What do you know about Swiss expats and emigration?

The Swiss passport seems to open many doors, as an exceptionally high percentage of the Swiss expats (59%) mention that getting a visa for their host country was very easy, an opinion only 41% of their global peers share.

Swissemigration, a division of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs provides documentation and general advisory services on individual countries and specific topics. It produces illustrations on the annual figures for emigration among the usual resident population of Switzerland compiled by the Federal Statistical Office and for statistics on the number of Swiss nationals living abroad.

So, where do you fit in?

Expats from Switzerland are willing to sacrifice some of their income in order to enjoy an adventurous life abroad.

Swiss emigration to Europe for 2015

Total Swiss emigration world-wide in the year 2015

Swiss hospitality at its best

This weekend brought us back to Switzerland... yet again... for Expat boy needs to make his first grown-up life-changing decision. Where to go after the International Baccalaureate?

To be perfectly honest he is his father's son, total strategic focus albeit sometimes absent-mined when not interested. His two passions: football and hospitality.

For years he has known that his goal was to study Hotel Management in Switzerland, I figured it might be a good idea if he actually visited the campus and surveyed the groundbreaking training in action.

Arriving in Lausanne on a spectacular sunny day with blue skies and gorgeous views across the Lake Leman, we were blown away by the atmosphere, professionalism, efficiency, cleanliness, organization, beauty and of course hospitality of Swiss Higher Education.

The visits to two different institutes provided an opportunity to personally discover the professionalism and excellence the Swiss hospitality training is world-renowned for. Admissions officers, teaching staff and student ambassadors did an outstanding job in demonstrating what Swiss education stands for and how it successfully prepares students for a wide variety of hospitality management careers across the globe.

So much so, that my husband has now decided he wants to go back to study!

Expats in Switzerland

It might be easy to presume that given the cultural diversity in Switzerland, the local population would be welcoming to foreigners. However, according to Internations survey in 2016, 67% of Expats in Switzerland disagree when asked whether it is easy to make local friends in Switzerland.

While it may be difficult to settle in Switzerland, the quality of life there is still a big bonus for Expats. The country ranks 10th out of 67 countries in the Quality of Life Index.

It is true that the Swiss can be a little private, reluctant to become friends with foreigners but REMEMBER once they DO become your friend it is for life!

What does it mean to live together in Switzerland?

Why are rubbish bags in Switzerland different colours? Where can you play sports, and what do you need to know when looking for a job or going to school? These are some of the questions newcomers to Switzerland are confronted with. A new app from swissinfo.ch and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation provides the answers through an interactive quiz game and online resources.

“Together”, as the app is called, is available for free in seven languages: English, German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Arabic. It allows users to test their knowledge, learn new information and challenge other players in 10 quiz categories ranging from jobs to Swiss landmarks.

The app contains more than 300 questions with more questions and categories to be released in the coming weeks and months. Users who have more questions of their own about daily life in Switzerland can submit those to the team behind the appexternal link to have them researched, answered and included in the quiz. How cool is that?!?

Swissinfo.ch and the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation decided to produce the “together” app to address newcomers’ desire to integrate into Swiss society and learn more about daily life in the country. Its content is largely based on swissinfo.ch’s “Switzerland How To” external link offering, which provides information about daily life in Switzerland in 10 languages. So, if you haven't checked it out yet hop over and go browsing!

Together is a playful way to test your knowledge, learn new things and find useful information. Together, we are Switzerland.

International Mother Language Day

UNESCO is celebrating International Mother Language Day (IMLD) today. 2017 runs under the theme “Towards Sustainable Futures through Multilingual Education”.

On the occasion of this Day, I launch an appeal for the potential of multilingual education to be acknowledged everywhere, in education and administrative systems, in cultural expressions and the media, cyberspace and trade. Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General  

Well, Switzerland represents the prefect example with its four National languages: German, French, Italian and Romansch. Multilingualism is an integral part of Switzerland's national identity, however, that does not mean every Swiss is multilingual.

It is important to know that there are three official languages in Switzerland (German, French and Italian) but there are four National languages (German, French, Italian AND Romansch). Although Romansh is spoken by only some 10,000 people in certain parts of Graubünden, it has five distinct dialects: Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran, Puter and Vallader.

