“WIR MACHEN URLAUB”ドイツに3日間もいれば見聞きする、最重要単語のひとつ「Urlaub（ウアラウプ）」とは、「休暇」のこと。一般企業では、1年に30日の有給休暇を取得する権利が保障されているドイツ。土日と合わせればなんと6週間のホリデーを、“法律的に取らねばならない” びっくり先進国なのだ。イースター、夏休み、クリスマス、カーニバルなどの期間中は、店先に貼られた“Wir machen Urlaub（休暇中）”の注意書きが、面白いくらい頻繁に目につく。“働くために休む”日本人と“休むために働く”と思しきドイツ人は、地上から100億光年彼方の宇宙くらい、精神的にかけ離れているよう。誰も彼も、寝ても覚めてもウアラウプ。世間話の定番トピックが休暇であることも、お察しのとおり。ファミリーとホリデーを愛し、それでも能率主義で仕事をこなしまくるドイツ人の実態とは？米国に本拠地を置くオンライン旅行会社Expediaが実施している、休暇に関する定例調査「Vacation Deprivation Study」 2011年版＊1によると、年次有給休暇日数平均はドイツ30日、アメリカ14日、イギリス25日、フランス30日、韓国10日、日本11日。うち実際の休暇取得日数平均はドイツ28日、アメリカ12日、イギリス25日、フランス30日、韓国7日、日本はたったの5日という結果。また、すべての休暇（有給休暇）を消化しない理由として「職場で否定的に受け取られるだろうから」と回答した人が、ドイツ7％、アメリカ・イギリス6％に対し、韓国17％、日本14％。「休暇中に一度もメールをチェックしない」人は、ドイツ・イギリスが全体の50％に対し、日本は13％。ホリデーに対する意識の差に、お国柄がここまで顕著に現れるのは興味深い。郷に入っては郷に従えというわけで……ウアラウプを思う存分に楽しんでいる私と家族。約3年前にドイツ・ケルンへ拠点を移して以来、日本とドイツをのぞきバケーションで訪れたのは、イギリス、フランス、スイス、ポルトガル、オランダ、ベルギー、スペイン、カナリア諸島、それからタイ。旅こそが人生の栄養であり、創造力の原点…を言い訳に、飛び回る一家。ホリデーへの並々ならぬ情熱は、まさにドイツ人レベルですね。さて、最近訪れたヨーロッパで、心に響いた風景を少しご紹介させていただくと 絵画から抜け出した美しさ。フランス・ノルマンディー地方にあるモネが愛したジヴェルニーの庭園＊2は、時を超えて詩的なイマジネーションを喚起する。 今年4月前半のイースター休暇は、バルセロナにて恋焦がれていたガウディ建築三昧。カサ・バトリョ（写真左上＊3）は夢を見させてくれる魔法の家。自然主義と象徴主義が混在するラビリンス、サグラダ・ファミリア（写真右上＊4）。未完成であればこその美がある。グエル公園＊5にある、かつてガウディが暮らした家（写真左下）。ヴィヴィッドな青空とラテンの空気が、ガルシア・マルケスが描く文学世界を連想させた。旅の終わりに、空港のワンシーン（写真右下）。世界のどこにいても、虹がやさしい気持ちを運ぶのはなぜだろう。 ところで、ワーキングママの身として気になるのは、仕事も育児もパワフルにこなす、ドイツのワーキングマザーたちの実像。一体どうタイムマネジメントして、バカンスも満喫しているのだろう？ 3人のキャリアビューティのリアルな声を聞いてみた。 Katrin Jacke カトリン・ヤッケ／ボーダフォン・ドイツ 人事部リーダーシップ・ディベロップメント部長 2歳児の母で現在第二子妊娠中 「1日のタイムスケジュールは、6:20起床、週に3日は7:30に息子を保育園へ送り届け（週に2日は夫が担当）、8:30出社、18:30頃に退社。16:30～17:00の保育園のお迎えは、夫か私の両親に任せているわ。19:00過ぎに帰宅し、すぐに食事の支度をして19:30頃には夕食タイム。絵本を読み聞かせて、20:30までには子どもを寝かしつけ。その後、夫との時間を楽しんで22:30～23:00に就寝」。週50～60時間労働をこなすカトリンは、金曜日は在宅勤務し、2週に1回は週末にも仕事する。「夫と育児をシェアし、自分たちの両親の助けを得ることが、能率よく仕事と育児を両立するポイント。長男誕生後は夫も4週間の育児休暇を取り、その後4ヶ月間、彼は時間短縮勤務を選んでくれた。私は4ヶ月の育児休暇後に職場復帰したわ。家族や大切な友人と多くの時間を一緒に過ごすことも大事よね」と彼女。有給休暇30日はすべて消化する。「休暇は家族と過ごすの。夫のファミリーが暮らすNYを訪ね、アメリカ東海岸で過ごすホリデーが2週間くらい。それにクリスマス休暇と、カナリア諸島のラ・パルマ島で約10日間のバカンスがお決まり」。 Indrani Nottebrock インドラーニ・ノッテブロック／サンゴバン・ウェーバー社 人事部 5歳と2歳の二児の母 「6:30に起床してシャワー、家族が起きる前に7:15頃にこっそりオフィスへ向かう。8:10仕事開始、15:00頃に退社して16:00に子どもたちのお迎え。家事、買い物をこなし、子どもたちと遊び、18:00に食事の支度、18:30に子どもたちと夕食を。20:00に子どもたちを寝かしつけた後は、夫と映画鑑賞したり、スケジュール管理をしたりと自分時間」。週に2度はホームオフィスで仕事をし、週に約35時間労働をこなす。在宅勤務や時短勤務が受け入れられているドイツの起業風土は、働くママたちにとって有益なポイントだ。「子どもが就寝後、たまに家で仕事をすることもあるけれど、週末や休暇中にはまったく仕事をしない。私と夫両方の両親が近くに住んでいるから、仕事と育児を両立できるの。それに日々のオーガナイズは欠かせない。何よりも、子どもの面倒をよく見てくれる夫の存在がなかったら、私のライフスタイルはバランスを失ってしまうわ」。30日の有給休暇をすべて取得して、毎年さまざまな旅先へ出かけるという。「去年は、カナリア諸島にある託児所付きのホテルでビーチホリデーを。今年は南仏で3週間のキャンプホリデーを過ごすつもり」。 Dr. Ute Brambrink Dr. ウーテ・ブラームブリンク／ボーダフォン・ドイツ スポークスマン 6歳と3歳の二児の母 博士号を持ち、現在は月曜から木曜日の8:00～13:00頃まで、週20～25時間の時短勤務をしているウーテ。オフィスにいる必要がなければ、水曜日は在宅勤務にしている。「13:00に仕事を終えて帰宅し、食事の準備をしていると14:00には長女が小学校から帰ってくる。長女と昼食を共にして、15:00に保育園から次女のお迎え。15:30～18:00はスポーツや音楽教室など、子どもたちをお稽古へ連れていくか買い物へ。19:30までに夕食を済ませて子どもたちを寝かしつけ、20:00から家事をこなす。毎朝起床は6:00、朝食は家族4人で」。週末や休暇中は仕事を持ち込まない主義だが、重要プロジェクト進行時のみメールチェック。「仕事と育児の両立の秘訣は、ご近所さんやママ友、その他の友人らとの助け合いネットワーク。それに最重要なのは夫の協力ね」という。「時短勤務なので有給日数は24日。ファミリーと一緒にすべて消化するわ。ドイツ・バイエルン州とイタリアで過ごすことが多いかしら」。

“WIR MACHEN URLAUB” If you spend even three days in Germany, one of the paramount words you will see and hear is Urlaub. Urlaub means “holiday, vacation, leave”. In ordinary companies in Germany, a 30-day paid vacation once a year is guaranteed by law. Germany is a surprisingly advanced nation where they “can legally take” a six-week holiday, including Saturdays and Sundays. During Easter, Summer holidays, and Carnival, it's amazing how frequently you see the notice “Wir machen Urlaub” (We're on vacation) hung on the store fronts. The Japanese who “rest to work” and the Germans who “work to rest” seem to mentally be 100 billion light years away from the world. Everyone—whether awake or asleep—is on Urlaub. As you may have guessed, even the regular topic of small talk is being on vacation. What's the