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

Facts about waste water

World Water Day is held on March 22nd to raise awareness of the importance of freshwater. It helps bring attention to a crisis faced by millions around the globe – limited access to fresh, clean water.

This year's theme is 'why waste water' and focuses on getting people to stop wasting the valuable resource.

It is estimated that 663 million people live without access to safe water close to their homes. Instead, they must travel long distances or queue for hours to get it. Many also have to cope with contaminated water – and the associated health problems.

The United Nations General Assembly officially designated March 22nd as World Water Day in 1993. Since then, campaigns have focused on improving water quality and access to freshwater for people around the world. In 2015 – and as part of the Sustainable Development Goals – a UN Initiative set a target to make sure everyone on the planet has access to safe water by 2030.

It is estimated that by 2030, the demand for water will have increased by 50% – most of which will be from people living in cities. As a result, World Water Day organisers are calling for new approaches to wastewater management.

Facts about waste water:
- At present, more than 80% of wastewater produced is pumped back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused.
- Despite most of the world's population being expected to live in cities by 2050, most – especially in developing countries – do not have the infrastructure or resources needed to manage wastewater.
- 1.8 billion people (more than a quarter of the world's population) use a source of drinking water that is contaminated by faeces. This places them at risk of a host of deadly diseases including dysentery, cholera and polio.
- It is estimated that unsafe water and poor sanitation kills 842,000 people every year.
- An area of land roughly equivalent to the size of Sri Lanka is irrigated with wastewater or polluted water. This causes health problems in the farmers working on the land, and eventually the people who consume the products they produce.
- Water, sanitation and hygiene could prevent 9.1% of the global disease burden – and an estimated 6.3% of all deaths.
- Improved water sources reduces the number of deaths from diarrhoea by 21%, while improved sanitation can reduce it by 37.5%.
- According to the USGS, the average person uses up to 100 gallons of water per day. 95% of this goes down the drain – meaning each person wastes between 76-95 gallons every day.
- Despite most of the planet being covered by water, most of it is not available for human use. If the Earth's water fitted into a four litre jug, just one tablespoon would be available freshwater.

Expat with Kids Social Media

Stuck at home with a thigh muscle strain - needless to say the weather is gorgeous and a run would seem like a great idea - I have reverted to streamlining all my social media feeds... et voilà le résultat!

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The world's most influential language

What makes a language influential? Is it one with the most speakers?

According to one group of scholars, including cognitive scientist and linguist Steven Pinker, whether or not a language is influential is less about that language itself, and more about how it connects to others.

To establish how languages are connected, the scholars looked at three forms of writing. If someone, a journalist for example, wants their story to go global, they will most likely print the story in their native language, as well as in those languages they think will have the biggest reach.

First, they looked at over 2.2 million book translations between 1979 and 2011, which were made in over 150 countries and more than a thousand languages. They then looked at which edits to Wikipedia were being done in more than one language, scanning 382 million edits in 238 languages by 2.5 million editors. Finally, they turned to Twitter, looking at 550 million tweets in 73 languages written by 17 million users – more than 10% of Twitter’s active user base.

If researching a global language network shows one thing, it's that English remains the number one most connected language in the world. After English, however, there was no single global network, but rather three sets of smaller networks around the world, linked together by languages that have had historical and colonial influence, such as French, Spanish, German, Russian, Portuguese and Chinese.

Expat life: not always a smooth ride

Expat life is not as easy and smooth as many people think. Moving to another country can be one of the best and most exciting experiences of someone’s life, but it can also be very stressful. Rates of depression among expats can be up to 50% higher than the general population. At the heart of expat stress is homesickness, and many, if not all, expats will experience homesickness at some point. 41% of expats say making friends is a key concern of theirs when moving abroad. Learning the language of your destination country is a key part to truly settling in, though speaking English can get you by in most situations. For expats moving abroad, on average it takes between 5 and 7 years for them to fully adjust and integrate into their new country.

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.

Modern Love

I love infographics. This one was made in early 2013.  The concept behind it was to visually demonstrate how technology has affected our behavior in romantic relationships. See for yourself.

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

How Bilingualism rewires your brain

Around the world, more than half of people – estimates vary from 60-75% – speak at least two languages. Many countries have more than one official national language – South Africa has 11. And you thought Switzerland had a lot with four?! People are increasingly expected to speak, read and write at least one of a handful of “super” languages, such as English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish or Arabic, as well.

Multilingualism has been shown to have many social, psychological and lifestyle advantages. Moreover, researchers are finding a swath of health benefits from speaking more than one language, including faster stroke recovery and delayed onset of dementia.