Here are some more facts:

- German is the main language of around 64.9% of the population. However, they do not speak standard German but rather various Alemmanic dialects that are collectively known as “Schwiizerdütsch” (Swiss German).
- Swiss German is not a written language, although it is used sometimes in personal correspondence. Standard German is used for all formal, written communication.
- French is the main language of around 22.6% of the population.
- Italian is the main language of around 8.3% of the population.
- Romansch is the main language of about 0.5% of the population.
- Several cantons are multilingual: Bern (German-French), Fribourg (French-German), Valais (French-German) and Graubünden (German-Romansh-Italian).
- Swiss German is the most widely used language in the workplace (66%), followed by standard German (33%), French (29%), English (18%) and Italian (9%).
- Over 42% of the population over the age of 15 regularly use more than one language.
- Foreigners living in Switzerland also contribute to the country's linguistic diversity. English and Portuguese are the most commonly spoken foreign languages.
- Other commonly spoken foreign languages include Spanish, Serbian, Croatian and Albanian.

Swiss Export shopping

It is common for expats to develop quirks about favourite foods and other items from their home country. If you have ever lived abroad you know the feeling.

Strange shopping habits can be spotted before leaving home and returning to an expat destination. Our family calls it Export shopping: it results in a family shopping spree around the Coop (sometimes Migros) stacking the trolley with our favourite food which has now become our comfort food. 

These items cannot be found in the host country and may or may not have actually been part of the expats' lives in their home country but which given half a chance - and with some luck a car rather than a suitcase to fill - will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of being back home. 

A bottle of Ramseier Apfelsaft, a Branchli or a Ragusa, an Ovo crunchy spread or Champions Birchermuesli will make us feel just a little bit better when we get hit with homesickness or nostalgia. A glass of Dole Blanche or a moité-moité cheese fondue will certainly hit the spot. And nobody makes bouillon cubes like the Swiss. NeoCitran, a widely-used cold remedy, will do the job in case of sickness, and the earplugs that come in a pink box let me sleep through thick and thin. And don't get me started on the chocolate... cooking chocolate, white hot chocolate, dark powdered chocolate, marzipan chocolate tablets, nutty chocolate bars and chocolate pralines!

We LOOOVE the COOP!

Nor can we resist a Swiss bakery

Suntigszopf im Ussland

Familia Birchermüesli with Hirz Yoghurt... a champion's breakfast!

Le Chiacchiere di Carnevale... bring back sweet memories of Lugano

Ramseier or Rivella?

A typical Swiss Export shopping bag

Ready for Switzerland’s annual siren testing

Get ready for tomorrow's emergency! It is a yearly tradition that takes place in Switzerland every first Wednesday of February. It is the day the entire country tests its emergency sirens.

Swiss being Swiss, the government maintains a network of around 7,200 sirens across the country as a public warning system that would be used in case of a national emergency. That could mean a natural disaster such as major flooding, or an imminent threat to or breakdown of a nuclear power plant.

The sirens were originally established to warn of bomb threat during World War Two. In particular Switzerland feared that its dams could be bombed in the manner that Germany’s Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams were bombed by the allies in 1943. The system endured through the Cold War when Switzerland feared being caught in the crossfire of a nuclear attack and has been kept ever since.

The general alarm will be tested at 1.30pm for around half an hour. The water alarm test follows at 2.15pm in applicable areas. The first, indicating general disaster, is a continuous oscillating siren lasting around a minute. The second, is a series of 12 bursts of 20 seconds each at ten-second intervals to warn people who live beneath dams of  impending water-related catastrophe.

Listen to the radio, follow instructions and tell your neighbours to do the same 

This is what the sirens sounded like from our balcony in Lugano back in 2011.  Some things never change!

Foreigners in Switzerland

Today there are more than two million foreigners living in Switzerland and some 2.1 percent of foreigners obtained Swiss citizenship in 2015.

In 2015 there were 2,048,700 foreign nationals with permanent residency (meaning those granted a permit for 12 months or longer) in the country, just under a quarter (24.6 percent) of the total population, said the Swiss statistics office (SS).

The 2015 figure includes 393,600 people who were born in Switzerland but do not have Swiss citizenship, with the rest being foreign-born immigrants.

Of those born outside Switzerland, 44 percent have lived here for ten years or more.

The biggest foreign populations are Italians, Germans, Portuguese, French and Kosovans, which make up more than half (54 percent) of permanent foreign residents in Switzerland.

Geneva has the highest number of foreigners, at 41 percent, followed by the cantons of Basel-City (35 percent) and Vaud (34 percent).

