DAVOS With varying weather, skiers still need to remain vigilant about the avalanche risk over the next few weeks. By the end of January at least 25 people had died in avalanche-related deaths in the Swiss and French Alps since Christmas. A fatality in Nandaz this week brought the seasonal total for Switzerland alone stood […]
Becoming Swiss
Geneva Faced with the unknown prospects of this month’s referendum aimed at curbing immigration, some long-term residents eligible for naturalization are putting a rush on their applications. So who can become Swiss, and how? Citizenship may be granted through three different channels: birth, marriage or naturalization. Contrary to the US, UK or Germany where naturalization […]
New heights for Swiss hotel schools
According to a recently published survey conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres, the top three hotel schools in the world are Swiss: Ecôle Hotelière de Lausanne, Glion Institute of Higher Education and Les Roches International School of Hotel Management. The success of these schools is attributed to a unique “combination of professional excellence and international business […]
House renovation: cross-border cost comparisons
Whether renovating a house or putting finishing touches to those dirt-prone skirting boards, there are distinctive advantages to being cross-border savvy. Some items, such as paint and electric drills, can be purchased more cheaply in Switzerland, while timber is better picked up in France. As a rule, Swiss workmanship and material quality trump French, but […]
Swiss payments to French towns
Geneva’s compensation financière genevoise might seem altruistic, but it relies on a historical symbiosis unique to the Lake Geneva region. The bilateral agreement, introduced in the early 1970s, redistributes frontalier tax-money to Geneva’s bordering French departments, Haute-Savoie and Ain. The former receives 76.7% of the CHF 270 million dividend, the latter 23.3%. The funds are […]
Anti-nuclear tablets, anyone?
LAUSANNE In tune with Switzerland’s prevention culture, people living within a 50 km radius of a nuclear plant will now receive iodide tablets to counter the possible effects of nuclear disaster. The majority of people inhabiting the Bern, Fribourg, Neuchâtel and Jura cantons will receive the pills. The measure will also concern a substantial proportion […]
Au pairing
Two popular misconceptions exist when talking about au pairing. One is based on gender bias; the other is that it’s not a “proper” job. Reality poses an altogether different take. Living and working abroad while being entrusted with a parent’s most precious possession, their children, is no laughing matter. Nor is it one necessarily reserved […]