Switzerland

I’m almost half way through my study abroad, so I had to decide what to do for spring break. I decided to go first to Zurich because I have family living there and they invited me to spend some time with them. I arrived in Zurich and it was very cold compared to London. The culture shocked me because the city is very organized and everything looked perfect. The country is classified as a low -context culture because they don’t talk too much only when it’s necessary. In restaurants, people don’t talk they whisper and for me, since I come from South America I’m used to hearing loud people all the time. The first day I went to the downtown and it was nice because there are a lot of restaurants and very nice stores to go shopping.My aunt took me to a boat tour on one of Zurich’s most famous lakes called Lake Zurich which is in middle of the city. The tour was beautiful because the lake is surrounded by the downtown, so the view was amazing. I felt like I was in a fairytale story because the houses are old and small.

The second day my family decided to take me to ski to Amden Park which is located two hours from the city. It was going to be my first time skiing, so I was a little nervous, but I knew it was going to be an excellent experience. The next day we headed to the mountains. Switzerland is famous for their mountains. The view left me speechless! I really enjoyed it because in London and in my country (Bolivia) we don’t have type of nature. The mountains looked like post cards it really shocked me. After two hour ride, we arrived at Amden, but the park was already closed. So, the next day we rented all the equipment and I was ready to ski. The skiing part was very difficult, but I had my cousins that helped. After hours of struggling, I was able to ski.I had no idea it was going to that difficult, but at the end of the day, I was happy because I was able to ski without help. Summarizing my experience, the first day skiing was all about learning how to ski and then the second day I was able to ski and I was able to enjoy the sport. The next very early we headed to Zurich because my cousins had school and my aunt work. When we arrived back to Zurich, I decided to go for a walk around the city. Something that captured my attention is that the city doesn’t have big buildings, so I asked my aunt and she told me that the government won’t  allow people to build skyscrapers because the people don’t want the city to lose its essence. People are very conservative and traditional. I have to mention that I really enjoyed the food. They have the best chocolate and cheese I have ever tried. Overall, my experience in Zurich was very nice because people are very polite, the city is old and beautiful and the food is excellent. I really recommend future students to come and visit Switzerland you will enjoy it 🙂  !