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Here are the programmes of the two English Speaking Church Services in the Nyon area over the Christmas 2015 period at  La Côte church and Westlake Church.

Spotlight on Schools 1 -  Living in Nyon goes behind the scenes of the three schools that are currently advertised on the site. We begin with Brillantmont International School in Lausanne.    Hung in the entrance hall of  this school is an electronic board that gently reminds pupils that the mid year exams are not far away; just one example of  the school using modern technology combined with traditional teaching values to help its students. Pupils who attend  Brillantmont not only get to learn in classrooms in the school's elegant buildings  (with sweeping views over Lausanne, the Alps and lake), but they also become part of a warm friendly atmosphere at a school that has been in the same family for five generations.    The school was founded in 1882 (it began as girls boarding school), but it is has definitely moved with the times as it is now a mixed school for both day and boarders and takes in pupils from over 35 different nationalities. Living in Nyon went to visit the school in February and spoke to Sarah Frei, the school's head of marketing. She says: "We use modern technology for our teaching methods and our small class sizes mean that we can give maximum attention to each student. We also lay emphasis on critical thinking rather than rote learning and we encourage students to express their own judgement". A help for working parents "We have also adapted to the needs of modern society by offering a service for busy working professional parents who have children in our day school. If  parents need to work late, we will happily let the pupil work quietly in a supervised study hall from 17:00 to 18:30 and if necessary, they can eat dinner at the school.  Should the parents need to be out of the country for any reason, the pupil can also be accommodated within the boarding school. We can also collect pupils from Lausanne train station each morning." (Ed note : Lausanne  is a  30 minute train ride from Nyon, 25 minutes from Gland and 12 minutes from Morges ). Photo below: The range of publications in the school library, from The Economist  to the New Scientist to L'Hebdo to Muy Interesante . "Whether the child is a day pupil or a boarder, we take great care to ensure that the family atmosphere that has prevailed since the school began, still remains.  We have a house system in the school for day students and boarders, run by elected student leaders.  The aim is to help students feel part of a group (the names of houses are named after famous Swiss such as Piccard, Anker, Rousseau), to provide peer mentoring for new students and to organise different events within the house or between houses to create a sense of belonging and help everyone feel part of the school community."  The traditional building (tennis courts and grounds behind) set in 13,000 sq m of parkland. "We pride ourselves in our multicultural outlook, students come to us from all backgrounds and countries, however we also try to restrict our numbers so we have no more that 10% of any nationality to ensure that the school doesn't become dominated by one particular culture or language.   The teaching is in English in the school, but we actively encourage students to learn French and to discover Switzerland. We organise social and sporting events outside the school such as skiing, snowboarding, mountain biking etc.  We also arrange cultural visits for pupils, they can visit Swiss destinations and further afield, and locally they can go to theatrical or ballet performances in Lausanne and we take part in the Model United Nations programme.    The elegant school interior One of the the boarder's bedrooms Preparing for university The school is currently in the process of building a multi purpose hall in the heart of the Brillantmont campus which will be used for all sorts of events: sporting and cultural. The hall will be built underground to maintain the beautiful gardens in front of the existing historically protected buldings. Further info Brillantmont offers the following programmes to boys and girls aged 11-18 British programme Years 7-13 IGCSE,  AS and A level examinations) American programme Grades 6-12 (High School Graduation Diploma) Language programme - officially recognized language examinations Winter Course short stay language and ski programme (January and February) Summer courses in July and August for 12-17 year old boys and girls who come for a flexible stay of two to six weeks. Brillantmont is a member of Swiss Learning - an organisation committed to the excellence of Swiss education. Click on the ad on the sidebar to go to the school's website or click here .

Photo above - Alt J - courtesy Paléo There are are still some tickets  available for Paléo for Tuesday 23 July and Friday 26th July. On the programme for Tuesday are: Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Phoenix (Indie Pop),  Sophie Hunger, Alt J, Palma Violets, Mama Rosin and more. See full line up here Friday's programme includes Nick Cave, Dizzee Rascal and more. See full line up here  Photo above - Dizzee Rascal courtesy @ Tim and Barry - Paléo Vote for your favourite teenage DJ! A reminder that on Wednesday 1st May from 16:00 , seven teenage DJs will be playing at the L' After Club in Nyon competing in the first round for a place in the Caribateens competition. Winners will play on the Sunday on the Caribana stage at the festival! Nominations are: Jack Vegas, DJ Vidy, 88 Project, DJ D 96, Dead Boyz, Helvetica and Calvin Bride.   Go along and vote for your favourite DJ!    Entry is free! Details here Photo in banner. Tweek who will be playing on Sunday 9 June at the Caribateens day Details here

