Adjusting to new life in Switzerland

Daily Life, Swiss News and General Topics
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Good Morning all

I have successfully passed my Kontrolfahrt - This is a huge relief, and we are very happy about it.

I did about 4 hours of driving lessons at 120chf per hour. Initially the instructor was pushing for 10 hours but I told him Idon’t have the time or the money for so many lessons.

The official was very professional and maybe a little lenient as I did make some mistakes which he just whispered that I don’t do it again.

This was a big win for me, as you all know if I failed I will not be allowed to use my SA license anymore, and will have to start from scratch like a high school kid.
Also for some reason the company car I have cannot be driven with a SA license, so management was putting pressure on me to get my license asap as they are paying for the car, and its not getting used. Yet they did not offer any financial assistance for driving lessons, but I suppose that comes down to me not negotiating strongly enough before I signed the contract.

But as soon as we start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, another obstacle comes our way.

My 4 year old started complaining about some tooth pain, we took him to the local dentist, where the confirmed that he has 4 cavities, the estimated costs will be 1300chf plus 125chf for the first consultation.

I have made an appointment in Germany for Saturday to see if we can save some money.
We are also a little ashamed that this happened, we try enforce tooth brushing twice a day, but obviously we did not do a good job.

I have also joined the local Bauspielplatz verein, which gives me access to there very well equipped workshop, which I love. I had a small workshop in SA, and this one is much better, I have made use of it a couple of times, building a nice laptop stand, and small dolls house for my daughter, the kids also love it, as while I’m working they can play in the playground. On on Saturday I saw some guys working at the clubhouse, and asked if I could help, and ended up working their the whole day.

And then I will also be trying to fix broken coffee machines for a side hustle, and I am currently busy with my first project, a Sage Barista express, which I believe was never descaled, I stripped it at home, and have ordered some parts, did some extra cleaning in the workshop and hope to have it assembled and working when the parts arrive.

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22

Don’t beat yourself up about it. Some kids are more prone to tooth decay irrespective of dental hygiene practices. It’s down to genetics.
My brother had lots of cavities as a kid and I had none at all and we both followed the same dental regime. My dad never had a single filling or dental problem his whole life but his sister had a full set of dentures.

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You had to get dental insurance for your kid as soon as you arrived. By some insurance companies for 4 yo it still could have been done without an examination from the dentist. As soon as you fix the cavities make sure you apply for the insurance right away before your kid has new problems. You can even ask for an accessment form right now and ask the dentist to fill it in after they fill the cavities to save on additional visit.

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We made the mistake of assuming he will not have issues as his sister never had issues.

I will reach out to our insurance and request additional dental coverage for him.

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Most of the kids will need tooth braces in the future anyway.

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Sounds like you’ve properly integrated already. Some people don’t get that far even after decades of living here. Congratulations!

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Most dentists like the easy the money from fitting braces and quite a few unnecessarily.

If you don’t have insurance, get a second opinion from another dentist as to whether your child really needs braces, or needs them at the present time.

This scam has been reported in the media here.

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Whether they all actually need them or not is a moot point.
A lot of them are for cosmetic rather than therapeutic reasons.

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I think they usually discuss that with you as the parent. My son needed it for therapeutic reasons (his jaw would have developed off-set without intervention), and it’s then a health insurance thing - we didn’t have dental insurance. The cosmetic versions aren’t valid under either insurance.

Having said that, my feeling is that perhaps there should be some quarter given for that, knowing now that if you straighten out wonky teeth early on it can assist with more efficient dental hygiene down the line and help avoid cavities, but that’s just my opinion.

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By my daughter an orthodontic treatment of one of the jaws is even paid by the normal insurance. Definitely not a cosmetic issue.

If both parents have orthodontic problems, most probably the kids will need braces as well, or they will be embarrassed to smile and will eventually get themselves braces as adults anyway. But it will be more expensive and more complicated and will not solve the problem as effective as in the teenage years.

In the childhood it is still possible to make your upper jaw wider so that all your teeth can stand in perfect row without a need to remove the 4th teeth. If you are an adult the gap between the halves of your upper jaw is closed already.

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Those are obviously totally necessary procedures and are usually covered by normal insurance or even the AI (IV). Of course there are a number of kids who do need them.

There are still plenty of orthodontic procedures carried out on kids which are not strictly necessary but are covered by the complementary insurance.

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So after trying my best to explain to the dentist in Germany that he has cavities, and that we will be traveling from far, even sending a mail in German to them, we drove all the way there on Saturday, only for the dentist to look at him for 2 minutes and tell us they cant do it, as they don’t have a Anaesthesiologist on duty, and they will get back to me today regarding possible dates, and that they wont be able to do it in one appointment, but split into 2, on separate dates

I guess I will bit the bullet and have it done locally, that way there at least there is no crazy logistics and we already have a price estimate, and if something goes wrong afterwards we can go back.

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I know people who flew to Hungary to get this stuff done. They have good dentists there and are geared up for ‘tourists’.

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https://www.helvetic-clinics.co.uk/

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Hey, I was a not so smart teenager and got some cavities at the time. Said cavities got fixed and the filling held well for 25 years until a Saturday evening while eating pizza. The filling broke along a good chunk of one of my molars.

I got scared, it was a Saturday evening. If I did not find a fix quickly, I’d probably had to wait until Monday. Who knows, what infection or pain could develop over the weekend. Saint Google Maps pointed at this place: Notfall Zahnarzt-Dienst - AAZ Aarauer Zahnklinik I called, they told me I could just show up and get treated (after contract and blocking money on the credit card haha).

The emergency dentist replaced the missing piece of tooth with epoxy hardened by a small laser. I was expecting to be royally shafted because Switzerland, emergency dentist, Saturday night. So, total resignation when I asked for a cost estimate before treatment and…what? 500 francs or so. It’s been 2 years and the fix is doing well.

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36

I can strongly recommend my dentist in Prague…

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So my youngest will be starting Kindergarten in August, which will give mom a sigh of relief as he is a busy child.

I am really looking forward to him making new friends and also learning German.

This will also free up mom for a bit, and due to us trying to make ends meet, and also save a little every month, we are looking for a part time job for her.

I wanted to ask if its even feasible for a mom to work only when the kids are in school, are there even jobs like that, it will be great if there is, but she can only speak english which limits the options as well.

She did coach at the crossfit box, but we decided to give that up, as some of the members complained about our kids being too unruly.

She can go back to coaching, but there are no scheduled classes during school hours.

Seeing that our network is still small, I am reaching out to my online network, which has been very helpful - for some advice and guidance

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Schools frequently hire non-teaching staff for administration, operations, and pastoral care.

Look here or here; very few jobs available today - maybe it gets busier when the schools start up again.

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Some of the women I know with school age children are now running small businesses from their homes. Some are doing what they did professionally but now on a freelance basis, some have branched out into something completely different. One runs a weaving studio, one does fitness classes, one offers language classes, one does tutoring, one small scale catering, one offers pet care, one a ‘Mittagstisch’ (that might be in conjunction with the school…).

It can be difficult to find a traditional job that fits into school hours. If your wife finds that to be the case, perhaps some kind of self employment might be possible.

Some of those examples require paperwork/permits… but it might be worth brainstorming the possibilities.

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In addition to this, check your lease. Some leases don’t allow running a business out of the flat, particularly if clients/customers have to go in and out of the building.

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