Guest Blogs

Knowitall.ch often invites local experts in their field to contribute to their own blogs on our site. This means not only you will benefit from the useful recommendations that we make on our News pages, but you can also profit from some of the great advice and tips that these experts have to make on their favorite subjects. Whilst each of these bloggers has been recommended to us at some point during the evolution of Know-it-all passport and knowitall.ch, obviously we are not able to test out all the suggestions they make on their blogs, nor do we necessarily agree with all their opinions. So if you do find one of their tips useful (or not!), do let us know!

To make these blogs more accessible to you, we have now decided to group them altogether in one section, entitled Guest Blogs, accessible from our main menu bar. We will also post the most recent blogs on the home page of our site in the right hand column.

We are still building up this area of the site, and are looking for bloggers in a number of sections, including Your Home, Travel, and Leisure, so if you feel you have a useful contribution to make in either of these areas, and have the time to submit blog entries approximately every month, then please get in touch!

: Published: 30 September 2016

Teddy with Head Injury

Mild head injuries are common, especially in children and during contact sports. They can occur when the head is hit by a moving object (e.g. a ball, car or fist) or when the head hits a stationary surface at speed (e.g. the ground, a wall etc.)

The brain ‘floats’ within the bony skull in some liquid called cerebrospinal fluid. This liquid allows a small degree of movement of the brain. If the skull is hit, then the brain may bounce or twist inside the skull. This can lead to a disruption in the electrical activity in some of the brain cells, causing them to malfunction for a short while. It is this malfunction that causes the symptoms of concussion.

The symptoms of concussion can include:

A brief loss of consciousness at the time of the injury (followed by a rapid, spontaneous recovery)
A loss of memory of the accident itself or the few moments before the accident happened (amnesia)
Feeling dizzy
Nausea
Mild headache

These symptoms will, by definition, resolve within hours to days in most cases but may sometimes last for weeks in a few. Once all the symptoms have settled down, then a certain diagnosis of concussion can be made. There is no permanent damage to the structure of the brain when someone has concussion.

: Published: 12 September 2016

tarablog sep2016

By Tara Lissner, Swiss Gardening School

It is true that most of us who garden spend a fair amount of time discussing the weather; too hot; too dry; too windy; too wet; too wet; too wet. Well this summer we’ve certainly had a lot to discuss, with the incredibly wet and cool start in May and June to the tremendous heat of August – never a dull moment. Our gardens are so quickly affected by the changing weather conditions especially when it is holiday time and we are not on hand to adapt our habits day-by-day or week-by-week. In my experience it is always best to err on the side of caution and this is a perfect example of why. Early this summer I left half a dozen newly purchased perennial geraniums amongst a group of larger pots hoping they would be happy (and sheltered) enough during my week-long absence – I came home to crisp leaves and parched soil. I was so sad I immediately moved them to a more shady spot, drenched them with water and have been nursing them back to their original state ever since. Note to self, always pay a teenager to water even for a short trip.

The hydrangeas this summer have been just spectacular and although they need quite a lot of water, if they are in the correct position in the garden they will have given you quite the show. There has been a renaissance of the hydrangea in recent years with more and more varieties becoming easily available, this year I found a very pretty new (to me) variety called Hydrangea arborescens “Incredible Pink”. As the name suggests it is pink but not the bright showy pink of my childhood. Each petal is delicately edged in pink giving an overall dusty pink colour (see photo above) – just gorgeous, now all I have to do is find a reasonably shady spot for it in my garden, no easy feat.

: Published: 06 September 2016

swimming blog Dean 1

Exercise has always been promoted as an essential component for both our physical and mental wellbeing. However, exercise is a broad term and what works for one person may not work to the same degree for another.

Recently, I have taken up swimming again; not in a pool but in the lake. My target each day is to swim to a carefully selected ‘orange buoy’, and, of course, back again. This takes between 30 and 40 minutes depending on the conditions of the lake and the force of the current. As Lake Geneva lies on the River Rhône, the source of which is the Rhône Glacier in Valais, there is a current that varies in strength on a daily basis.

I have discovered a huge difference between lake swimming and pool swimming, and it’s not simply the absence of chlorine. The fact that I have no opportunity to rest at the end of each length has caused me to experience something quite exhilarating. I have a very active mind, and find it hard to ‘switch off’ and relax. Many of us experience periods of stress which prove a challenge to manage. Going to the gym helps me. However, at times I find myself lost in my thoughts between exercises, and although I indeed benefit physically, my mental state is still somewhat neglected.

When I swim in the lake, I am able to detach from my thoughts and simply focus on the activity: regular deep-breathing, coordinated stretching of the arms and legs, navigating my passage between boats and dinghies – in fact, I truly live in the moment. I am not worrying about the effects of what has happened in the past or what might happen in the future. Nothing stands between me and the environment in which I find myself; we become one.

: Published: 30 August 2016

yogibanker

By Sunita Sehmi, Walk The Talk

Scott Robinson, the ‘yogibanker’, was born in a yoga studio in Notting Hill in April, 2012, in preparation for his first career change while on a 15-year working holiday to the UK. The idea of ‘managing stress’ seemed too good to refuse. It took a while until yoga became part of his regular routine.

Here he shares his thoughts, vison and mission on how to bring back balance and harmony in your life.

I hope you enjoy this deeply captivating interview as much as I did.

: Published: 29 August 2016

Brillantmont august2016 1

By Sarah Frei, Brillantmont International School

Hard as it is to think about school when the sun burns bright above, it is nevertheless that time of year again when children are sharpening their pencils, packing their bags and worrying about what to wear on the first day back. Indeed, some may already be back in the classroom.

I'm lucky: my own two children love school and even during the first week of July were talking about the next school year, when frankly I was fed up with hearing the « s » word. However, for many children, returning to school can be a huge source of anguish, giving them a twisted knot in the pit of their stomachs. The root cause may have nothing at all to do with the learning: rather, the fears that torment them are about fitting in, popularity, being one of the crowd.

Middle School students are at a particularly vulnerable age. Look around any Middle School classroom and you'll see what I mean. The flat chested thirteen year old sits next to the eleven year old who still likes to play with Barbies but who struggles to accept that she already has the fully developed body of a grown woman. As for the boys, the one hunched up in the corner, attempting to hide the glaring pimples barely concealed in the dark stubble covered behind his hand, clearly eats industrial strength fertiliser every morning since he grows at least 5cm every night. His neighbour, meanwhile, would be blown over by a sudden gust of wind.