Business Networking and the Economist on those Online networking sites. There are a plethora of business associations in the Lake Geneva area, many of which organise networking events. Recent examples have been a talk by the CFO of Ebay International hosted by the British/Swiss Chamber of Commerce , to a Mentorship Café hosted by GWIT . (Geneva Women in International Trade).These events serve a growing need to the employees of multinational companies that continue to relocate to the Nyon and Vaud area. These companies not only new bring new staff, but independent consultants and small businesses spring up on the back of all this new development. All positive news in the current economic climate. However, if you are one of those people who run a small business and you want to meet others in the same position, how do you get to find out about all the networking events available? Local Bus-Net is an obvious but simple solution to this dilemma - a one stop site, recently created by two entrepreneurs, James Cullinan and Andrea Lung, it aims to list the many networking events in the Romandie area. Doing business over a glass of wine James originally from South Africa, has lived for over 16 years in various European cities and says; “I enjoy going to networking events wherever I am in the world. It’s fun to do business with a glass of wine in your hand, here in Switzerland some of the events have brought in some fine speakers and I have met some interesting people through them. Yet, although these events are very useful, sometimes you end up meeting the same groups of people in your area and although I’ve come away with a business card or two, I don’t necessarily follow all leads up afterwards. So I hit upon the idea of setting up an umbrella site for networking here for two reasons. Firstly, the site has a calendar that lists all the business events scheduled that month, so in one place you can see everything going on and not miss out on any networking opportunities. Secondly, as the site will also connect independent contractors in the area, (we will link Anglophile networks with Francophone ones) if someone is looking for a specific skill or business, they can use the site to be reminded of what and who there is out there and they can follow up any leads from events they have attended. The Economist and the Walled Garden James continues, “The other reason we set this up is a pragmatic one. We recognise that it is time-consuming to build and maintain a business profile on online social networks, let alone several. There was an interesting article in the Economist a while ago called “Everywhere and Nowhere” which likened social networking such as Facebook , Twitter , Flickr, Linked In etc to a walled garden, in that these sites are useful but there is no exchange of content between the garden’s boundaries, so you have to keep logging on to each site to share information with other colleagues (see a Common Space blog article that discusses this). Small businesses do not have a large public relations machine behind them. Rather than develop another fresh profile on our site, and take pains to ensure that it is consistent with the others, we simply offer the opportunity to hyperlink to your preferred profile(s) on our site”. Andrea Lung explains: “I have worked in international project management before and I know that support networks are crucial. If you are a newly arrived expatriate then it takes time to establish your network of friends and associates Plus, for new businesses the burn out rate is fast. You're required to succeed in the first few years. We like to think of this site as a virtual coffee machine to congregate around when you want to meet and get to know others. We have kept the site simple, you don’t have to become a member, you don’t have to create a profile page, we are simply creating bridges between networks of people. I’ve have discovered there are a lot of talented business people out there in Suisse Romande, by creating this network of networks we hope to help others improve their business opportunities which in turn will help their enjoyment of living here too. Quality of life in Switzerland James chose to live in Switzerland because of the great quality of life it offers and says “since I’ve moved here it has exceeded all expectations”. I live in Lausanne, it’s a great city, where the town ends, the vineyards begin, a superb combination. Andrea originally from Hungary agrees; “I live in Pully and it’s beautiful, I’m lucky to have the lake and the nature that surrounds it on my doorstep.” Check out the site. A bulletin of upcoming events is emailed out fortnightly.

