80 MPH?

A train that only goes 80 MPH isn't worth it. It will never succeed if it can't go at least twice as fast as a car.

Five days a week?

I see the USPS might cut service to 5 days a week. Would anyone mix the sixth day? In Switzerland only A (First) class mail is delivered on Saturday. I guess I am not surprised the USPS is having financial difficulties. It seems postage in the US is much less expensive than in Europe. First class postage in Swizerland is about .84 USD for a letter and that is for mailing it in a place smaller than Washington state.

Is the US trying to keep visitors away?

Last week I had to go through passport control at Washington Dulles International Airport. It was by far the worst line I've ever waited in to get my passport checked. It took an hour and ten minutes to get through immigration. I'm just glad I could use the US citizen line. I'm guessing the non citizen/resident line would easily have been two hours.

It took me another 15 minutes to get through customs. The line was short, but it took a while to find my bags. They had been removed from the conveyor belt and lined up with the rest of the bags. It would have been nice if the bags were lined up so the tags were facing the same direction.

I'm surprised any foreigners would want to visit the US now that the government has implemented this. I don't think it would be worth the pain.

All birth related documentation has arrived

We received Muriel's social security card today. I didn't expect it for another couple of weeks. I believe that is the last document that we've been waiting for. Maybe not, her Mileage Plus card has not arrived yet.

US Dept of State: Switzerland Country Specific Information

The text below is from the State Department's Swiss travel advisory. These are the sections that changed from the March 2008 revision.

CRIME: Switzerland has a low rate of violent crime. However, pick-pocketing and purse snatching do occur in the vicinity of train and bus stations, airports, and some public parks, especially during peak tourist periods (such as summer and Christmas) and when conferences, shows, or exhibits are scheduled in major cities. Liechtenstein has a low crime rate. Travelers may wish to exercise caution on trains, especially on
overnight trains to neighboring countries. Thieves, who steal from passengers while they sleep, can enter even locked sleeping compartments. Thieves have been known to work in pairs to target train passengers; while one member of the pair creates a diversion at a train window or on a platform, the other steals items left briefly unattended.

REGISTRATION / EMBASSY LOCATION: Americans living or traveling in Switzerland are encouraged to register with the U.S. Embassy in Bern, with the
Consular Agencies in Geneva or Zurich, or through the State Department’s travel
registration web site, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Americans without Internet access may register directly with the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate. By registering, American citizens make it easier for the Embassy, Consulate, or Consular Agent to contact them in case of emergency. The U.S. Embassy is located at Sulgeneckstrasse 19, 3007 Bern; Tel. (41)(31) 357-7011 (2 p.m. – 5 p.m.); fax (41)(31) 357-7280. The Embassy’s email address is bernacs@state.gov. The U.S. Embassy website at http://bern.usembassy.gov answers many questions of interest to Americans visiting and residing in Switzerland. The U.S. Consular Agency in Zurich is located at the American Center of Zurich, Dufourstrasse 101, 8008 Zurich; Tel: (41)(43) 499-2960 (10 a.m. – 1 p.m.), fax (41)(43) 499-2961. The U.S. Consular Agency in Geneva is located at rue Versonnex 7, CH-1207 Geneva, Tel: 022-840-51 60 (10 a.m. – 1
p.m.); fax 022-840-51 62.

Muriel's Passport has arrived!

On November 20th we all went to the US consulate in Geneva to apply for Muriel's passport, report of birth abroad, and social security card. The consulate is very small and only has two people working in it, so we had to wait in the hall for a while. The really annoying part was that we had to refill out the report of birth abroad form. The form they sent us to fill out ahead of time was a single piece of paper, but the government needs it in triplicate.

The good news was that it only took 16 days for the passport and report of birth to arrive. I was expecting it to take 21 to 28 days. We're still waiting on the social security card, but that isn't as critical.

Our votes have been cast!

We received our absentee ballots today and have filled them out. They'll be mailed back on Tuesday. I'll have to figure out how to vote via email prior to the next election, so I can avoid a trip to the post office.

Rowan's thoughts on the election

Rowan and I were walking back from the bakery when he announced that Hillary Clinton wasn't going to be the president. He says that Barack Obama and John McCain will be.

He can't identify Palin yet, which seems odd because she is on CNN every time I turn the TV on.

Even faster than expected

I got my passport back two days earlier than anticipated. I can't believe it! Now we need to travel so we can fill it up again.

