Arriving in Switzerland
After all my efforts packing and preparing, it was finally time to travel to Switzerland! My flight consisted of going from Miami to Lisbon, and from Lisbon to Zurich. After experiencing some horrible airport lines during the holidays, I got to the airport 3 hours before departure. This gave me plenty of time to check my bags and get through security with about an hour and a half to spare before departure. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed 2 hours due to maintenance issues, and the crew was deciding “if the plane was fit to fly in” or not. Not the most comforting announcement to hear before a 9-hour flight!
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uckily, everything went fine, and guess what. I got a whole 4 seat row to myself! The flight was a red-eye, departing at 6 pm and arriving at 10 am in Portugal. I slept the whole time, making a bed out of my 4 seats. The most comfortable flight I’ve ever been on hands down. I missed my connection because of the delay, but Air Portugal (my airline) rescheduled me on a flight 3 hours later and gave me two food vouchers, which got me about 4 dishes of food which lasted me the whole day! The second leg of my flight was a full plane, except somehow I was able to get a whole row to myself yet again! This time it was a 2 seat row.
Finally, I arrived in Zurich. At this point, I had missed my appointment to meet with the landlord and collect my keys, but one of the other exchange students from USC, Isabella, had just moved in the same day and was able to pick them up for me! From Zurich, it was time to find a train to St. Gallen. The trains from Zurich to St. Gallen leave around every 20 minutes, and the train is about 50 minutes with one stop. I won’t say the Swiss people are overly outgoing. I had 5 items of luggage I struggled with aggressively and during my hours of trying to navigate the public transportation and load/unload all my items on and off trains and buses, not a single person offered to help! Very different from my experiences in the US. Let me tell you, 200 pounds of luggage is not easy to carry. I’m still sore as I write this blog.
The apartment was hard to find in the dark and drizzling rain, but I finally made it! Since I’m one of the first people to move into the complex, not all of the furniture has arrived yet, but it is such a nice apartment! The apartment itself smells like freshly finished construction, and every item inside is pristine. I didn’t even want to roll my suitcase on the new floors! There is tons of storage space and closets, as well as a very nice mini-kitchen setup and bathroom. The furnishings also include new sheets and towels, which was amazing to not have to buy them. There is also a balcony which will be nice on sunny days!
Since I don’t have wifi set up yet, my first stop was an internet cafe to order a router and get my classes set up to register for tomorrow. Everywhere here is so cute! All the buildings are so pretty, even in the rain. The buses are easy to navigate and run frequently and the station is about a 2-minute walk from my apartment. I went to what is called the Marktplatz, where there are lots of shops and restaurants and markets to buy food. After I leave the cafe I’ll be shopping for some basics for the apartment and getting some groceries. Welcome to Switzerland!
Bis zum nächsten mal!
Kara