My First Week In Switzerland
Well hello there! Wait, I mean… “Bonjour” because, ya know, I’m a local.
Just kidding, as I’m sure you assumed I am as far from a local here as you can get and I’m sure it will remain that way for the length of my stay. I think it’s a combination of my horrible French, my American accent, and wearing my Chaco’s in the dead of winter that will make full assimilation impossible. But I’ll try my best!
This week has been an absolute whirlwind and I feel like I’m swimming in a fur coat after just running a marathon… in other words, I’m exhausted.
My plan for these blog posts is to structure them in two parts. The first will be a rundown of my week so I can justify not keeping a journal and use this instead. I’m sure my posts will be far less detailed as the weeks go by and I get settled into a boring routine, but it will be a weekly review nonetheless. The second part will be culture shocks or interesting discoveries I’ve made throughout the week. I’ll bold the funny moments so you can skip to just read those and the culture shocks at the end if you’re here for a good time but not a long time.
With that fine introduction….Here’s the rundown of the last 8 days!
Tuesday
I started off with a nice 10-hour flight to Paris and it ended up being fantastic. I made Valentine’s day treats for all the flight attendants, baggage claim workers, etc. and they absolutely loved them! They were little baggies filled with candy and a $5 gift card to Starbucks (because every airport has a Starbucks inside). This is honestly one of the biggest travel hacks I have. Never underestimate small acts of kindness towards people who never get recognized. I was able to get an entire 4 seat row blocked off for myself so I could lay down for the entire flight, which was everything I needed and more with my back issues. I am so grateful for the tickets that were purchased from Clark- shout out to the Orem-Lindon Rotary Club! They’re the best! The flight attendants were my favorite though because they all asked “what seat are you in?” And then brought me the “first class” treats and snacks in addition to the regular ones throughout the flight and were very kind. I slept almost the entire ride to Paris and it was by far the best flight I’ve ever been on.
Wednesday
I arrived to Paris at 8am and was wide awake and thought “this is PERFECT, I don’t even have to deal with jet lag, I’ll watch a couple movies and be ready for my 8pm flight to Switzerland this evening. By raise of hands who thinks I was able to stay awake? No hands up? Ya. You’re right. I took a shower and by 10am I was completely asleep. I slept until 6pm and made my way down to my gate.
I had NO IDEA how big the Paris airport was and I was carrying around my 30lb backpack and 15lb bag in my arms and I’m pretty sure I walked 5 miles to get to my gate. I was drenched in sweat by the time I made it there. I had to strip off my sweatshirt at about mile 2 and was in just an undershirt and everyone around me is in turtlenecks with triple layers on, looking EXTREMELY fancy for an airport. Meanwhile, I’m mopping up my sweat with the back of my arm and trying to hide the fact that I sound like I just finished sprinting in a track meet with my gasps of air.
After a quick 1 hour flight, Susana (she is the Bishop’s wife who I texted and she offered to pick me up and have me stay with their family) picked me up and we were off to her mom’s house because she had more room in her place.
On the car ride over to her mom’s house Susana picked up the phone and was talking with her mom. I’m listening to this phonecall and I’m thinking to myself “that does not sound like French…” Now, here is some information you need for this story; Susana had told me previously that she was from Switzerland and grew up in Geneva and I knew her husband was German. I also knew that she attends the English ward and went to school in Utah, but this is all I really know about her. It is also important to note that Geneva is the French-speaking part of Switzerland.
So I’m listening to this call but she ends it with “Ciao” which I know is a French goodbye. So I think “huh, I guess it just sounds a lot different in person than it does on DuoLingo.”
I’m getting settled upstairs after taking another shower because I was soaked in sweat from my trek across the “great plains of Paris” located inside the airport and I hear her mom and dad talking to each other. Once again I think “man, I must be really jet lagged because I could SWEAR they are speaking Spanish.
I spend the next couple of hours telling myself that I’m crazy and that its so stupid to think they were speaking Spanish because they speak French here. I go to sleep and wake up wide awake at 3am. After watching the sun rise for the first time in my life (it was magical, I can see why the morning people like it. I wouldn’t ever do it for fun or for any other reason again other than jetlag, but now I can cross it off my bucket list!)
Thursday
I go downstairs for breakfast and I’m looking at the pictures on the walls, and I see the “Family Proclamation to the World” and it says “La Familia: Una Proclamación para el Mundo.” Now I know I only took Spanish once in 9th grade, and my free public education absolutely failed me when it comes to knowledge of useful things… but I’m 99.9% sure that “La Familia” is Spanish. So finally I start talking to the husband and ask where he is originally from, to which he responds, “Peru.”
I wasn’t crazy. It WAS Spanish and I had just spent the last 5 hours stressing that I had no idea what French sounded like for nothing. Good times.
