TaxMe 2009

This is the name of the tax software that the state of Bern offers for doing your personal taxes. Todd and I thought we could skate by without doing Swiss taxes in 2009 since he only had one month of income. But, no such luck.

We received the paper forms in which the software was mentioned. I picked up a free copy thinking I could cut and paste from the software into Google Translate and thus make completing them easier. Unfortunately, the copy function does not work out of this software.

So after 14 days or so of doing a bit each day, I completed the forms via the guided software and mailed them. I'm not sure if we will receive a refund or owe anything (let alone if I completed them correctly). There is no summary page that shows how you stand at the end of completing the forms. So, we'll just wait to hear something...

Things I Find Interesting

Stores will leave product outside, unguarded, totally in the open for days at a time and nothing will happen to it.

If it is 3:00 AM, raining, and their isn't a single car within miles, the Swiss will still wait for a cross walk light to turn green.

Many bus stops have signs saying when the next bus will arrive. Occasionally 2 buses will be 1 and 2 minutes away. The Swiss will push on the first bus no matter how packed it is. I'll wait the extra minute and get a seat.

One more bus stop one. If you are going some place on the bus/tram route, you wait for the bus even if it is a 3 minute walk to your location. True story, the guy I stayed with in December and I were going to the grocery store. We missed the tram and the next wasn't going to arrive for 12 minutes. Roman went over and stood at the stop to wait. I said, "Why don't we just walk, it only takes 5 minutes?" he got a confused look on his face for a second and said, "It never even occured to me."

Short and Sweet

I am going to try to write short messages for now on. I tend to ramble when I post and end up not finishing.

Todays update: Stuff I like about my job.

I enjoy the fact that what you know is more important than who you know. It seems there is less importance placed on peoples appearance, presentation skills, and who they know. The stereotype about technology people being nerds or geeks is true. I am geek, I proudly admit it. I have witnessed too many people in my career not gain the respect they should because they didn't want to play the corporate game or simply did not have the ability to shmooze.

Another thing is the ability to speak your opinion without worrying about how people will react. On several occasions I have openly disagreed with decisions made by my coworkers. No one has taken it personally. We discuss the options and come to a agreement. Oh, and you need not worry about being politically correct all the time.

In short, work is going well. In nerd speak we are establishing an integration layer following SOA principles utilizing an enterprise service bus model. There is still a lot for me to learn and we have quite a long way to go as an organization, but I am very impressed with what Swisscom has been able to establish so far.

Replacing the Mississippi

One of our favorite family outings in Minneapolis was to walk along the Mississippi, climbing and exploring the banks. Now that the weather has warmed a bit, we have started visiting the Aare river.

The Aare winds its way through Bern, and is actually the longest river in Switzerland that both rises and ends in Switzerland. Its waters seem incredibly clean, and we've heard that in the summer it is full of swimmers. Apparently there is also a bridge in Bern from which people jump into the Aare and float their way down the river.

Isabella has her sights set on making the leap, but for now, we are content building fairy houses on the banks of the Aare.

Fun in Fribourg

Fribourg is a French-speaking region of Switzerland, lying just southwest of Bern. On Thursday, we rented a car, and drove to Gruyeres, a small, medieval village in the Fribourg region.




We visited the Chateau de Gruyeres, the 11th century castle that towers over the village, and then had lunch.









Later in the day, we drove to the nearby village of Broc to tour the Cailler chocolate factory. After an amusing, dramatic tour of the factory, we were treated to trays and trays of chocolate samples and given several chocolate bars to take home.


We drove back through the Alps, a longer but very scenic drive. We all had a fun day.

Spreading our Wings

Isabella and Xavier have just completed week 2 of their three-week spring break. The nicer weather (although still not oh-so-nice) and lots of free time has given us a chance to find a couple other fun things to do near home.

Juat a 10-minute walk from our apartment, is a very nice indoor pool.



And our friends in Bern introduced us to a couple new parks. The Rose Garden in Bern has a small park, a small cafe with outdoor seating, and plenty of green space to play ball or frisbee. It is high on a hill, so has a beautiful view of Bern as well.


We also finally made it to the "Airplane Park" that we've heard so much about. The photos don't do it justice...it's quite the unique park with half an airplane, a wooden boat, a track for scooter like things, a nice sand area and more.

Easter in Ittigen

The sweet things Xavier made at school

The bunny came to our new home in Ittigen. He didn't leave quite the same candy as in MN, but still yummy and appreciated by the wee ones.

We started the day with the kids finding their baskets that were hidden by the bunny, and then they surprised Todd and I with cookies that they had made and a flower for me.


We spent the morning playing Bingo, Sequence, and Kings Corner. We then made a large brunch including bacon, chocolate chip, banana and plain pancakes, as well as eggs and fruit.

We hope all of you had a wonderful Easter as well!