitting next to you at home and tells you about his latest trip … I loved the series and I was inspired by his example…

At some point and probably being a little naïve, I thought it would be a good idea to express my admiration to Krüger and let him know how he inspired me. At that time, he was commuting between Germany and California. I managed to find out his address in California and I wrote a letter to him. Emails and internet were not yet available. I was in my late 20s and served in the military at that time. Some weeks after I had sent that letter, I actually received a reply from Mr. Krüger from California – by fax. He not only acknowledged receipt of my correspondence but invited me to see him at his next book signing tour in the following year in Germany. Of course, I showed up and we met after the event and had a nice chat. That is how I got to know him in person. Over the following years, we continued to meet at several other occasions.

In 2018 when Krüger turned 90, there was a public event planned to honor and celebrate him in Hamburg in a theatre where he would be interviewed on stage. Despite living in Montreal already, I was very fortunate to arrange a little detour on a business trip to be in Hamburg on that day, sitting in the front row again, and congratulating him on his 90^th birthday with a personal handshake.

When someone inspires me, I keep an interest and I look behind the work and look who the person is, read biographies… and this is how you meet great people…

One I haven’t met yet is Sir Michael Palin.

Famous for being a member of the well-known British comedy group Monty Python and a movie actor, he also did several extraordinary TV travel series for the BBC. What was supposed to be a one-time engagement for Palin to follow fictional Phileas Fogg on In 80 Days around the World became such a hit that several trips followed that ended up in TV mini-series: Pole to Pole, Round Circle, Sahara, Himalaya, New Europe, Brazil, North Korea, Hemingway Adventure… Like Hardy Krüger, Palin’s trips also ended up in books. It was fun watching him circling the globe in various ways and compare with some of my own travel experiences.  I hope I’ll get a chance one day and shake hands with Sir Michael as well…

So, it all started from the passion for films and reading…

Yes. Then, it’s about seeking those opportunities… you find something and, at one point, you book a flight and go… it’s like, I go there and not looking for something in particular, I go to see what I can find…

This is how I came to Canada… it is through Hardy Krüger… when that TV series came to an end, the final episode was filmed in the Canadian Rockies…  Hardy stayed at a lodge near Lake Louise. When you go 40 kms North of Lake Louise, there is Bow Lake and a red-roofed block house at its shore: Num-Ti-Jah Lodge.

So, one day in May 1997, there was a huge military exercise taking place in Northern Alberta, an international exercise for Air Forces, and I was part of a delegation to visit this exercise, my first ever trip to Alberta… I took the opportunity to take a few days off to go south and see this Num-Ti-Jah Lodge … I found a small lodge with room for 25 guests, with a beautiful lake surrounded by mountains… I fell immediately in love with it, stayed there and told myself that I would need to come back. And so, I did for a couple of times since… This is the place where Hardy Krüger lived and filmed… When you go there today and have a look through the small library that is available to guests, you will find one of the books from Hardy Krüger there, Weltenbummler, with a chapter about the lodge and the area, and a little note from me …

I befriended myself with the lodge manager (who has meanwhile his own lodge in Banff)… This is a place visited by people from around the world… One year I spent Christmas there with my wife and all the guests met for dinner and started singing Christmas carols from around the world, an unforgettable moment…

This is how I fell in love with Canada, with the Rockies… so, in the end, I kept myself open to coming to Canada… I came to Montreal, which is not the Rockies, but a very beautiful city.

I thought about the way I came here, my history, my career path, how life is here in Montreal…

Why Montreal?