I was then asked if I wanted “coffee” at breakfast. Now for anyone that doesn’t know, I don’t drink coffee, and most people within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints don’t drink coffee either because it is part of our general health code called “The Word of Wisdom.” So when I was asked if I wanted coffee I fully assumed she meant hot chocolate because her English was very limited. I mean the house was covered in pictures of the temple and Jesus. So she does all this stuff to heat up the milk, gets down a ton of ingredients, and makes me a cup of what I assume is hot chocolate. But when I smell it… it smells a lot like coffee. I add a bunch of sugar like she tells me to do and I think “well, at this point I can’t say no thank you because she went through all the trouble of making it for me. And I guess I can’t be 100% sure because I’ve never had coffee before so how am I supposed to know what it tastes like? Maybe French hot chocolate smells like coffee? She’s a member of the Church so this can’t be coffee right? Maybe it’s something coffee flavored but it’s not real coffee?” That was my entire inner dialog as I’m about to drink it. But I finally landed on “It is way too rude to not drink this after everything they’ve done for me, so if it is coffee, I’m sure Heavenly Father will understand.”
Days later, I’m pretty sure it was coffee. But because I’m not 100% sure I’m going to stick with my statement of “I’ve never drank coffee before in my life” at parties for the shock and awe on everyone’s faces and we’ll just keep this little moment to ourselves, ok? Oh and for anyone that is wondering it was not some addictive “I need this again” substance, it tasted fine but I definitely prefer hot chocolate, and the jitters I had the rest of the afternoon made me feel like I was 12yrs old again about to perform at a piano recital and I couldn’t get my nerves in check. So I think I’m going to continue to pass on the coffee trend.
Thursday
I arrived at my apartment around 1 pm and started unpacking. I quickly became acquainted with the receptionist Clemen (it’s supposed to have an accent above the second “e” and sounds very French) because I asked him about 1,000 questions.
I ventured out to the grocery store and got the essentials; bread, peanut butter, jelly, milk, cereal, pasta noodles, and pasta sauce. Unfortunately, I didn’t like the cereal and what I thought was pasta sauce turned out to be plain tomato puree that is used to make your own sauce… but the PB&J was good!
Friday
I had met some friends earlier in the day on Thursday and we agreed to go to the “orientation day” together. So we met in the lobby at 7:30am to walk over.
(Just a little background on where I’m living: I live in a very nice apartment “complex” (that’s not what its called here, but that’s basically what it is) it consists of 4 different buildings. Mine goes up 13 floors, as do 2 others, and then the final building is only 6 floors. There is a laundry mat on the bottom floor of one of the buildings and a pizza store under another, as well as a glorified gas station store (just without the gas station part) under the other one in case you need some last-minute items and the real stores are closed. All of these buildings together house over 600 students, and about 8 out of 10 of them are international so everyone speaks English. )
When I walked downstairs in my Chaco sandals and very light jacket and everyone else was wearing multiple layers, a winter coat, scarf, and boots they all stared at me in shock. After I assured them that it is much colder in Utah and the weather here is a good 20 degrees warmer, and I’ll be very warm after a 30-minute walk, we were off.
The orientation day was about 4 hours and it was a firehose of information reminding us that we have 1 week to file for a residence permit to not get deported, and have to sign up for health insurance because it is required in Switzerland. I then went on a tour of the campus which is much different than what I’m used to. The different buildings (science, English, psychology, etc) are located throughout the city and are not together. So we went on a 2 hour tour walking to all the different locations and buildings, some of which are about 20-30 minutes away from one another.
By the time I got home I was really hungry and had some leftover cooked pasta noodles in the fridge so my friend Nea (from Finland) and I decided to eat them. We went into the kitchen which is shared by our entire floor of 16 people. Inside the kitchen was a super nice Italian guy. He is making his expresso in his own small expresso machine (which is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen) and he watches in horror as we put the noodles into the microwave, and then eat them with butter and salt. I honestly think he might still be in shock even now, 4 days after. But the good news is, Nea has never had pasta with butter and salt and she reported to me last night that she’s now made it multiple times and I assured her that she’s becoming a true American! Hahaha
That night the school’s international club put together a “Karaoke Party” at a local club and I went with a few of my friends. Now I know what you’re thinking- there aren’t very many clubs in Utah (are there any clubs in Utah?) so I was a bit confused about what I should wear to this event. My thought process was “I don’t want to lug around a big coat, so I’ll just dress in a couple of layers and it will be great.” It was not, in fact, “great.” It was hot. EXTREMELY hot. Honestly, at one point I thought I might pass out from heat stroke because I was surrounded on all sides by a bunch of people and they were all very tall, and I’m this short little thing in the middle who was only breathing in the tall people’s CO2. Once again I found myself sweating profusely, but luckily this time I wasn’t the only one. We sang all the hits and it ended up being a really fun night!
