Monte San Salvatore-1 © Milo Zanecchia 2017
It is possible that your next summer vacation will be spent closer to home than you previously thought! We've decided to take a virtual trip around Switzerland to help you get some ideas before you book your next hotel or Airbnb. The first in our series is the Lugano region.
Alessandra De Stefano, Media Relations Manager from Ente Turistico del Luganese, sent us an enthusiastic letter detailing many tempting activities and ideas for your next trip.
Naver Couture's sewing workshops are a wonderful way to be sociable and creative whilst having fun. We caught up with Nathalie Underhill to find out more.
Why did you start Naver Couture? What has been the inspiration?
I wanted to inspire people to get back to basics by teaching them how to sew for themselves, and by practising this great skill we learn to value and appreciate our clothes much more and at the same time build a conscious closet.
I run classes to help people build their own home sewn wardrobes, make alterations for a better fit and up-cycle second-hand clothing to promote circular fashion. Students of all levels come to see me. There are classes that follow a set program and others that enable students to work on their individual projects. I help my students to understand how the various machines work, how to overcome sewing technical issues, how to use, hack and adapt commercial patterns and to create unique made-to-measure garments.
We all know it's hard to find clothes that fit correctly if you are slightly outside the regular cookie-cutter size template, especially for petite, tall, curvy or larger women.
I really enjoy interacting with people and sharing my knowledge. Seeing people's confidence grow as they master the various skills is very rewarding. The camaraderie that builds up in the various workshops really makes it fun! The classes are in English or French and sometimes both so we get a good mix ideas and people.
Have you been working on this idea forever, or was it something that came to you recently?
I was trained as a Fashion Designer at the Rhode Island School of Art and Design and worked for fashion houses in the US, the UK, Belgium and Switzerland. With the arrival of my children I decided to set up my own business from home making made-to-measure garments, alterations and curtain-making. It was not until two years ago when I accepted to give a few private sewing lessons to a client who was very keen to learn herself that everything changed. I discovered a new passion of teaching and I am now actively teaching people of all ages and I love it.
Do you have questions about how to register for the 2020 elections? Would you like to get an early jump on receiving your ballot? What if you have never lived in the US? Or perhaps, you wonder if your absentee vote makes a difference in an election’s outcome?
An estimated 9 million Americans live abroad, and Switzerland is home to about 20,000. Few Americans exercise their right to vote while living outside of the US, but there are good reasons to make the effort. As the 2020 primaries are right around the corner, it’s a good idea to register as soon as possible. In fact, a good rule of thumb is to add voter registration to your annual New Year to-do list, as most states require you to register and request your ballot every year you intend to vote.
Will your vote make a difference?
Absentee votes have decided the outcome in several recent races for federal/gubernatorial office, including Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina (2016), Senator Maggie Hasson of New Hampshire (2016), and Ohio Rep. Troy Balderson (2018).
And, as always, your vote is your voice. If Americans abroad choose not to vote, then issues that directly affect them are not addressed by lawmakers. Double taxation is a perennial issue that many Americans would like to see modified, for example.
By Fergus Dullaghan
Several years ago my wife was mugged just outside Geneva. It was a terrifying experience for her. The damage wasn’t limited to stolen items and a trip to hospital in the back of an ambulance – it was the aftermath. Months (maybe years) of jumping at shadows, disrupted sleep and anxiety.
As a former professional martial artist, I have wanted to help other women in the area avoid the same fate for a long time. Now, I have the opportunity to do so. To make it accessible I have tried to keep the price as low as possible. I would like to offer some very simple, but highly effective strategies to stay safe if you are ever attacked.
We will cover:
- The anatomy of an attack - understanding how a mugging happens
- The psychology of an attack
- Pattern disruption - how to stop an attack before it begins
- Behavioural habits - maximising your chances of a good outcome if you are attacked
- Instinctive defence - how to survive physically
- The aftermath - being aware that the attack itself is just one part of the process
- How to deepen your knowledge (suggested books, blogs and local training possibilities)
Who doesn't like a board game? One of my favorites is Scrabble, although I'm not very good at it. I have memories of my parents pulling out the dictionary and arguing about the meaning of the words (or rather whether the word was allowed). Somehow my mother was always right! When I heard that there was a new Scrabble group starting up in 2016, I jumped at the opportunity to meet with other like-minded people. I caught up with Aurea Fagel, the president of the Swiss English-language Scrabble Association (SESA) to talk to her about it.
Why did you start the Scrabble Association SESA?
After coming from a Scrabble Championship Tournament, Kévin Meng and I realized that there was no existing club or association in Switzerland that organize English Scrabble. Therefore we wanted to create the very first Swiss English-Language Scrabble Association (SESA) in the country to spur interest as well as discover and meet people who share the passion for the game. With the help of our dear friends (Dave, Vicky, Sue, Bill, Anne-laure, Jaqueline, Benoit, Hugo) we met and formed SESA one September evening in 2016. SESA is the official English Scrabble Association in the country, officially recognized by the Swiss Scrabble Federation as well as WESPA, the world governing body for English Scrabble.