So where do you fit in?

Foreigners by Nationality

% of foreigners applying and receiving Swiss citizenship

Languages spoken at home

Do all Europeans speak a foreign language?

Everybody assumes that growing up in Switzerland you automatically speak more than one language. Well, the truth is 60% of Swiss use more than one language at least one a week BUT the second language is often English and not one of the four national languages.

So, what does the rest of Europe look like?

The ultimate Ovo cookbook

Looking for a truly Swiss cookbook? One that you can be pretty sure will make a great gift? You might even like to keep it for yourself. Your kids will love it, for sure.

The madeleines will enchant you as much as the chocolate fondant cake. The pancakes will become the Sunday special. As for the more daring, try making the Ovomaltine foie gras.

Check out the Ovo book published by helvetiq. It comes in French and German at a cost of CHF 29.-.

Helvetiq publish games for kids, families and adults in print and digital formats. They like to publish titles that catch attention and make people smile. Ones that inspire them and make them see the unknown in the familiar. Their story began in 2008 with a game about Switzerland. Success is inspiring, and so they continued to create Pictolingua, a vocabulary learning game featuring the colorful illustrations of Swiss artist Agathe Altwegg.

How art historians constructed "Swiss art"

"Swiss art" has always been a risky concept; however there is virtually no other country on earth with as many museums per capita as Switzerland. Even with its numerous galleries and internationally famous fairs, the Swiss maintain their modesty on the subject.

Join Dr. Fayet as he discusses the construction of "Swiss Art" from 1876, when Johann Rudolf Rahn published his History of the Fine Arts in Switzerland, down to the present day.

Roger Fayet was born in Zurich in 1966. From 1994 to 1999 he was Assistant Curator at the Johann Jacobs Museum, Zurich. From 1999 to 2003 he was Head Curator of the Museum Bellerive and the applied arts collection of the Museum für Gestaltung, Zurich. In 2003 he was appointed Director of the Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen. Since 2010 he has worked as Director of the Swiss Institute for Art Research (SIK-ISEA), Zurich and Lausanne. Fayet teaches the University of Zurich and at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). From 2009 to 2015 he was President of the Swiss National Committee of the International Council of Museums (ICOM Switzerland), and he is currently Vice President of the International Association of Research Institutes in the History of Art (RIHA).

Now that's what I call an impressive CV. This promises to be an extraordinary evening and an opportunity for all art lovers that is not to be missed!

Venue: How art historians construct(ed) "Swiss art"
Where: Franklin University Switzerland, Nielsen Auditorium, Via Ponte Tresa 29, 6924 Sorengo
When: Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Time: 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Entry is free. The event is in English and open to all.

3 fun food facts about Switzerland

Switzerland is a mountainous country, a small, rugged island in the center of the European Union, known for its irresistible chocolate and breathtaking beauty. Here are some fun, quirky foodie tidbits about cheese, wine and chocolate.

1. Cheese Please!
Switzerland is home to 450 varieties of cheese, ranging from extra hard to soft, with crazy-hard-to-pronounce names like Sbrinz, Mutschli, Formaggini, and Tomme Vaudoise.
The Swiss even have proof of how fantastic their cheese is: out of 2,615 products entered from 22 countries in 89 categories, the Swiss took the first prize in 2014 at the World Championship Cheese Contest. The US have claimed this title in 2016. Who will be champion in 2018?

2. Swiss Drink Their Own Wine
Did you know that only about 2% of Switzerland's wine leaves the country. The Swiss produce approx. 200 million liters of wine per year and consume almost all of it themselves. Since it never goes too far, you can always count on a good homegrown drink and good company. In 2014, the average Swiss drank 33 litres of wine which puts the Swiss at 4th place worldwide for annual wine consumption per capita.

3. Swiss Love their Chocolate
Switzerland is internationally known for its high quality chocolate. But do you know just how much chocolate is made here? Between 18 Swiss chocolate companies, 181,414 tons of chocolate were produced in 2015. Roughly one third is domestic consumption thanks to the Swiss who eat over 10kg of chocolate per capita. Two thirds of the Swiss chocolate production is destined for export.

Meet the Swiss Federal Council 2017

The release of the Swiss Federal Council's official photo for 2017 on New Year’s Eve caused quite a stir in the media, even becoming a trending topic on twitter. Creative minds were quick to publish inventive versions of the original portraits taken by photographer Beat Mumenthaler.

