The “Baden ride”

Baden, the small city in Argovia famous for the old roman hot springs and for being the headquarters of ABB and GE in Switzerland, has just celebrated its “ride” from the 18th to the 27th of August.
The so-called “Badenfahrt” is a great party which lasts 10 days all over the town and takes place every 10 years (every 5 with a smaller version).

All the city transforms itself in a real Wonderland: everywhere you find stalls with food and drinks, temporary open air bars, people preparing and selling food from every country in the world, stages for concerts, a big Luna Park with impressive attractions, western-style saloons, terraces and balconies, even a rocket takeoff installation, tropical clubs, exotic places, fun and happiness. The ultimate 10 years’ recurring event!
The most of this “new temporary city within the actual city” is organised by various associations, which are so popular in Switzerland. Therefore a lot of people are volunteering to contribute to the success of this event.

This time, the small great Baden has done it perfectly!
Better than any pirate, corsair, crusade, expedition, campaign: the Baden ride, the Badenfahrt, has really been amazing!

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The banana mystery is almost solved

Picture from www.pinterest.de

Last week I had the yearly meeting with the kindergarten teacher of my elder daughter.
Every year, near the end of the year, the teacher gives feedback and scores to the behaviour, activities, progress of the kids.
I was pleased for the nice feedback, but my energies were already all directed towards the… mysterious topic!
And so finally I came to the million dollars’ question: Why (the hell, but this I did not speak out loud) the kids cannot eat bananas during their break in the kindergarten?

The teacher seemed a little surprised for this “nutritional” question, but she immediately understood!
OK, to make it short, a dental specialist sometimes visits the kindergarten to teach the kids how to clean their teeth properly and inform them on other matters somehow related to orthodontics, including “healthy” and tooth-friendly food.
Apparently, as the teacher reported, banana tends to stuck and melt in between the teeth, due to its soft texture. This might increase the risk for caries.
I don’t know whether it was because of the heat of the day or the astonishment for such piece of information, but I remained still, like stunned, for some seconds.

I never heard someone condamn bananas in such a way, being banana still a recognised very healthy fruit!
But this is it!

The mystery is solved by now.
But it probably needs a follow-up!
As far as I know, there are many other fruits which can stick, stuck, glue themselves between small teeth, but they have not been softly “banned” by the kindergarten dental consultant!

Is this just racism against bananas or maybe the dental consultant absolutely hates… minions??

(See also my previous post “The banana mystery in the Kindergarten”: https://geoch1.wordpress.com/2017/05/06/the-banana-mystery-in-the-kindergarten/)

Going to work…

The banana mystery in the Kindergarten

A big question mark has stuck in my head since yesterday.
I’m gonna tell you a real mystery, something which is fully out of any common human comprehension.
Every day my 5 years’ old daughter, when she goes to the Kindergarten, shall bring a small snack for the mid-morning break.
This normally means fruit and something crunchy like bread, crackers, etc.
Quite easy, right?

Yesterday I was in charge of preparing her small box and I gave her some slices of banana…
When she was back home, we found the same untouched banana slices. Strange! My daughter normally likes bananas. Which kid wouldn’t like this fruit?

With curiosity I asked for details and I found out that the teacher does not allow the kids to eat bananas!!!
What??
I could not get the real reason though…

I was quite astonished and even a little upset. Bananas are apparently forbidden, but other kinds of well-known unhealthy food, like sausages, are welcome in the kindergarten or even in the nursery and are often the delicacy of the day!!

I’m still not sure about the background of this “banana ban”.
But I shall go on investigating, because I’m actually going bananas with this banana matter!
… How not to in such case?????

Swissinisation

From left: The flags of Canton Argovia, Switzerland and municipality of Ehrendingen.

16 years, 2 months and 22 days!

After having been in Switzerland for 16 years, 2 months and 22 days, I (and my family) have achieved the requirements to start the procedures and get the white crossed passport!

The Swiss law requires a residence of minimum 12 years in the Confederation, 5 years in the same Canton and 3 in the same municipality to be able to apply.
Having moved to the municipality of Ehrendingen 3 years ago, we just completed the last missing milestone last Friday!

And so we started our “Swissinisation” or, as they say here, our “Einbürgerung”.
In the Confederation, there is a website from the Administration clearly explaining all the needed actions for this process.
The process of becoming Swiss in the Confederation has, of course, a typical aspect. The key word is “naturalisation” (Einbürgerung): terms like “passport” or “citizenship” are never mentioned.
Maybe it’s more elegant like this…

Now let’s trust the Swiss administrative efficiency for all the further steps of this long procedure!

Koran for free!

Another bloody week has finished.
And here “bloody” has unfortunately its actual meaning. Europe, Stockholm this time, was attacked again by a vile terrorist who killed some people and made a mess just in the name of the Islamic State!
This is not acceptable! Everywhere everyone has an opinion… thousands of discussions are spreading around.

One of the main problems for me is how these people (the terrorists) are brainwashed, being convinced that doing what they are doing can allow them to reach a holy level and even the highest possible paradise. And of course the problem is how some presumed Imams dare to cause all this.

But here it’s Switzerland, and yesterday was a sunny warm day in Zurich, ideal for a nice walk in the city centre.
This is not about terrorism, but an incredible clever occurrence which I would like to share with you.
While reaching the station to go back home, we suddenly saw a small group of “sandwich” people, which were not advertising a great holiday, or a tasty snack or a smart magazine.
They were just wearing a vest saying “Free Koran”!

I was astonished at first. I have never seen something like this in a “western” city and I found this is one of the best answers to the bloody terrorists and all those who are supporting them.
The only way to learn that Islam can also be peaceful, friendly, civil and modern (as the real Muslims, not the fanatic, say!) is to know what it says.
That’s why I got a copy of the Koran, even in Italian, my mother tongue!

I am not Muslim, but catholic, however I will read this book and finally learn… who and what is right!
And, as usual, I was again astonished by the Confederation!
Switzerland: for sure a strict country where immigrants are not always welcome everywhere, but where the foreigners are so many and so different that every opinion is accepted and tolerated.

Easy Tax but… difficult taste!

It’s time! I have to do it!
By the end of March, as every year, with one of the several consolidated “confederate” rituals of the Swiss Confederation, every entitled person shall complete the annual tax declaration.
Of course Switzerland has a perfect electronic way for that! You can download a program from every cantonal tax department and the tax declaration becomes like a simple (quite boring, actually!) video game.

“EasyTax” is the name of this software.
This is good, perfect, efficient, easy… Swiss!
But, as many good, perfect, efficient, easy… Swiss things in the Confederation… it is unfortunately lacking joy, style, taste, beauty!
Why? Look at what they chose as opening screenshot of the program!
Is it a dying flower? Is it a faded vegetable? Is it the Sadness itself? Is it the “End of the World”?
Of all the colourful and nice flowers the nature offers, only a Swiss tax declaration program could proudly start with such dull floral image!