If you are interested in all things literary, then you are spoiled for choice in the Geneva and Vaud area.  Not only is the area home to a large and important writers' group (covering both fiction and non-fiction - see below), a reading group in Crans that is open to the public, but in a few weeks, the fabulous "Le Livre sur le Quais" will take place on the lake side in Morges from the 5th to the 7th September 2014. English authors such as Andy McNab - "B ravo Two Zero, Immediate Action and Seven Troop",  Caroline Lawrence of "The Roman Mysteries" fame, Don Pollock - "The Devil All the Time", Nathan Filer –" The Shock of the Fall"(Overall winner Costa Book Award 2014), will all be present at the fair. The festival programme will be finalised later in August , but the weekend already looks very promising indeed.   Some of the writers' events take place on the CGN ferries. Cruising up and down on the lake listening to a reading or a talk,  can be a lovely way to spend a weekend!  Note - La Page Cornée the French literary group based in Gland, will also be present with authors' talks and events. Photo below - Author Douglas Kennedy in conversation on a boat at the 2012 fair Below -  Reading by the quayside Meanwhile over in Geneva the Geneva Writers' Group will resume its activities on September the 20th with a workshop entitled " Essay & Flash Nonfiction: Personal Narratives".  Started in 1993, The Geneva Writers’ Group brings together over 200 English language writers from around 30 countries. The objective of the group  is to encourage all forms of creative writing in English and to create a supportive community of both beginning and supportive writers. Meetings are held monthly, from September to June at the Geneva Press Club, with a programme of writing workshops, critiquing sessions, and master classes.  Every two years the group holds the International Geneva Writers’ Conference at Webster University in Bellevue, alternating with a “Meet the Agents” weekend.  The group publishes a biennial collection of prose and poetry,   The group also co-ordinate small writing groups, a mentoring service, and hosts the GWG Literary Prizes. Photo below from the GWG conference in 2010 English Reading Group in Crans-pres-Celigny - Open to new members. Marilyn Packham, a British resident living in Crans près Céligny would like to let other Living in Nyon readers know about a reading group that is open to new members. Here she explains a little about the group and what it is like to live in the village of Crans près Céligny itself. "The English Reading Group in Crans-près-Céligny was formed around seven years ago.  I am a member and over the seven years it has certainly widened my reading and introduced me to new  authors and their work. We meet every five to six weeks between 14:30 and 17:00 in the comfortable, modern library of Crans-près-Céligny.  Note - See previous Living in Nyon post here about the library and its art exhibitions. In our reading group to date, we have read 54 books, mainly fiction. We all take it in turns to propose a book and we then give a short presentation and have a relaxed discussion over a cup of tea or coffee. We are currently  nine members, who almost all come to every meetings. The group is made up of all ages, from the young to the more mature!  We would like to maintain the size of the group at about twelve members so we are looking for a a few more members. If you are English mother tongue, male or female and enjoy reading and sharing the enjoyment of reading, please contact me, Mally Packham, on mally.packham@bluewin.ch or call on 078 768 05 50 for more information. Photo below - The lake near  the port of Crans près Céligny. Living in the village As to living in Crans-près-Céligny itself,  The village itself has changed from the quiet little Vaudois village we moved to 26 years ago. Like the whole of the Lac Léman area, the village has grown, new houses and new flats have been built.  The roads and pavements are being enlarged and resurfaced for the ever-mobile community. The village has lots of clubs and groups - football teams for adults and children, a gym, tennis courts (indoor courts in winter), a crèche  a modern primary school, a church, a port, a sailing club, a friendly pharmacy and a village shop. The  village also has two superb restaurants,  ‘Le Café de l’Union’ and ‘Le Café de la Versoix’.  The food is excellent in both and the service quick and friendly. They are both very popular so best to book in advance. There is a regular bus service to both Nyon and Coppet. All in all, the village has blossomed and is a vibrant place to live, yet it still maintains the calm and quiet of the countryside".

Did you know that that Nyon library has a selection of English books to borrow? No? Neither did I until I joined this week and discovered their selection of novels on the second floor. Admittedly it's a smallish collection and stocks only fiction, there are no reference books or guides books, but at a joining fee of CHF 15 per annum for Nyon residents, even if you only took out a few books a year, it still is a good bargain. If you pay CHF 20 more you can also borrow from their collection of music CDS. Here, there is quite a good choice, from rap to reggae to jazz and classical. The library is open on a Saturday morning too, so you can pick up a book along with shopping at the open air market. There is a reading room too with newspapers and magazines (in French) to read on site, and a photocopier that can be used. Check out their website which gives details of both their adult and childrens libraries (the latter is in a different building). Don't forget you can also borrow books (this is based on a trust system) from the café tearoom Bibliothee which is open Monday to Friday. If you want to buy books then there are two places in Nyon for this. First of all, for children, there is the shop called "The Reading Duck" in Grand Rue. This shop stocks childrens literature up to adolescent age. There's a cosy reading area too with bean bags and little tables for children while their parents browse amongst the selections. Or over in La Combe shopping centre, Payot bookshop has a selection of English books including some non-fiction, guide books, reference books and some travel books in English. If you want the greatest selection of English books to borrow, the most comprehensive source can be found in the Geneva English Library , they run a story hour in English for young children on most Wednesday afternoons (check the website for dates)

This week is the start of "antiracism week" across the country and there are a variety of events being held in Nyon to mark the occasion. One of these events is the presence of a CISEN ( Integration Commission) stall from 09:00 to 14:00 at the Saturday market in Nyon in which different nationalities will be present to say "Hello/Bonjour" to members of the public. These nationalities have been featured on poster campaigns across the  town. Nationalities include Chinese, Sri Lankan, English, Portugese and more.  The Living in Nyon editor will be at the stall from approximately 11:00 onwards. Come to find out about the cultural diversity there is in the town. You are also welcome to  bring a snack (finger food) which represents  your own country to share with others.   See you there!

