August 1, Swiss National Day, has come and gone. Swiss abroad around the world have met to celebrate their “Swissness”, maybe with a few sausages over a bonfire – like here in Canada. Or in Germany, with something serious to commemorate. You might have one of these people, remembering what it means to be Swiss.

Back home though, many citizens take at best a polite interest in proceedings, preferring to concentrate on their summer holiday or a day off. Some Swiss historians even question if it is the right time to celebrate.

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Estive na Suíça, com minha esposa Eliane e meus filhos Vinicius e Helena, entre os dias 11 e 14 de maio na Suíça em busca de informações sobre os imigrantes Friedrich Stauffer e Ana Maria Kobi Stauffer, que em 1856 chegaram ao Espírito Santo e foram morar em Rio Novo do Sul. Eles faziam parte de um grupo de 11 famílias, 90 pessoas.

A missão foi facilitada pelo arquiteto Alfred Muller, que havia conhecido há oito anos, por meio da Internet. Havia deixado uma mensagem no site da comunidade de Eggiwil, no Cantão alemão de Berna, informando que Friedrich e Ana Maria haviam imigrado para o Brasil e nós estávamos em busca dos parentes. Alfred pesquisou nos informou a data do nascimento, batismo e casamento de Friedrich, bem como os nomes de seus irmãos e pais. Depois nos enviou mais cinco gerações dos membros da família. Mantivemos sempre contato e a expectativa de um dia ir à Suíça.

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If you are a citizen of Basel City and live abroad, you are apparently in luck. The canton has decided to allow the use of electronic ballots, effectively allowing expats to vote easily and not worry about receiving or casting a paper ballot.

This measure is one that the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad has been pushing for years, especially with over 100,000 Swiss abroad registered as voters. The federal authorities also consider the move a milestone in voting rights.

However should an expat be allowed to vote on issues not directly affecting him or her? Not so sure say some!

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Fragen Sie sich manchmal, wie das Leben für Sie in der Schweiz wäre? Sind Sie von Ihrem Gastland enttäuscht? Oder planen Sie, Ihren Ruhestand in der Schweiz zu geniessen?

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Los primeros alumnos tenían clases al aire libre.

El de Santiago de Chile celebra 70 años. Es el más antiguo de Sudamérica y al principio impartió las clases al aire libre. Si Usted estudió en una de estas instituciones, háblenos de su experiencia o comparta sus fotografías de esa época con nosotros.

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Per quale motivo i miei antenati hanno lasciato la Svizzera italiana? Per rispondere a questa domanda, swissinfo ha realizzato un dossier speciale “Terra di emigranti”, che illustra il contesto socioeconomico all’origine delle ondate migratorie del 19. e 20. secolo e racconta la storia di chi è partito in direzione della California, dell’Australia e della Gran Bretagna.

Annuncio apparso nel 1932 sul giornale "La Colonia Svizzera" pubblicato a San Francisco (Giovanni Buzzi)

Il dossier, in italiano e in inglese, include articoli di fondo, reportage, gallerie fotografiche, elementi video e audio. Oltre a volgere uno sguardo al passato, swissinfo ha raccolto testimonianze nella Svizzera italiana e nell’antiche mete migratorie d’oltremare.

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Why did my ancestors leave Switzerland? To answer this kind of question, swissinfo has a new special online - “We shall not stay long” - about the country’s Italian-speaking inhabitants leaving for greener pastures abroad (Britain, California or Australia) in the 19th century.

The special is both in English and Italian. Text, pictures, audio slideshows and videos are just some of the elements included, as well as blogs and the Swiss Roots database where you can check out facts about your ancestors and add details of your own.

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Quelle représentation au Parlement pour les expatriés ? En Suisse, où aucun d’entre eux n’a jamais été élu (bien que cela soit légalement possible), une initiative parlementaire demandait qu’on puisse leur réserver des sièges, d’abord au Conseil des Etats (Chambre des cantons), puis au Conseil national (Chambre du peuple). Acceptée dans un premier temps par la seconde, elle vient d’être refusée par la première. Ce qui n’empêchera pas l’Organisation des Suisses de l’étranger (OSE) de poursuivre sa lutte pour renforcer la participation politique de la Cinquième Suisse.

12 Français de l'étranger siègent au Sénat.

La France, pays où réside la plus grande communauté de Suisses de l’étranger, réserve déjà 12 sièges au Sénat (Chambre haute) à ses expatriés. Et réfléchit à leur représentation à l’Assemblée nationale (Chambre basse). A noter que ce droit à des sièges réservés pour la diaspora existe également en Italie, au Portugal et en Croatie.

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Tomi Streiff

Es el caso del cineasta Tomi Streiff: “Por un lado, Argentina tiene de todo, os gusta la gente, el clima, hemos hecho amistades muy lindas. Por otro lado, la situación ha cambiado, los precios son altísimos, hay una inflación increíble y se hace difícil trabajar. Trabajamos con extranjeros que quieren hacer producciones en el país, pero cuando ven los precios deciden no hacerlo. Sin duda, tenemos que seguir trabajando con Suiza y Nueva York para vivir.”

¿Usted también tiene implicada a Suiza en su proyecto de vida fuera de las fronteras helvéticas?

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Fred Kolb went from cowherd to cowboy on his Australian farm, and learnt about it the hard way. Never having ridden a horse before was a bit of a challenge. The one I was given seemed to be about 3 metres high.

One day I had to help the boss (the younger son of the owners) to herd some cows to another paddock, but my horse had other ideas and didn’t go the way I wanted to go. It threw me off and I flew over its head and landed flat on my back, knocking the wind out of me.

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