I loved going to school and I liked my teachers, but when you have good grades, you can find it difficult to choose between (too) many options, what university to choose, what career to take… For me, most paths were open… on my list was to study chemistry, that would have been another option. I have a brother who started serving in the military; instead of just doing his mandatory service, he entered the Navy for two years, then left and never went back. Yet, my perception was positive… I mean he left home, he came back for the weekends, he had a lot of interesting stories to tell, he was earning money, he was kind of independent, and all that made me think that the military could be an option for me as well. A lot of people, including my parents, expected me to study. I was seventeen, starting to think about what to do and that way came the idea of becoming a pilot. That was something special and did not require studying. I applied at Lufthansa to become an airline pilot, and I also applied at the German Air Force. The military application went faster. I was invited to tests and got accepted, so I skipped the civilian alternative and pursued the military career – and life got different. I signed a 15-year contract, the requirement for pilot training. This gave some security, right, but okay, you do not know what is coming in those 15 years… After some basic military training, you first must pass an officers’ course before starting flight training. Until that point, all went well, and I passed the screening, a total of 18 flight hours on a small propeller driven aircraft, with a short solo flight at the end. Depending on your performance and the current needs of the Forces, they decided if you should fly jets, helicopters, transport aircraft… The majority wants to fly jets and I was luckily chosen for that path. The jet training is done on a training base in Texas, USA, together with other NATO partners. There I soon discovered my limits. It is a very demanding training, you must reach predetermined steps with every flight and if you do not manage, you are out. Which is fine because this is how they must select to get the best of the bests for a very demanding profession…

Well, my abilities were not enough for the jets, my active flying career ended abruptly, and my 15-year contract was downsized to four years of service of which two years were left. I had to return to Germany and over the following year discovered two things: The military was not only for flying, and at now 22, I felt an interest in going to a university.  While any option to stay in the Forces for longer was first turned down quite harshly, I later was encouraged by some friends to ask again and, luckily, I did not only get my contract prolonged but was even approved to study at one of the two German military universities. I chose Business Administration in Hamburg, and my military career was another 12 years longer again. Later I had the chance to apply for becoming a career officer, but there were also disadvantages with that: you have to relocate at least every 2 or 3 years to another post and, if you are in a partnership, it is your partner who is disadvantaged, because you are promoted and go upward with each move but your partner might have to restart each time again from zero. I was already married at that time (got married at age 23) and I finished my military career shortly before the turn of the millennium. Having served as aide-de-camp to a general for four years and having experienced the advantage in such a job, namely to get to see and hear more things than you would normally get with your rank, I took a job in a civilian comparable position, as assistant to the board of management in a large insurance company. It started with a two-year trainee program, which was supposed to build the basis for a longer career in the company. However, I discovered that nobody was interested in my background and past, there was no connection with my military experience and that bothered me.

You would have liked a career in a related field…

Yes, I was thinking about looking for something related to my previous experience. In the end, I found a position at the German Air Line Pilots’ Association and stayed for 11 years and after that got my current position as Managing Director at IFALPA. All that would not have been possible without my limited flying experience and Air Force background.

What would you say to someone trying to find a first job or change his career path?

If you want a job, never try to anticipate what people see in you or what is expected. I have learned that there are so many factors that you never know or can assume when you go to an interview.

Every job description is a wish list, like for Christmas. J You never know what matches if it is 100% or just 60%. It does not even matter what you think because you do not know what the most important thing at that moment for the employer is. Mostly, there are things you don’t even think of. So, if you are invited to an interview and feel comfortable with a job, go! When I first applied for a position at the German Air Line Pilots’ Association – they were looking for an Assistant to one of their board members – I said to myself: it’s aviation related, I was a great assistant for years, so why not apply. I got invited and was flying from Hamburg to Frankfurt to meet two board members and basically, after 10 minutes, I realized this was not what I wanted. Of course, you just do not stop talking and leave the room but stay professional and complete the interview. Once I had decided that this was not my job, I got a bit more relaxed in my answers and comments. When that touchy question about my salary expectation came, I turned the question around and said: Your advertisement says that you offer an attractive salary. Okay, please start to offer now. No surprise that I did not get this position. But the interesting part came about two to three months later when I received an unexpected call from one of the interviewers, asking me if I was still looking for a job. When I confirmed, he revealed to me they couldn’t tell me at that first meeting but they had a little restructuring ongoing and they created a new position and believed that I would match that position. That’s how I became Technical Director at the Pilots’ Association. You could not plan on that. It came through the interview.

So, if you are invited to the interview and, moreover, if you do have doubts about the job, do the interview anyway, because you have nothing to lose and you are much more natural. Remember that you never know what is at the other end.

My next career step was another example that you should not always take a No for a No.

When I learned about a vacant position at the International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations, I contacted somebody who was working there and asked if I could get an interview. That led to meeting the President during a Conference that we both attended, however, the meeting was quite short and more a courtesy call than an interview of a potential candidate. Shortly after, I learned that another person who was already working in the organization had been promoted to get the job. About a year later, I heard that the same position was vacant again, with the same President still in charge, and I was asking myself if I should try it again. What did I have to lose? Therefore, I applied again and scheduled an interview at the next Conference again.

