Like many international families we tend to spend our summer holidays in a country where our children can meet family and discover something of one (or all) of their parents’ cultures. Since several years we spend a few weeks of the summer holidays in Switzerland for exactly this […]
The southernmost canton of Switzerland is Ticino. It has 8 districts and borders the Canton of Uri (to the north), Valais (to the west), Graubünden (to the northeast) and Italy’s regions of Piedmont and Lombardy to the south (and it has a small Italian exclave, Campione d’Italia). In […]
Every country, every culture has its own ways to celebrate traditional festivities. Some families who live abroad adopt some of the local traditions and adapt them with those they know from their own childhood or from the other places they’ve lived. Multicultural families need to agree not only […]
If you are in the southern part of Switzerland at the beginning of August and you like cinema, especially auteur cinema, you don’t want to miss the “Festival del Film Locarno“. Yesterday, Wednesday the 6th 2014, was the kickoff of the 67th edition of the Festival, also known […]
When we’re asked what flag is our country’s one, my children (and I) have a similar reaction like when someone asks us “where do you come from?”. If you ask my three children which country or culture they feel more close, they would tell: Swiss, Dutch, German, Italian, […]
When talking about Switzerland, people usually think about mountains, chocolate, cheese and watches. In the 16 years I’ve lived in Switzerland I have adopted several habits, but one in particular seemed quite impressive to me. It’s the swiss perception of time, the swiss punctuality. When I moved to […]
If you live in Europe, you know that Fondue is a dish. It is actually a Siwss, Italian and French dish of melted cheese, served in a pot (caquelon) over a portable stove (réchaud) and you eat it by dipping long-stemmed forks with bread into the cheese. Fondue […]
In many countries like Germany, Switzerland, Skandinavian countries etc. it is common use to take off the shoes when entering someone’s home (*). The custom of removing shoes is widespread also in Eastern countries like Japan, Korea and Turkey. In these countries it is considered a major faux […]
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Expat Since Birth – A Life spent "abroad" 