The popular notebynote music center in Divonne-les-Bains, France, has just announced a series of new initiatives designed to make music more accessible to the international community of Geneva, Vaud, and neighbouring France.
Following its recent relocation to larger premises on the Rue Fontaine, the notebynote music center is now able to offer a much wider range of group activities for both adults and children, as well as private instrument lessons, which have been available at the centre for many years.
A professional musician in her own right, notebynote founder, Sue Lake, told knowitall.ch: “I’m really excited to be taking my school into the next phase of its development. It started with just a few private lessons for children nearly 10 years ago, but is now growing into something that can serve the musical needs of the entire English-speaking community, both children and adults, at all levels from amateur novices through to experienced musicians.”
There are many services in this region designed to help expats integrate within their local communities – indeed many of them are listed in our Know-it-all passport guidebook! Networking groups, for example, provide a wonderful opportunity for people to meet others and make the most of their time living in this region as expats.
One networking organization, which is benefiting from the global popularity of social media platforms is InterNations. Set up in 2007 with the sole aim of making life easier for expats, InterNations now claims to be the largest expat social media platform in the world. With 1.4 million users, InterNations communities can be found in 390 cities across more than 195 countries – with 9 cities in Switzerland, including Geneva (about 15,000 members) and Lausanne (about 5,600 members). France also has a number of communities of which the two closest are in Lyon and Grenoble.
The best way to capture what InterNations does for expats is to give a brief overview of the services it provides for its members:
A new casual soccer league has been set up in Lausanne to help raise money for street kids around the world. Called StreetSoccer-Lausanne, the new league was created by Glyn Atherton, a local soccer enthusiast inspired by the many fund-raising events, which took place in Rio throughout the recent World Cup in Brazil.
Explaining why he decided to set up the league, Glyn told knowitall.ch, “My step-daughter enjoys having a kick about with me and I wanted to find a way for her to enjoy soccer with other kids but without it being too serious. As I got to thinking more about it, I realized we could also use the opportunity to raise funds for the world’s street kids at the same time. The idea of forming a fun and casual soccer league for charity was quickly born.”
Whilst the offices of the American International Women’s Club offices may have been quiet over the summer, the AIWC photography group was busy planning its Photo Exhibition.
Featuring works from 17 of their photographers, the Photo Exhibition 2012 is scheduled to take place on September 27th with an opening-night vernissage, providing an opportunity for club members and members of the community alike to chat with participating photographers, learn more about the photography group, and enjoy an evening with friends. All photos, two of which are featured in this article, are for sale unless noted otherwise; a portion of each sale will be donated to the club.
The personal styles and experiences of each photographer, as well as the group’s wide range of monthly themes, have served as inspiration for the photos on display. The club’s photographers range from novice to professional, and have used a wide range of cameras to produce their work.
A new tennis school will open soon near Lausanne, aimed at children aged between 4 and 14 years old.
Called My Way Tennis, the school will be headed up by Monika Maj, a former Swiss junior singles champion who played regularly with Martina Hingis, and represented Switzerland at many international junior tournaments.
The first course of lessons will run from 2nd May until 3rd July and will cover mini tennis (ages 4-6) and Junior tennis (ages 7-14). A Summer school is also planned for later in the year.
Originally from Poland, but having lived in Switzerland for 30 years, Monika is passionate about tennis, which she started playing at the young age of 6. With her natural ability for the sport, she received the first of her three junior championship titles at the age of 12.
However, at the age of 15, she retired from competitive sport due to the high pressure of intense training and decided to continue with her educational studies. Having passed her maturity exams and started working at Reuters in Geneva, she soon found the lure of tennis too great and returned to the courts, training with Swiss Tennis to become a coach.
After teaching tennis for many years in Geneva, and marrying a British ex-pat living in Lutry (where she lives currently with her 8 month old son), Monika has now decided the best way to combine her passion for tennis with her family life is to set up a school in Lutry! Her new classes will be held on a court in the heart of Lutry old village, on the corner of Rue Friporte and Rue de Vevey.
Commenting on the new school, Monika says, “Whilst I am keen to pass on my knowledge of tennis at competition level, I believe it is essential to maintain a sense of enjoyment in the sport at all times. Children who join my classes can be sure of having lots of fun, as well as the opportunity to progress to higher levels of competitive tennis should they wish it.”
For further information, please contact:
Monika Maj (pronounced My, hence the name)
My Way Tennis
Lutry (click here for map)
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