Saturday
I have a friend here (Davida) who is an Orthodox Jew and I have been learning a lot about Judaism! For example; her sabbath is from Friday at sunset to Saturday at sunset and there are a lot of things she isn’t allowed to do during that time. She can’t have her phone or turn on a light or write, but one thing she can do is play board games! So we got a small group together and we played some cards. The local missionaries from my church wanted to come by to meet me so they ended up playing with us as well and we had a great time!
In the afternoon I needed to go pick up a few things and used my phone to get around. I knew that I needed to take bus 3 back to my apartment and it was the last stop. So I found bus 3, hopped on, and decided to watch the view out my window. The whole time I was patting myself on my back thinking what an amazing public transit expert I am. When it reached the last stop 30 minutes later it was not, in fact, the correct place. I had instead gone to the complete opposite stop in the opposite direction. So I’m sitting there and I don’t know what to do. I get off the bus thinking “Is there another bus that comes that will take me in the other direction?” I’m looking at my phone, I’m looking around, and I am clearly lost. Then I look up and the words on the bus change to read the correct stop I need to go to. So I put my head down and open the doors to the bus again and walk back on. The only other person on the bus who watched this entire thing laughed at me as I embarrassingly took my seat again to sit for the 40-minute ride back. Haha oh well, lesson learned!
Later that night my friends and I ventured out around town to take in the sites! Earlier in the week after arriving to Geneva I texted the local woman’s group from my church called “The Relief Society” which is the largest woman’s organization in the world. I texted them asking for some basic household items like towels, blankets, plates, bowls, etc. so I could get some stuff I needed for my apartment without having to go to a bunch of different stores and spend a lot of money. Especially because I’m only here for about 6 months, I didn’t want to buy a bunch of new things. As they always do, the woman in the chat offered up everything that I needed! One of the woman wasn’t going to be at church on Sunday and asked if would be ok picking up the items from her house. I said that was fine and while I was out with my friends (Nea and Fanny, both from Finland) I asked if it was cool with them to stop by this woman’s house. I explain that I’ve never met her before but within my culture, it’s very normal and even expected that she would help me. So we show up and she met us out on the street and I give her a hug and introduce my friends. She has a bag full of stuff for me and turns to my friends and asks if there is anything they need. They both were a little confused and then Fanny jokingly said “the only thing I don’t have is flip flops!" To their absolute shock she said “Ok, yes I have some. Come on inside.” They looked at me and I’m already turned to follow her. When I looked back at them I couldn’t help but laugh at their expressions, sometimes I forget how special The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints really is. As anyone from Utah would expect, we walked in and her husband is casually watching tv and her 30-year-old daughter with down syndrome (which really made me miss my nephew) was at the table and weren’t surprised at all when we walked in. She grabs a brand new pair of flip-flops, still in their wrapping and never been worn, and hands them to Fanny. She then goes and gets me a pen that I asked for and two chocolate bars for both of them. I wish I could have taken pictures of their faces during this whole thing because it was absolutely hilarious how in shock they were, whereas this was a casual Saturday night for me!
We got back to the complex and it was a great day, but I was also starting to really feel the effects of my jet lag and screaming at the club from the night before. By Saturday evening at 6 pm, I felt awful. I felt a cold coming on and was praying I’d feel ok by the morning because I was asked to teach the youth Sunday school lesson. Susana was sick and asked if I could sub her class. I took some medicine and went to sleep at 8:30 pm.
Sunday
I woke up feeling ok but not great. I was popping some dayquil and took the 40-minute tram ride to church. It was a great service and I had such a fun time teaching the youth. They are my absolute favorite age to teach and I’m secretly hoping I get a calling where I am asked to teach them every week. After church I had a huge laundry basket full of the supplies I needed and one of the members offered to give me a ride back home so I didn’t have to take it on the tram.
I then went on a school “city tour” with my Nea and a couple of other friends and we got to see some really pretty parks and destinations that I’m sure I will explore more in the weeks to come.
Monday
I had my first French class Monday afternoon and it went really well! My professor seems very kind and her English is fantastic so she was very easy to understand. I’m hoping its the same professor for my French class tonight (Wednesday). I had lunch with my friends in the cafeteria and then later that night Max (from the German-speaking part of Switzerland) made a group of us a really good pasta dinner. One that might have redeemed Nea and I in the eyes of the Italian from the other day at lunch.
After dinner around 9pm we decided to go on a night walk around the lake and hopped on a tram. We had such a fun time walking around and exploring the city with the cool lights that they have strung up around the city.
Tuesday
After a great lunch with my friends, I met with the research fellow that is in charge of me and my reason for being here. Her name is Myriam and she is very kind. I am on her team and she is currently conducting multiple studies and I am here to help her with them. I was given my first task, which is to find a minimum of 20 articles dealing with refugee education. There is a lot more to that, but I won’t bore you with the details. All you need to know is I am going to be spending the next week doing a lot of searching and reading for articles on google scholar and my school’s library databases to find what I’m looking for.