Spring has definitely sprung with many flowers in Nyon gardens in full bloom. This time of year Nyon's fountains are decorated by the local various societies and clubs in the town. If you wander around you can all see all 16 of them, from down by the rive to the place du chateau to next to the station. These photos are the fountains from last year, go check out the new ones! This Sunday there will be an Easter market in Nyon in the Rive quarter with artisanal stands and Easter produce goods for sale. The market is open from 08:00-18:30 Music events going on this weekend. Friday - live music at the small theatre Funambule (near the Hotel Beau Rivage), Saturday - Rock at La Parenthèse Tel: 022.362.75 56. Rock also over at the Usine a Gaz on Friday and Mathieu Boogaerts on Saturday. The next Monday night movie in English in Nyon is Frost Nixon at 21:00 This will also be shown in Aubonne at 20:45 on Sunday. Slumdog Millionaire is still showing over at Divonne cinema in English. Saturday at 20:00, Sunday and Monday at 18:15, Tuesday at 20:00.

Living in Nyon is reviewing a selection of films on at the Visions du Réel film festival which is on in Nyon until this Wednesday 21 April. "My Village" had just the one screening, but other films reviwed in previous posts will be shown again. My Village 2007 China by Shao Yuhzen - Film review by Trish Thalman. “Are you filming again”? The question asked by nearly all the people in the rural village of Shaziyun near Beijing had become used to the assertive, kind-hearted, sensitive woman with the video camera who was there to “record my life and my village" and because she wanted to "see the changes”. This delightful, sumptuous, yet simple film about the daily lives of people in a hard-working farm community is eye-catching, humorous, and sensitive and gives us a vital glimpse into the constant modern changes being made at breath-taking speed for the majority of people in rural China. The film captures the activities and changes during the year 2007. The old way of life is passing too quickly. A specific change is measured with the main road that goes by the village. In January, with icy fog and hoar frost on the trees, the road is mostly dirt and partially paved. It supports the cyclists, a few trucks and cars. By late summer heat, there is a four lane, paved, marked and divided road with many more trucks and cars, but few cyclists. The road is too fast and dangerous for them. They have to find alternative routes to travel. The staple crops of the village are healthy looking watermelons, twice the size of footballs, with light green, delicately patterned rinds and ‘Barbie' pink interiors. Weighty sweet potatoes and abundant clusters of peanuts are planted in the early, cool spring and harvested in the hot and humid summer and autumn, The village committee reluctantly welcomes a young, recent graduate from the Beijing Agriculture University who has been sent to live and work in the village. He will “help to improve the way you farm for better income returns”. With the expected increased income, a tantalising concept is promoted: they (the men) will be able to afford Western style T-shirts and suits to wear when they go into town. That way people will be unable to tell they are from a farming village. Modern times. The greatly anticipated Spring Festival involve outdoor rehearsals in winter weather by local women who will perform the songs and dances dressed in village costumes while singing Communist party songs. One of the women in the group is also the village ‘stand-up comedian’ telling her greatly appreciated and applauded, earthy jokes at the festival. A visit to the village’s ‘oldest person’, a spunky, tiny woman of 92, painfully hunched over after her life in the melon, potato and peanut fields using old farming methods, fiercely insists on having a drum to beat while she joyfully performs her song and drum act. Greatly frustrated that she can no longer sing like she used to, she informs the camera that years ago she was better than the singers in the Beijing Opera. It’s voting day in the village to elect a District director and Committee members. Shao Yuzhen and video camera are there to record the men with their ever-present cigarettes, casting their vote in order to receive the 10 Yuan they are paid to vote. They cynically already know who has won the ‘election’. New babies drinking from plastic bottles, old women slowly dying, small children riding fluorescent-coloured tricycles, husbands sleeping on the couch, a woman grieving after the death of her daughter. Men painstakingly folding the plastic covering they will reuse next year to protect the melon seedlings, young educated communist party leaders visiting the village to see who is a registered member. The Down’s Syndrome children helping with the harvest, and Shao Yuhzen confronting the Beijing TV crew who want to rehearse the village people before doing an interview (she refuses!), all feature and contribute to the reality of changing life in small, rural villages of China. Shao Yuhzen is well known to Beijing Radio and TV journalists, as part of the ‘Villager Documentary Project’ which began in 2005. Fools and charlatans beware – she is filming life and truth.

