I'm a legal alien with a place in a bomb shelter

In Switzerland you are required by law to go to the local registration office within 8 days of your arrival, pay 20 Francs (about £12) and tell them your details, maritial status, your health insurance, your parents' names, where you just came from, what you're going to do and how long you're going to stay. You then get a residence permit and you're officially a resident alien. Don't attempt to stay without doing that because your landlord or whoever it is you're staying with is legally required to pass on your details to the authorities anyway. So usually, when you go to the registration office, they already know where you're staying. I wonder what´s the point in going there then. Perhaps they want to test your trustworthiness.



The Swiss seem to be very suspicious and careful people. When I had a look at the basement, where the bicycles (velos) are stored and where the laundry is being dried in this house, I noticed a very thick reinforced concrete door with a few interesting signs. I wonder what this is?




Hey, this is actually a bomb shelter! I found out that there is a law in Switzerland, that requires every residential building to contain a bomb or air-raid shelter in case of war. If there was a war breaking out right now, 95% of the population would have a place in such a shelter (the other 5% are probably the ones that didn't make it to the registration office yet). The shelter is operative within 24 hours, this includes stocking food, beds and supplies. Measures what to do in the event of war are published in every phone book on the last page. The air-raid shelter is checked every 5 years to make sure the reinforced doors and hatches close tightly and the air vents can be operated by hand.





This is a country that sits right in the middle of Europe and hasn't had a war in about 200 years. However, in the unlikely event of a sudden war, they're ready to defend their little country. Soldiers who serve in the Swiss army are even allowed to take their firearms home, so in the event of war they can fight their way through to wherever they have to go. Because there is compulsory military service for every young male Swiss between the age of 19 and 25, armed youngsters are not an unusual sight at train stations. Because of the militia I think it´s safe to say that Switzerland has more guns per head than the USA. This is actually a very controversial topic in Switzerland and similar to the US there are people passionately arguing for and against guns. Nevertheless it´s interesting to know that Switzerland has a significantly lower rate of violent crimes relating to knives and guns than Britain, where people are not even allowed to buy a bread knife without ID. Children here play peacefully with Swiss Army Knifes and I doubt that anybody would have a problem with it. Evidently it´s not the weapon that´s responsible for crimes, it must be something else. Perhaps the British should have a closer look at what makes people hate each other before they start to make fists illegal since bread knives, hoodies and baseball caps are already not allowed. Treating symptoms rather than the cause is in my opinion very typical for Britain (don't get me started on the health system).



Anyway, I better stop here before it turns into another rant ;-) I pretty much enjoy being here and I find out more and more odd and interesting things about this weird bunch of people every day. I shall continue sharing it with you.