I thought it would be fun to share a few fun facts as well as brands and items that you may or may not know were made in Switzerland. Of course there are a large number of chocolate and watch brands, but you'd be surprised to see what else is made, and generally made very well in this beautiful country where we currently reside.
1. Nestlé - Interestingly, the company's first product was an alternative to human breast milk, created by Henri Nestlé, although they have branched out considerably since then. Many of the items found here are not available in the US and vice versa - such as Toll House Chocolate Chips, not to be found anywhere in Switzerland! It is a huge company with products ranging from chocolate and Nerds candy to additional recognizable brands as Perrier Water and both Dreyer's and Häagen Dazs ice cream as well as far beyond.
2. Swatch (Swiss + Watch = Swatch). Most of us know this brand of stylish and affordable watches. The Swatch Group also owns Omega, Tissot, and Longines, a few other recognizable and far more expensive brands.
3. Victorinox - best known for their famous Swiss Army Watches, in the US their subsidiary Wenger is mostly recognizable.
4. Ricola - Long my favorite cough drop, there are more flavors than you can imagine over here and even Ricola teas. (Place your orders early, we're coming home in December!)
5. Lindt - The best known chocolate outside of Switzerland and very popular over here as well although there are many competing brands. The company dates back to the 19th century and also owns the Ghiradelli chocolate company, of course well-known by San Franciscans.
6. UBS Banque - Although coming under fire for some shady business practices and with the banking laws changing faster than the people harboring their money here can keep up with, still the best known Swiss bank.
7. Luxury Watch Brands Rolex and Tag Heuer among many others. Technically, Rolex was founded in London but using Swiss technology and parts and under a different name. The company moved to Geneva in 1908.
8. Zyliss - Innovative and dependable kitchen products that launched in 1948 with the much-loved Garlic Press.
9. - Sigg - Best known now for their popular aluminum water bottles, this company began in 1908 producing household and sporting good items. The water bottles didn't hit the market until the '90's.
10. Bally Switzerland - Creating high-end luxury shoes since 1851, the pair of boots that Neil Armstrong wore to walk on the moon was comprised of rubber components created by Bally technology.
11. Chevrolet - Ok so this company "seems" as American as you can get. However, the co-founder and original automotive engineer, race-car driver Louis Chevrolet was from Switzerland. And the company was actually founded in Canada in 1911.
12. Logitech - Doing their best to improve our experiences with the digital world, Logitech hit the market in 1981 with the first computer mouse and has since broadened it's product categories substantially.
13. Kuhn Rikon - cookware products for the discerning chef. They produce beautiful and durable products.
14. International Red Cross - Founded in 1863 in Geneva, Switzerland, this branch oversees all national Red Cross movements. Now I understand why their emblem is similar to the Swiss flag!
15. And last but not least....Schmidbauer Baby #3! Due on March 25, coincidentally Sam's birthday, the latest installment to our family is going to be a girl! We are all very excited to welcome her to our family and for those of you who are worried about her nationality, although she will be born in Switzerland, she will be an All-American girl. For a country that is comprised of so many nationalities, the Swiss are reluctant to admit new members easily. Either Hardy or I would have to be a Swiss citizen for our child to be as well. Since we are not Swiss nationals, we most likely (not yet confirmed) do not have to abide by the rule of providing the hospital in advance of the birth, a name or names from an approved list provided by the Swiss government. Essentially the Swiss are ensuring that none of their citizens shall have to make their way through life with the name "Tree Stump" or any such thing. As temporary foreigners we should have the right to give our baby any name we choose. However what we have to do is prove that our chosen name is "normal" in our country. Not exactly sure how we do that, but as anything seems to go in the USA nowadays, shouldn't be too difficult! We will have to go to our local embassy to notify them of the birth and they will help with providing a birth certificate, passport and SSN. Thanks for your continued support everyone, it means so much especially as we go through this incredible process so far away from home and our support network.
20 Weeks - Thanks to G-Ma for the fun shirt and my mom for the hat!
Both Sam and Dean very much enjoyed their first Swiss Halloween. Sam was able to dress up for school where they had a Halloween party, and one of our neighbors organized an American "trick-or-treat" through all of the buildings in our complex. It was freezing and the boys were so bundled up that their costumes were slightly unrecognizable but we all had a lot of fun. They don't have many kinds of individually wrapped candy here so many of the people just handed out unwrapped candy which was kind of interesting. We already had our first snowfall, the Saturday before Halloween, canceling a different Halloween party we were supposed to attend, but thankfully the snow isn't sticking yet, giving us a little more time to get the required snow tires on our car. However as Hardy mentioned, he could tell that winter was here when he saw the orange poles put up all over town to signal to the snow plows where the road is....Not sure we are ready for this!
A few recent photos of the troops.
Next town over: La Chaux-de-Fonds - Petit Zoo and it's free! That's an ibex behind the boys.
Very regal and official Knight.
Master pumpkin carver hasn't lost his touch, or his team spirit.
Little Mister Dragon Deanzie has a front row seat at The Langer's Halloween party.
Thinking Inside the Box.
First Snow - yikes!
Bedtime stories with Daddy.
St. Martin's Day Parade. Organized through Sam's school the kids decorated lanterns and paraded through the city in honor of St. Martin of Tours, known for his charity.
Happy Winter! Much Love & Warmth,
Lilli, 3 Boys and a Baby.
No comments:
Post a Comment