Surprisingly, things were much different this time.

It was not a courtesy interview but a nice, long conversation. And, basically, after that I got hired, which in turn led to rebooting my life in Canada.

The point is, if you really want something, you have more than one chance and you should attempt it more than only one time.

Things can turn around quickly and of most factors that lead to a decision you just can’t be aware of.

Unless you try, you don’t know.

You are also a Montreal Ambassador…

That goes back to playing in a football team in Montreal.

Montreal International (MI), an investment promotion agency for Greater Montréal, has been instrumental in relocating my employer, IFALPA, from England to Canada in 2012. One of their focus areas is attracting International Organizations HQs to Montreal and that brought me in contact with them. In my first year, I got invited to play in a team of a corporate soccer league made up of International Organizations’ representatives. The communications person from MI at the time was also part of that team. On day I met her coincidentally during my lunch break and she was with a camera man. « Would you have a few minutes to answer some questions about Montreal? » I had. The result was my first video as a « Montreal Ambassador », which was later shown at the AGM of MI that year. A few years later, I was asked to shoot another video to promote Montreal for International Organizations. I feel blessed not only having had the chance to start a new life in Montreal but also that this city welcomed me with open arms. From the very first visit I felt to be at the right place.

That’s why I’m happy to give back a little…

The Beauty?

Life is beautiful.

As much as this phrase is used all around the globe, it is just true. We must appreciate this beauty and not take it for granted. Paying attention to details every day will show us that we are surrounded by beauty of all kinds. While traveling less during the pandemic, I have rediscovered nature’s beauty around me: the colors of the Indian Summer, the blossoming flowers of the Botanical Garden, Cardinals, and other birds – it is an endless list.

The Unknown?

I’m a very organized person and that is because I like to be in control. Where things are beyond my influence (and the reality of life is that these are most things), I easily feel uncomfortable.

At the same time, life has taught me that you need to be open to the unknown; only if you face it, you will succeed and grow.

All in all, I’m very selective in applying my own advice: I’m not open to new tastes and food. I don’t like to think about death, the biggest unknown ever. But I’m surely open to discover unknown locations or get to know people that I haven’t met before.

The Unforgettable?

My mother was a person that could remember every detail of her life. I always envied her for that, and she kept saying that memory comes back with age. Obviously, I’m not old enough, yet, as my brain still seems to be full of holes like Swiss cheese with very selective memory only. I love watching movies, but I quickly forget the story; yet, I always remember the main actors and – if I like it- the soundtrack. When I discovered the interest for the person Karl May, not just his books, and what difficulty researchers had to reconstruct his life in the 19th and beginning 20th century, that may have triggered me to keep a diary. Not a very extensive one, but I keep calendars where I note important activities, meetings, happenings, etc. That helps me to remember the unforgettable J. 

Life is beautiful, I said that before, and that is why there are endless moments, things and people that are unforgettable – and counting. When it comes to people, I think it is important to express appreciation, not just keep it silently in one’s head. Around my 40th birthday, when both my parents were turning 80, one day I specifically thanked them for what they did for me. I may not have consented with them on everything nor wanted to live as they did, but I realized that their education, example and how they had raised and treated me have provided me with the right values and priceless basis. Not long after that, my father died. 

Express the unforgettable before it is too late.

Many people have contributed to where I am today, yet, this is not the place to mention them all. I would not be here without the support and companionship of my ex-wife Ana, who I know for 40 years now and with whom I have spent 21 years as husband and wife. I am quite grateful that divorce had not cut our bond completely, and that we managed to continue maintaining an extraordinary friendship.

Thank you again for having accepted to be part of this adventure and sharing your inspiring path with us!

Here is where you can find out more and get in touch with Christoph:

https://www.montrealinternational.com/fr/secteurs-cles/histoires-de-reussites/ifalpa/

https://www.ifalpa.org/about-us/secretariat-staff/

https://www.instagram.com/a_german_in_montreal/?hl=fr

https://www.facebook.com/people/Christoph-Schewe/100009507529767/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/christoph-schewe-a5814b67/