A Californian living in Switzerland
…or Happy Swiss National Day from Geneva! August 1 marks the anniversary of when the Swiss Federal Charter was signed in 1291 bringing together “three Alpine cantons [who] swore the oath of confederation.” That charter is also why Switzerland’s actual country name is the Confederation Helvetique or simply “CH.” All over Switzerland today you will […]
Read MoreUS News & World Report ranked Switzerland this week the “best country in the world” on its annual Best Countries report. The ranking does not surprise me–life here is pretty good–but it’s far from perfect, so I thought I’d delve into what Swiss life is like for an outsider. More on the report The report analyzed 80 […]
Read MoreI came across an interview of a Swiss woman traveling in New York City and just had to share since it perfectly captures some of the differences between my home country and my adopted country. The original interview appeared in New York Magazine. Americans do not know much about Switzerland. “We’re from Bern in Switzerland. Even though […]
Read MoreThis week we’re celebrating two years living in Switzerland and I’m surprised how emotionally-wrought this anniversary has been. We’re experiencing the most difficult of expat conundrums: The longer you live in your adopted country the harder it is to imagine moving home. In fact, it’s harder to define where “home” lies these days. We’re having […]
Read MoreLife abroad comes with some major plusses, so I try to refrain from discussing any negatives and end up sounding like a whiny, unappreciative expat. Over the past few months I’ve been stashing away my stateside desires in a mental file titled “secret longings.” And while the top 20 things on the list are seeing family […]
Read More