Did you know that as a bilingual your brain is continually processing information in both languages?

“Bilinguals are a really a model of cognitive control,” Pennsylvania State University cognitive scientist Judith F. Kroll told Quartz, citing bilinguals’ ability to both hold two languages in their head and expertly switch between them at the right times.

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?

Maintenant, il ne faut plus se trumper!

Every once in a while I get carried away... the Sister March in Paris to the Women’s March on Washington D.C was definitely one of those moments. I am not a political person but this movement struck a cord in me, somewhere between the human rights and women's lib I found a cause I identified with. It was nothing to do with Donald Trump... this was bigger, it was about personal conviction and fundamental beliefs.

I invited Expat Girl to join me in the March which was to lead us from the Trocadero Esplanade of human rights to the Wall for Peace Monument on the Champ de Mars. Rather sheepishly she declined because she didn't feel safe to walk with such a big crowd of people. I respect that. The terrorist attacks had had an impact on her young life and there were things she was not prepared to do.

As I walk towards the terrace where the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on December 10, 1948 I was surprised to hear only murmurs and relaxed conviviality. Usually during demonstrations you can hear shouts and chants a block away from the Trocadero.

Sure enough, as I came around the Musée de l'Homme - ten minutes before the March was suppose to begin - I saw a little crowd, women of all ages holding various signs and flags. Were the Parisiennes suitably late or was this just not on the city's agenda I thought a wee bit disappointed?

True to French style, however, people were late, and half an hour later thousands had turned up and it was impossible for the tourists to even attempt to get a picture of the Eiffel Tower from the Trocadero Esplanade.

With grace, dignity and conviviality women AND men from France, the USA, Mexico, Spain, New Zealand and many other places walked the walk side by side, each with their own belief and their own cause at heart. There was no aggressiveness, no arguments, no shouting or screaming. People were talking with their neighbours, smiling at one another, kids were asking each other where they were from in English, journalists were taking snapshots to capture the serene and peaceful mood of the colourful crowd blessed with sunshine and a wonderful and rare blue winter sky.

A unique and unforgettable afternoon in the French capital born of a solidarity movement with the Women’s March in the USA which will go down in history and in my memory as a very special moment of this complex, modern world.

As one of the signs said: "Maintenant, il ne faut plus se trumper!

Some say we were 7000 at Trocadero today!

A sign that sums it all up

Il faut du tout pour faire un monde

Best script board

The beauty of this march is that everybody can have their own agenda!

Recognise this Spanish sign?

Every person has their own personal reasons to participate

The French are part of the party as well!

An impressive view

Ready to march the March 

The beauty of this sign is that it was carried by a man!

Arriving at the Wall of Peace with police escort

Greeting our sisters in Washington DC

A peaceful Saturday afternoon march comes to an end

The Wall of Peace, a favourite site of rendezvous for militants of human rights

Picture of the day: "Je suis une femme"

Old World language families revisited

When linguists talk about the historical relationship between languages, they use a tree metaphor. An ancient source (for example Indo-European) has various branches (e.g., Romance, Germanic), which themselves have branches (West Germanic, North Germanic), which feed into specific languages (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian).

Lessons on language families are often illustrated with a simple tree diagram that has all the information but lacks imagination. There’s no reason linguistics has to be so visually uninspiring.

Minna Sundberg, creator of the webcomic Stand Still. Stay Silent, a story set in a lushly imagined post-apocalyptic Nordic world, has drawn the antidote to the boring linguistic tree diagram.

To start off 2017 with a giggle...

Who knew Ireland has a vibrant animation industry? Thankfully comedy plays a big part. Grintage was launched in 2015 to develop and celebrate the best of Irish comedy. It’s a work in progress as these Irish Youtubers continue to grow and gain support from the wider comedy community and industry.

The video dates a few months back but I thought you might to like a giggle to start off the new year.

The modern Third Culture Kid

Denizen is an online magazine and community dedicated to people who grew up in multiple countries, international school alumni, or Third Culture Kids (TCK). Third Culture Kids are the international nomads that possess the cross-cultural views and diverse experiences that are necessary in a ever-shrinking world.

Formally defined, TCKs are people who have spent a portion of their formative childhood years (0-18) in a culture different than their parents. TCKs are, quite literally, citizens of the world. They are hard to define and are made of an infinite amount of experiences.

Last August Denizen conducted an informal online survey of more than 200 Third Culture Kids. The majority of respondents were female, with the average age being 29. They were curious about the lives of the modern Third Culture Kid. They wanted to learn more about who these TCKs were, how often they’d moved, and how they had aged.