reality of the Germans who love their families and holidays but still who constantly work hard and are firm believers in efficiency-first? According to routine research about vacations, “2011 Vacation Deprivation Study” conducted by online travel company Expedia, whose own backyard is the United States, the average annual number of paid vacation days in Germany is 30; America, 14; England, 25; France, 30; South Korea, 10; and Japan, 11. Among these, the actual average number of vacation days taken were in Germany, 28; America, 12; England, 25; France, 30; South orea, 7; and Japan, a mere 5 days... Furthermore, those who answered “may be perceived negatively at work” as a reason for not using all of their paid vacation were 7% in Germany and 6% in America and England in comparison to 17% in South Korea and 14% in Japan. Those who “do not check their e-mail while on vacation” were 50% of all respondents in Germany and England, while in Japan they were 13%. It's intriguing that national characteristics have come out this noticeably in differences in attitudes toward holidays. They say, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do”, so.... my family and I enjoy our Urlaub to the full. Since moving my hub to Köln in Germany about 3 years ago, excluding Japan and Germany, we have visited England, France, Switzerland, Portugal, Holland, Belgium, Spain, the Canary Islands, and Thailand. Our family traveled around with the excuse that travel itself is life's nourishment, and that it's the origin of creativity. Our exceeding passion for holidays is exactly German people's level. Now, I'm going to show you a few sights that made a strong impression on my mind in my recent travels in Europe. Beauty right out of a painting, the Giverny garden *2 in the region of Normandy in France that Monet loved transcends time and arouses one's poetic imagination. The first half of April this year, I entered samādhi with Gaudí's architecture in Barcelona. Casa Batllo (Top left photograph *3) is a magical house that makes me dream. The labyrinth where naturalism and symbolism mix, the Sagrada Familia (Top right photograph *4). Even incomplete things have their own beauty. The house Gaudí once dwelt in in Park Güell *5 (Bottom left picture). The vivid blue sky and the Latin atmosphere evoked a literary world painted by García Márquez. One shot of the airport at the end of the trip (Bottom right picture). Why do rainbows bring feelings of affection wherever you are in the world? Anyway, what intrigues me as a working mother is the real image of Germany's working mothers who powerfully take on working and raising children. How on earth do they time manage, and enjoy balance, too? I asked three real career beauties. Katrin Jacke / Vodafone GmbH, Head of Leadership Development and Engagement, Human Resources Mother of a two-year-old and currently expecting her second child. “My schedule in an average day is wake up at 6:20 AM, take my son to daycare three days a week at 7:30 AM (my husband helps two days a week), get to work at 8:30 AM and around 6:30 PM I leave work. I leave it to my husband or parents pick up my son from daycare around 4:30 PM or 5:00 PM. I'm back home after 7:00 PM, prepare dinner right away and we have dinner around 7:30 PM. I read a picture book to my child and then put him to bed by 8:30 PM. After that, I enjoy my time with my husband and go to bed around 10:30 PM or 11:00 PM.” Katrin, who works 50-60 hours per week, works from home on Fridays and once every two weeks works on the weekends, too. “I share child rearing with my husband. Having our parents help is the trick to keeping on working efficiently while raising children. After my first son was born, my husband took a four-week paternity leave, and after that he chose to work part-time for four months. I went back to work after a four-month maternity leave. It's