Grüezi!

The first 24 hours in Switzerland were possibly the toughest 24 hours I've experienced. Traveling from Detroit to Zurich was very easy. The Zurich airport was pretty quiet since we landed so early, and I had very little wait to check my passport. As I was heading towards baggage claim, a guy (agent? security? TSA?) said "Good Morning" to me in German. I was so startled by the fact that it wasn't English coming out of his mouth, and it truly started to hit me that I was in a different country where I do not speak the language. I followed a group of coworkers who had gotten off my flight (and were all speaking English) through the airport to the trains, where I successfully bought my ticket and got on the right train to St Gallen. I am so glad that I've traveled by train before in the US; when the woman walked by checking tickets, I didn't have to understand her Swiss German to know what she wanted. The conductor didn't announce each stop like they do on Amtrak, or the Metra in Chicago; however he did make an announcement before we reached the St Gallen stop. It was all in Swiss German and I didn't understand a word of it. Thankfully, a man offered to help me get my suitcases off the train. Again, I didn't understand a word he said, but his motions to my bag made it clear that he was willing to help. I'm certainly glad I learned how to say "yes, thank you" before I arrived!

Next, I had to go the Housing Office, which I had been told was only about 2 blocks away from the train station. Basically I went the long way and circled around the entire block before I found the office. Which wouldn't be too bad except my bags were so heavy and it's pretty hilly here (I think the word I'm looking for is mountainous). The women at Housing were nice and showed me the way to the buses and taxis after giving me my keys.

So I now basically walked right back to the train station where I planned to figure out which bus I needed, but I gave up and decided to get a taxi. Except I couldn't pronounce the name of my street and none of the taxi drivers spoke English. I was able to show, in writing, the name of my street to my taxi driver and he eventually figured out where it was. Like I said, he didn't speak any English or Spanish (figured I'd give it a try) and I barely speak Swiss German, but somehow we managed to have a conversation. He gave me his card so I can call him whenever I need him. Pretty sure I entertained him enough for the week.

After I unpacked my bags, I realized just how tired I was, as I had barely slept on the plane (we landed in Zurich at 1am EST). So not only was I completely exhausted, I had no food, didn't know anybody, and couldn't understand anyone. I also couldn't contact people at home because of the time difference. I felt so alone. 

Around 3pm I decided I needed to find food. Another girl from USC who is studying here, Kelsey, messaged me on Facebook and told me where some grocery stores are. I decided to trek down to the train station and try to find them. Alas, when I finally got to the train station (about a 20 min walk, not too bad on a nice day),  I couldn't remember where she had told me to go. I wandered around until I found what looked more or less like a sundry shop and bought enough food for the night. 

My  second day here was much better! One of my roommates, Sim, invited me and my other roommate, Luisa, to go to the Abbey and Abbey Library with some people from our building who she had already met. The Abbey/Abbey Library is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it was absolutely beautiful!

11 of us walked around town that day. I met people from all over; Italy, Canada, Germany, Spain, Hong Kong. Everyone is very nice and it has been easy making new friends. 

That night we went to Meeting Point, one of the student bars. If I'm correct, it's run by the university. So bizarre. I met up with Apurva and Stephen, two other students from USC who are here, and found out that Apurva lives in my building! There are actually a handful of Americans in my building, from South Carolina, Texas, California, Virginia, and me from Michigan.

Orientation was on Thursday and Friday. After 2 hours of presentations on Thursday, the university held an "apero." Basically food and drinks were offered in the lobby and everyone could mingle. Imagine my surprise when I realized that, at 3 in the afternoon, they were offering us beer and wine. At the university. Talk about culture shock!

As part of orientation on Friday, I went on a campus tour. After leading countless amounts of tours at USC as a University Ambassador, it felt odd being a participant on the tour! The town of St Gallen sits in a valley in the Alps and the university is basically up one of the mountains, so the views from the university are amazing. From one of the patios, you can even see Lake Constance! Austria and Germany are right on the other side of the lake. I didn't get a good picture of it; you can be sure I'll be back for one!

Yesterday I went with some students to Appenzell, a small town about 50 minutes by train from St Gallen. It was even smaller than St Gallen, which is hard to imagine. It was beautiful though!

I'm planning a trip to Munich next weekend, and booked a flight last night to London for Spring Break! Classes also start this week. Wish me luck!!