The snow settled in Nyon on the last day of the 2008. The town was full of folk buying champagne and trudging though the snow to get last minute celebratory supplies. The DVD/video rental shop had a long queue of those planning to stay in and watch movies over the next few days and La Cote newspaper's end of year edition, featured the highs and lows of 2008. In the afternoon on the 31st there was a beautiful light across the lake viewed from the chateau. Living in Nyon will be back on the 12th January with more info, news and photos, although if the weather is good I might be tempted to go and take photos of the brave souls who will be swimming in the lake on Sunday 4th January at 12:00 (near the trois jetées) So keep checking in! Happy New Year to you all.

Competition launched by tourist office with prizes The warm weather is here and it's great to be able to sit outside on a terrace at a café or restaurant and soak up the sun. We all have our favourite place to do this, but which is yours? The tourist office in Nyon have just launched a competition for us all to vote for the "plus belle terrasse" (the most beautiful terrace) in Nyon. The votes will then go into a raffle to win gift vouchers ranging from 250 to 1,000 CHF to spend locally, and also for a three month subscription to La Côte newspaper. There will be prizes given to the two best terraces as voted by the general public and a jury. You can either vote online or cut out the coupon in today's La Côte and post it to the tourist office. Spring Market this Saturday This Saturday it's the Saturday Spring market in Nyon with stalls, music, drummers, in various areas of the town, stands with artisanal goods, bouncy castle etc and the market is scheduled to be there until 18:00! Parking in Place Perdstemps is free for the first hour. Events coming up next week Drinks evening for Living in Nyon readers Don't forget that on Thursday 4th June, there will be a drinks evening for readers of this site and also for readers of the Friday Living in Nyon column in La Côte newspaper. It's a great opportunity for Anglophones, newcomers to Nyon and area, to get together over a glass of wine and meet each other. If you would like to come it would really help if you could register by sending an email to cnp@bluewin.ch Next weekend Friday 5th June Dagobert will be playing mediaeval and celtic music on a variety of intruments. See 1306 Club site. The club is set in the oldest house in Nyon dating back to, you guessed it... 1306! Classical Music at the Conservatoire On Sunday 7th June at 17:00 there will be a classical concert at 17: 00 at the Conservatoire of Nyon. This building is in a lovely setting near the lakeside. A perfect opportunity to have a leisurely Sunday walk by the lakeside and then go to listen to classical music. Performing Schumann,Grieg and Sibelius will be "Duo Pia'cello" with Marie Hélène Piotet on Piano and Francois Grin on Vioncello in the Villa Thomas. Reservations 022 -994 2360 Monday to Friday 14:00-16:00 or email info.nyon@cov-vd.ch or see site Other events The Geneva English Drama Society production of "The Real Thing" by Tom Stoppard is on from 2 - 6 June. A witty and clever play about love and passion. When first produced in London and New York, "The Real Thing" won numerous awards including the Tony Award for Best Play. Tickets book here . Other events going on in the area including Caribana, the production of Shakespeares' Cymbeline at the Chateau of Prangins and the talk by Paddy Ashdown, see previous post .

Back in 2008 Living in Nyon met members of Prangins International and reported about networking and living in Prangins and wrote about it here.  At the beginning of October this year, we went back to the pretty village near Nyon to meet club members at  Prangins International's monthly coffee morning, and discovered that among other new activities the club now has an updated website.  This site has a dedicated area for club activities under the "Calendar" section, there is a list on the site of what the monthly book reading group is reading right now, and there is a section called "Stories from Prangins", written by club members. These stories range from taking a tour of Prangins own chocolate Rapp factory, to an account of wine tasting in the area. There is also an online club notice board on the site.   Prangins International  meets on the first Thursday of every month in the Café du Chateau at 10:00 a.m. They also have a Christmas drinks scheduled for December. There are over 20 different nationalities represented in the group - they are truly international! You can find out more by checking out their site here. Rasing Multilingual Children workshop - spaces left on November 2nd in Geneva. Know it All Passport has informed Living in Nyon that there are some spaces left for the  afternoon workshop entitled "Raising Multilingual Children - Foreign language Acquisition and Children" to be given by Tracey Tokuhuma Espinosa in Geneva on Wednesday November 2nd.   For full details of  this workshop and how to register click here  Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, Ph.D.is a world-renowned specialist in education and neuroscience. She is half Japanese-American, half Irish-Native American and is married to an Ecuadorian. Her 3 children aged 18, 16 and 14 speak fluent English, Spanish and German and some French.