My meeting with her was a little over an hour and by the time it was finished and I left, I was on the verge of a mental breakdown. It was just one of those moments where you feel so inadequate and very underqualified and absolutely overwhelmed at just how big this elephant is that you have to eat! I also left and I got lost in the building and I didn’t know where the library was to print the paper I needed, all my friends were in their classes, and I felt very alone and out of place. I decided to go back to my apartment and go on a walk so I could re-set and remember why I’m here and tell myself its all going to be ok.
On the bus back to my apartment I was on the verge of tears. Traveling is really fun, and I enjoy it so much. I’ve made such amazing friends all around the world and this week has been incredible, but I’d be lying if I said that every second is magical. For anyone that really wants to solo travel, you have to know that it is completely normal to have these moments. Moments where you know you’re not alone, but you feel absolutely alone. You feel so out of place and so far from your comfort zone that you want to book the first flight back home to everything that you know. You won’t just have this moment once, you will have it over and over again, and thats ok.
I’ve had these moments before in China and the Virgin Islands, so I went to my room and did some breathing exercises. I said some positive affirmations and reminded myself that I’m here for a reason and its all going to be ok.
I then texted my friend group chat asking if anyone wanted to go on my walk with me, and my friend Kajol (from India) said she was down. She has been living in Germany going to school for the last year and is living here for the semester on exchange. We wandered around town she told me about a time when she was on a bus in the middle of nowhere at 2 am and the bus driver said she had to get off. She was alone in the middle of the street and had no idea what to do. She just wanted to sit down and cry because she didn’t speak the language, didn’t know where she was, her phone wasn’t working, etc. As I listened to her tell me this story and reassured me that she’s been where I am and felt similar things, I was reminded why I love doing this. Why I love jet-setting around the world and being in uncomfortable places and making a million mistakes that make me look stupid… because I get the amazing opportunity to meet people who understand me in such a unique way. I get the privilege of walking around Switzerland with a girl from India learning about Hinduism and a culture I know nothing about. Even though we come from such different places and have experienced such different things, she is able to speak peace to my heart and show me that she understands me.
I think it’s the most beautiful and amazing part about being a child of God- the ease with which we can connect with His other children, and I am reminded of that each and every time I travel.
After our walk I felt 100% better and went back home to watch some tv with Fanny and Nea who also reported having a mental breakdown that afternoon for all the same reasons I did.
Wednesday
I have some research I’m going to start this afternoon and then I have a French class tonight! That’s it for my first week. My cold is doing much better and I think I’ll be back to myself by Friday of this week. Thanks for tuning in!
Culture Shocks and Interesting Discoveries
They don’t have hair conditioner. Ok, they do, but its not called that. It’s a different word in French but it is all called Shampoo. When I went to the store I was trying to find conditioner and it all said shampoo, even when I put it into my translate app. I still don’t have any and need to go to the store with one of my French-speaking friends but I was assured that they do in fact sell conditioner here.
The towel holders in public bathrooms are crazy cool! They are and actual towels, meaning they are made out of fabric. You pull it down and dry your hands and after a few seconds it will suck it back up and rotate it to a dry part of the towel for the next person so there isn’t any waste of paper.
The water here is AMAZING! You can drink it from the tap, so I’ve had a lot of bathroom tap water which was super weird at first but it is honestly the best water I’ve had in my life.
Cars yield to pedestrians, they are very courteous and will actually stop their car for you… crazy.
If you smile at people, they will not smile back. Trust me, I’ve tried.
Everyone dresses like they live in Antartica when it is 55 degrees outside and positively balmy.
It is very true that everyone smokes. My apartment has a very distinct smoke smell because someone obviously lived here that smoked and it is in the walls and will never come out, and now its probably in my clothes as well. Yay.
Unlike what I thought, there is not a bidet in the toilets. Super disappointing. But on the plus side they don’t charge for public bathrooms… but the public toilets don’t have seats so its basically a squatty potty but honestly harder because you’re squatting around a big toilet bowl. I definitely prefer the Chinese floor squatty potties.
During the orientation day they said “we would first like to invite you to stop smoking, but if you do smoke, here are your free ashtrays” haha I thought that was so funny and something that would never be handed out in the US as free swag.
The lights in the hallways of my apartment building are energy saving so they turn off very quickly if they don’t sense any motion for a minute. So they are constantly blinking on and off when people venture out into the hallways. But it is cool to see them save energy in that way.
The houses here have very steep spiral staircases and they are very scary to walk up and down!
The groceries are extremely different and have no brands I am familiar with. Pictures are equally deceiving and it has been a lot of trial and error this week finding food’s I like.