Documentation needed

Here is the documentation needed to get #3 setup in Switzerland and the US.

Switzerland

• Certified copy of my birth certificate (issued in the last 6 months)
• Certified copy of Emily's birth certificates (issued in the last 6 months)
• Certified copy of our marriage certificate (issued in the last 6 months)
• I assume we'll also need to show our residence permits, but that hasn't been on any of the lists I've seen yet

US

• DS-2029 (I think this is the "report of birth abroad" form)
• DS-11 (passport form)
• SS-5 (application for US social security number)
• #3's Swiss birth certificate
• #3's Swiss birth certificate
• My passport
• Emily's passport
• Certified copy of our marriage certificate

Both Emily and I will need to go with #3 (and probably #1 and #2) to the consulate in Geneva. I'm guessing 4-5 months before everything is done and we have a US passport and social security number in our hands.

5 days? I can't believe it is that fast.

I had to send my passport to the embassy in Bern to get additional pages added to it. I asked how long it would take and was told that it would take 5 working days including transit. I mailed it on Saturday, so I should get it back on Friday. I can't imagine it can be done that quick, since the expedited service in the US takes something like two weeks.

2007 Taxes: Step 1

One of the benefits included in the relocation package is that the company will pay for an accounting firm to do both my US and Swiss taxes this year. I had to fill out the online questionnaire and submit scanned copies of all necessary documents by the 29th. It was sort of like using Turbo Tax, but not as user friendly.

I believe the Swiss return must be submitted in March. We get an automatic extension for the US taxes, but I'm not sure how long it is.

Next year I want to try to do my own taxes, but I'll really need to work on my French. The government provides software to use to complete the return, but it is only in official languages.

My first warning from the US embassy

I had heard that the US embassy will send out warnings if needed, but this is the first one I have seen. I'll have to check the web tomorrow (no paper on Sunday-at least the one we subscribe too).

Saturday, March 1, 2008:

A pro-Serbian group has been granted permission to hold a demonstration in downtown Bern on Saturday, March 1 2008 between the hours of 1500 and 1700. The demonstration will take place on the Bundesplatz and is expected to involve up to 2000 demonstrators. The group has not been given permission to leave the Bundesplatz or to hold a march. The group is protesting the government of Switzerland's recent decision to recognize Kosovo's independence. Several demonstrations have been held by pro-Serbian groups throughout Europe in the last week and some have turned violent resulting in injuries to police officers and protesters. The possibility exists for the group to focus its attention on U.S. interests. The U.S. Embassy strongly recommends that American citizens avoid the area near the Bundesplatz on Saturday afternoon and early evening. A large police presence is expected and if the situation deteriorates, the police will use rubber bullets and teargas against the demonstrators.

Although the demonstration is not directed at the U.S. Embassy or U.S. interests, pro-Serbian groups view the United States Government as a leading supporter of Kosovo's independence. We wish to remind American citizens that even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence. American citizens are therefore urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations if possible, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of any demonstrations. If you encounter any problems, the police can be reached at
031-321-2121.

For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department of State's Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet website at http://travel.state.gov/ <http://travel.state.gov/> , where the current Worldwide Caution and Consular Information Sheet for Switzerland and Liechtenstein can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll-free in the U.S. and Canada or, for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays)

The U.S. Embassy in Bern can be reached at 031-357-7011; the after hours emergency number is 031-357-7777; the fax number is 031-357-7320. The Embassy's web site, which includes consular information and the most recent messages to the American community, is at http://bern.usembassy.gov/. <http://bern.usembassy.gov/>

Rowan for Hilary!

Hilary must be getting more face time on cnn international than the other candidates. She is the only one that Rowan can identify by sight. Since Rowan only watches cnn international for a few minutes in the morning, her face must be shown a lot for him to remember what she looks like.

Where did Santa go?

I checked NORAD's santa tracker this morning and was disturbed to see that he didn't have any stops in Switzerland last night. How could he skip an entire country? He could have at least stopped once in the country considering how many people have an internet connection and children who would like to know where he is.

US joins the rest of the world

from cnn.com:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States on Wednesday joined an international
treaty on adoptions -- a move that will protect both children and parents, and
make the State Department a central registry tracking all adoptions coming in
and out of the country, officials said. Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Maura Harty presented the U.S. ratification of the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoptions during a ceremony in the Netherlands.