To the most frequently asked question “Where are you from?”, the easiest response is always “It’s complicated.”

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

The story of the red poppy

The red poppy is a symbol of Remembrance and hope for a peaceful future. It has no political, religious or commercial meaning.

Each year, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Great Britain and other country's observe a Two Minute Silence. Armistice Day on 11 November marks the end of the First World War and is a day to remember and honour those who have paid the price for our freedom.

It is tradition that in the UK, volunteers distribute the Royal British Legion's iconic paper poppies throughout the nation. The bright paper flowers are sold as the charity collect donations in return to help support the vital work they do for the Armed Forces community.

This small red flower that grew on the devastated battlefields of the First World War is a solemn reminder of the cost of war and the price of peace. The red poppy is worn so that we never forget the commitment and sacrifices of the Serving, never forget those who need help to live on through the consequences of war, and always remember our troubled world needs reconciliation and peace.

Since 1921 the Legion has protected the red poppy from political or partisan misuse and ensured it remains a symbol that can be worn with pride by those of all ages, backgrounds, and political and religious beliefs.

Many nations respect and honour the sacrifices of their Armed Forces and the red poppy is an international symbol worn around the world. Each year 1.5 million poppies are sent to 50 countries worldwide, there are distinct red poppies worn in Canada, Australia and New Zealand for Remembrance, and in France they wear the bluet.

This year the Legion is asking the nation to rethink Remembrance when they wear their poppy, and recognise that all generations of our Armed Forces community, from the Second World War through to the present day, need our support.

I am thrilled to have found a British Legion's poppy at Marks and Spencers in Paris yesterday.

I am proud to wear my poppy today.

A very long night ahead...

Are you among the 35,000 to 40,000 Americans living in Switzerland, or are you one of the 80,000-strong Swiss community in the US? Maybe you are a global citizen, with interests that connect you to the two countries.

Nearly half a million Swiss have emigrated to the US since the 18th century. Part of the legacy of many of the Swiss emigres are the 5,000 American towns that now bear Swiss names, as well as their influence on American culture: electric guitar pioneer Adolph Rickenbacker and car company founder Louis Chevrolet, to name just two.

A new Democratic- or Republican-led administration in Washington will take decisions that could affect your taxes, business or other binational affairs – or simply people’s perceptions of Americans living in Switzerland.

The New York Times is inviting readers to take advantage of its reporting, analysis and commentary from the lead-up through the aftermath of the 2016 election. Readers will have unlimited access to NYTimes.com for 72 hours from 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday, November 7 until 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 9.

I have been glued to CNN Tv since lunch time. It's gonna be a looooong night!

The World's Biggest Eye Contact Experiment

On Saturday the 29th of October, 2016 hundreds of thousands of people from around the world – from Tel Aviv to Melbourne – will stand united in eye contact. It is the official date for the World's Biggest Eye Contact Experiment, a global event inspiring the world to share authentic eye contact and connection in public. Last year over 100,000 people from over 156 different cities were involved.

The Liberators International are the global organisers of this event. They are a peaceful international social movement founded in Perth, Australia and are passionate about creating participatory public demonstrations for peace and videos that allow us to see that beyond our differences there is love and humanity.

Why?
“Our global society has become thirsty for true connection and this experience allows you to be the change you wish to see in the world by creating an authentic, loving and respectful platform for human connection to flourish in public.”

Your participation in this global event demonstrates that beyond our differences there is love and humanity. You will be representing your country on this incredible day and what happens will forever change the social fabric of the present and future. Sign up here.

The only Ticino event is awaiting clearance for Locarno. Stay tuned with this list of participating cities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dycjvpldFI8jhsgpkYO2CWBXCseKqRwnKLgQ_UQABRE/mobilebasic

For more info click here: http://www.eyecontactexperiment.com

International Day of the Girl

In 2011, as the result of youth advocacy around the world, the United Nations declared October 11th as the International Day of the Girl. Its mission is “to help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls’ lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential.”

It is a day when activist groups come together under the same goal to highlight, discuss, and take action to advance rights and opportunities for girls everywhere.

The challenges girls face differ across the world, but by ensuring data on girls is gathered and recorded, it is hoped that this year’s International Day of the Girl will support future progress by recording present facts.

Girls in numbers:
-  70% of the world’s poor are girls and women
-  62m Number of girls who should be in school but are not.
-  830 girls and young women die during pregnancy and childbirth every day
-  55% of the 20.9m victims of forced labour are girls and women
-  39,000 girls are married before they turn 18

Source: plan-international.org/because-i-am-a-girl

October 11 is not just a day; it’s a movement!