important to spend lots of time with friends and family,” she says. She uses all 30 days of her paid vacation. “I spend my vacations with my family. We spend at least two weeks of our holiday on the US east coast, visiting my husband's family that lives in NY. Moreover, our routine is to spend about a 10-day vacation in La Palma in the Canary Islands for our Christmas vacation.” Indrani Nottebrock / Saint-Gobain Weber, Referentin Personalentwicklung Mother of two, ages 5 and 2. “I get up at 6:30 AM and shower, then sneak out to the office at 7:15 AM before my family wakes up. I start work at 8:10 AM, leave work at 3:00 PM and pick up the kids at 4:00 PM. I take care of the household chores and shopping, play with my children, prepare dinner at 6:00 PM and have dinner with them at 6:30 PM. After putting my kids to bed at 8:00 PM, I have my personal time, watching movies with my husband or organizing my schedule.” She works from home twice a week and works about 35 hours per week. The German business climate accepting of working from home and part-time work hours is a point of benefit for working mothers. “Sometimes I work from home after putting my kids to bed, but on the weekends and on vacations I don't work at all. My parents and my husband's parents both live nearby, so we can keep on working while raising children. Moreover, it's essential to organize every day. More than anything, if I didn't have my husband to look after our kids, I wouldn't be able to balance my life.” She says she takes all 30-days of her paid vacation and every year travels to different destinations. “Last year, we took a beach holiday in the Canary Islands at a hotel with a daycare. This year we're planning a 3-week camping trip in Southern France.” Dr. Ute Brambrink / Vodafone GmbH, Spokesman Mother of two, ages 6 and 3. Dr. Ute holds a Master's Degree and currently works a short work week of 20-25 hours from Mondays to Thursdays from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM. If she doesn't need to be in the office on Wednesdays, she works from home. “I finish work at 1:00 PM and come home. At 2:00 PM when I'm working on supper, my oldest daughter comes home from elementary school. I eat supper with my oldest daughter and pick up my second daughter from nursery at 3:00 PM. Between 3:30 PM and 6:00 PM I go shopping or take my kids to sports or music lessons. By 7:30 PM we've finished dinner and I put my kids to bed and work on household chores at 8:00 PM. Every morning I wake up at 6:00 AM and the four of us have breakfast.” Her principle is to not take her work with her on vacations or on the weekends, but checks her e-mails only when she's working on an important project. “The secret to working while raising children is my personal network of mutual-helping with neighbors, friends who are mothers and friends. And of course the most important is thing my husband's cooperation,” she says. “I work short hours, so the paid vacation time I get is 24 days. I spend them all with my family. I guess we spend lots of time in Italy and Bavaria, Germany.” Although they are three separate lifestyles, what they have in common in their key to work-life balance is in their husband's support to share child rearing, the power of organization to speedily complete household chores, and holidays to spend lots of time as a family. By the way, the rate of Japanese women quitting their jobs after giving birth to their first child is about 70 percent. Getting a job, getting married, getting pregnant, giving birth, child rearing... Women's lives are full of events. However, the reality in Japan is that it's impossible for women to choose to have it all and continue to work. German women who live gracefully could be called the best role models. I pray that the day when working women around the world can achieve German-style Urlaub supremacy is near.