The original version

An adapted "nice" version

The Swiss government comprises seven members to form the Federal Council. The president is elected for a one-year term of office and is regarded during that time as ‘Primus inter pares’, or first among equals.

The Swiss Government has revamped its official website where you can find information about the Swiss Government and a restricted amount of news in English. Personally, I do think this year's photo is a great deal more stylish than in past years. So let's look at the bright side, the Swiss Federal Council are definitely making an effort.

Someone decided to adapt the official photo into a video showing the Federal Council singing ‘Bernhemian Rhapsody’. See the result for yourself:

Santa skiing on the Swiss slopes

Who said Swiss don't have a sense of humour? Just look at how much fun 1200 Santas can have on the slopes of Verbier.

Skiers in appropriate costume were invited to ski for free in the Swiss ski resort for one day only as part of a special event to celebrate Verbier's official opening weekend.

Held for the third year in a row, it proved more popular than ever this year as around 1,200 Santas arrived to claim their free day's ski pass – double the number at last year's event.

Free wine, croissants and raclette were offered throughout the day, as well as the chance to win a season pass in a prize draw. Now, all we need is a bit of fresh snow for the holidays!

Grittibänz recipe

It hit me this afternoon while I was sitting in front of my computer... Samichlaus had not come by! A big tradition in Switzerland, one that cannot go unnoticed even if you live in Paris. I popped out to buy some ingredients and went to work.

Expat daughter would be so happy to find a taste of "home" for teatime. She still remembers when her school class in Lugano went into the woods looking for San Nicolao. He would be waiting to distribute a Grittibänz, mandarines and some nuts to the good children, the bad children had to work things out with his helper "Schmutzli" who was considerable less understanding. However, after reciting a little poem in honour of Saint Nick they would all walk back to school with a big grin on their face carrying lots of goodies to take home.

Here is a super-easy, fast, yummy recipe for Grittibänz:

Ingredients:
500 gr flour
1 tablespoon salt
70 gr sugar
70 gr butter
2 dl milk
1 egg
25 gr yeast
1 egg for coating
For the decoration: raisins, shelled almonds, candied fruit, possibly coarse granulated sugar.

Preparation:
1.) Cream the yeast with a little sugar in a cup.
2.) Place the flour in a bowl and mix it with salt, sugar, slightly warmed butter, lukewarm milk, the egg and the yeast to a dough.
3.) Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. Cover and leave to rise to twice the amount in a warm place.
4.) Knead the dough again, use a knife to cut off pieces of dough in the desired size and roll out to an oval shape.
5.) Mark the head by pressing the dough together slightly and turn the head to the back to make the neck. Cut out the arms and legs with scissors and place them in the required position.
6.) Decorate the figures with raisins, shelled almonds and candied fruit and trim the hat with remnants of dough. Leave to rise and put in a cold place for 20 to 30 minutes.
7.) Before baking, brush with egg and possibly sprinkle with coarse granulated sugar. In a preheated oven, bake for 20 to 30 minutes at medium temperature.

Swiss Saint Nic is on his way...

In Switzerland, the tradition of St. Nicolas is somewhat different from the norm. Switzerland is a country of several languages so it is not surprising there are several different St. Nicholas traditions. In German-speaking areas Saint Nicholas is known as Samichlaus. Though he looks the same as Father Christmas, the Samichlaus (originally Sankt Nikolaus) does not bring the presents at Christmas. Rather, he appears on the 6th of December. Children visit the Samichlaus (usually at school or with their parents) to be judged and recite poems that they've learned. The other option - when I was little - was leaving your boots in front of the door the night of December 5th to find them filled with goddies the next morning.

Samichlaus is usually accompanied by a helper called Schmutzli (from "schmutzig"- dirty). He is dressed in a black or brown cape with a large hood. He wears a black beard and is smeared with dirt. While the Samichlaus praises the kids who have been good, Schmutzli takes the naughty kids, puts them into his bag and carries them away. This makes for a practical way for parents to make their kids behave well: "Be good or Schmutzli will carry you off in his bag!"

Fear not for the Swiss children. Described above is the original form. Nowadays Schmutzli is purely ornamental or even left out completely.

My kids used to visit San Nicola in the woods with their school class. Trust me, they never slept very well the night before.