"We would say that today is a good day for children and parents involved in intercountry adoptions," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
"This convention establishes international laws and procedures for intercountry adoption. Cases involving the Hague Convention are to ensure that adoptions occur in the best interests of the children."

The agreement sets out what the State Department called "safeguards to protect the interests of children, birth parents and adoptive parents." It says children may be
adopted by prospective parents outside their country only if there is proper and
informed consent from the "family of origin." The treaty calls for authorities to make sure that birth parents haven't been persuaded to give up their children in exchange for money, urging countries to take "all appropriate measures to prevent improper financial or other gain in connection with an adoption." Officials also should make sure that the child's wishes are considered, the document says. The treaty covers the other end of the adoption process as well, calling on the country where the adoptive parents live to "prepare a report including information about their identity, eligibility and suitability to adopt, background, family and medical history." The rules begin governing international adoptions for the 66 signatory countries on April 1, 2008.

More than 19,000 foreign-born children were adopted by Americans in 2007 -- more than all the other countries of the world combined, McCormack said.
Final ratification "took a while" -- 14 years -- because adoption laws in the United States are generally regulated by the states, he said. "It took quite some time to actually normalize and get a common standard among all of the 50 states and build up the right institutions and procedures so that we could comply with the convention," McCormack said.

"It took some time to do that groundwork, and when you have 50 separate
sets of laws and 50 separate sets of state legislatures, it takes some time to
make sure that we get it right." Tom DiFilipo, of the Joint Council on
International Children's Services, called the agreement "a great accomplishment
after 14 years." "We're just glad that it is over and will be in place in April," DiFilipo said on the telephone from Moscow, where he was giving a speech on adoption. "The basic principles, accountability, transparency, doing everything in the final interests of the child, how can you argue against that," he said. The new rules may create delays in finalizing adoptions, especially adoptions from those countries that have also approved the Hague convention.

Guatemala, the country that provides one of the highest numbers of children coming to the United States for adoption -- more than 4,600 this year -- also just approved the international agreement, and its courts and government officials are expected to be overwhelmed. Salome Lamarche of Families Thru International Adoption said her organization has been preparing for the new rules. Her group has handled more than 3,500 international adoptions.

She predicted significantly fewer adoptions from Guatemala, at least in the short term. Several countries that are common points of origin for children adopted by Americans have not agreed to the treaty, including Vietnam, Russia, Ukraine and Ethiopia.

One adoption...three governments

Assuming we adopt a child (or children) from Ethiopia, we would need to officially adopt the child in Ethiopia and then re-adopt the child on in the US. Once the child is picked up in Ethiopia we would have to immediately go back to th US for a few days to finish paperwork, but the child would be a US citizen upon arriving in the US.

We've learned that getting a B (residence) permit in Switzerland is not straight forward. We are supposed to get pre-approval from the Swiss government before moving forward with the adoption, so we have an appointment with a Swiss social worker on the 20th of August. She doesn't speak English, so we will try to get our French teacher or one of my coworkers to go with us.

A quick trip to Bern

Emily was able to schedule an appointment for fingerprinting at the embassy in Bern yesterday. Fingerprints are only done on Friday afternoon, so we didn't have much choice in when to go. It takes about 1.5 hours to get to Bern and the embassy is about a 10 minute bus ride from the main station. We decided to walk instead of taking the bus, so it took us about 35 minutes to get to the embassy.

We had to show our passports, leave our bags at the gate, and go through a metal detector to get inside. At first we were the only people waiting to be helped,but another American arrived to get fingerprintsafter about 30 minutes. Our appointment was at 3 and her appointment was at 3:30. We were all fingerprinted at 3:45, which was a bit frustrating. The good news is that there were toys in the waiting area for kids to play with.

We stopped off at a chocolate store and a toy store on the way back to the train station. Purchases were made at both locations

Change in plans

We were planning on visiting the Geneva police station to get fingerprinted as part of the adoption process, but there has been a small change in plans. Even though the US consulate in Geneva provide the forms and the possible places to be fingerprinted, it seems we got the wrong information. The paperwork from the consulate is incorrect. Instead of going to one of the big three(Bern, Geneva, Zurich) police stations, we have to go to the embassy in Bern. They only fingerprint by appointment and only on Fridays. We don't have an appointment yet.

This is a little disappointing because instead of a 30 minute train ride to Geneva, we have to ride the train for over an hour and then take a bus to the embassy. To make me even more cranky, the appointments are only available during Niamh's nap time.