Should you need a Samichlaus for your family you can check out the Chlaus directory here: www.chlaus.ch

The evening meal on December 6th traditionally consists of a man-shaped bread (called Grittibänz, recipe here), mandarines, walnuts, peanuts (with the shells), Lebkuchen and chocolates.

So, make sure you put your boots outside the door tonight and IF you have been good you'll awake tomorrow morning to find them filled with mandarines, nuts and chocolates.

The Switzers - the 193 nationalities of Switzerland

Switzerland has 8.3 million inhabitants, a quarter of whom are migrants from 193 countries. One person from each appears in a new photo book "The Switzers" by photographers Reiner Roduner and Roland Schmid.

When Roduner read that Switzerland was home to people from practically every country in the world an idea was born: find an interesting person from every nation and take their portrait.

All of these people make up an important part of Switzerland’s identity. Identity is in constant flux and is defined by the people who make up a society. This book reflects what they have to say about their new home. Take a look for yourself: http://www.switzersbuch.ch

Watch the crowdfinding video:

100 faces of Switzerland

Remember my post from January 2016? The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) - who are in charge of promoting Switzerland's image abroad - wished to show the world who our country's ambassadors are. They were looking for faces of Switzerland abroad.

Well, here is the result highlighting the importance of the Swiss community abroad which by the way would be Switzerland's fourth biggest canton if all 762'000 of us were to be local residents.

One hundred people, from past and present, with extraordinary life stories, represent their home to the world and influence the image of Switzerland abroad. Their lives are multifaceted and their reasons for emigration diverse. Yet all of Switzerland’s citizens living abroad have something in common – their connection to Switzerland.

Participants were invited to speak about their social background and their professional career in the language of their choice. This created portraits of 90 people from roughly 50 countries and all five continents with different life stories, personal stories that also represent the history of Swiss identity. Furthermore, the lives of ten figures from past centuries are highlighted, figures who made a name for themselves abroad.

Get to know these 100 people on the website www.houseofswitzerland.org

A truly magical corner of Switzerland

A magnificent view from half-way up the San Salvatore mountain

Stepping back into my childhood... hiking with the family!

Autumn in Ticino is really Summer’s last goodbye, but with lots of added flavour!

The sweet chestnut tree, a common sight in the southern Alps, was once known as the "bread tree", since chestnuts were one of the staple foods of Canton Ticino until the early Middle Ages.

Stocking up on some good weather and good food before the winter arrives.

Ricetta della nonna: Take some yellow pumpkin, cut it to pieces and boil in salted water. Once it is soft enough, blend it with the mixer. Prepare a good broth, and when it is boiling, add to the pumpkin mash. Let cook for a moment, and add some milk and a slice of butter.

Serve with croutons and grated cheese.

The perfect lunch spot

 Ever seen Umberto Eco's movie: Name of the Rose?

 A truly magical corner of Switzerland

Six years of blogging: Expat with Kids blogiversary

Back in 1998, three days after our wedding I had followed my hubby to the other side of the world convinced I would never again return to good old Switzerland. As my mother tends to say: "You never know what comes around the corner." Nine years later I was back on my home turf!

On January 6th, 2007 the kids started public school in Lugano. A big change from the English speaking International school in Madrid from where we had moved. Switzerland was to become our home and I set my mind towards a long-term commitment, happy to have returned to my roots.

Although Lugano is the Italian speaking part of the country, the system, the rules and regulations, the transport system, the food, the people and the way of living were very familiar. It did not take me long to slip into Ticino lifestyle, nevertheless keeping a low profile and trying to fit in with the locals... no easy feat!

The day started early, by 8:00 the kids were out of the house, however, they would come back for a two hour lunch break at 11:45. At 15:30 it was time to pick up little Expat girl. I loved spending time with my kids but this schedule did not leave much time for other projects.

Lugano at the time was booming , many Expat were arriving especially from Italy and Russia. The housing market was at an all-time high. What was missing was an English guide on how to find your way around the area.

I had come across blogging thanks to a table neighbour during a dinner party. Little did I know it was to become a passion. With time on my hands and a determination to share all the advantages this lovely spot has to offer I launched into my blog Expat with Kids and never looked back. The first post was published on six years ago today.

In the meantime Lugano tourist office has launched an English blog, the English speaking community has an excellent Facebook page and there is even a new International school just across the border.

So, I might not be the only kid on the block anymore but my passion for blogging has remained as has my love for the Ticino... and that is more than enough reason for me to continue to blog!