I had the incredible experience of a lifetime spending six months studying in Switzerland at one of the top universities in the world, ETH Zurich. As I reflect on what led me here, I feel so grateful and lucky to have experienced all that I have, and to be able to chronicle and share with others some of my experiences and thoughts.
The beginning
I participated in an exchange program which is organized through Go Global at UBC. I had first heard about the program from a friend who had gone through a previous application cycle, but was unfortunately impacted by COVID travel restrictions. It has always been a personal goal of mine to travel more outside of Canada where I was born and raised, so as a student, this was the perfect opportunity. The application and preparation begun quite early, approximately more than a year in advance. Generally, the application process was straightforward. After doing some research on the many schools you could exchange at - which means looking at course offerings, transfer credits, location etc. - you would have to select your top three choices and write an application for each one. This includes writing letters of motivation and submitting a study plan.
By June, I had heard back from Go Global that I matched with ETH Zurich as my top choice. The promise of good chocolate, beautiful mountains and lakes, skiing in the Alps, and a safe and welcoming environment made the decision super easy. I was going to Switzerland!
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| The exchange workflow is quite the todo list. |
Moving to Zurich
In February, I packed my bags and travelled alone over 8300km to Zurich - a new city in a new country on an unfamiliar continent. I remember the feeling of excitement and nervousness like it all happened just yesterday. The first weeks were all about getting settled and checking boxes on an entire list of logistic and very necessary adulting tasks. I was lucky to have student housing in a super convenient location, only a short walk away from ETHZ and the train station.
Adapting to life in Zurich was quite easy. Swiss culture is not drastically different from North American culture. Zurich’s population consists of 30% non-nationals, making it more multicultural than other Swiss cities, although less diverse than Vancouver. People in this area mostly speak Swiss German, but they are usually proficient in three or four languages, so getting around with English is easy. However, this also means that it’s challenging to learn Swiss German in my daily life, as most people would immediately switch to English upon hearing my pronunciation. Nevertheless, I made an effort to learn some Swiss German and mastered saying ‘grüezi’ (hello), ‘danke’ (thanks), and ‘tschüss’ (goodbye). I can also count and read days of weeks… baby steps, am I right?
Something I fully appreciated is the trash separation system. PET plastic is recyclable and can be dropped off in stores. Paper, metal, and glass, separated by color: weiß (white), grün (green), and braun (brown), are sorted at the blue recycling stations. There are also containers dedicated to recycling fabric in the city. Regular household trash requires special garbage bags, except for private bins. The key point of all this is that I could tell that Switzerland cares about the environment.
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| The blue bins at the recycling station across from my residence. |
To welcome spring, Zurich hosts a festival called Sechseläuten. The main event is the burning of the Böögg, which resembles a snowman, and its burning symbolizes the expulsion of winter. This year, records were shattered as it took 57 minutes for the Böögg to burn completely. I watched this from the front row and was surprised by this rather violent spectacle, which contrasts with the peaceful daily life. How interesting!
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| The Böögg up in flames at Sechseläuten 2023. |
University life
ETHZ has two campuses, Zentrum and Hönggerberg. Zentrum campus is in the center of the city and was where all of my classes were. When it came to course selection I had to ensure that I:
- satisfy the prerequisites. ETH does not enforce this during registration so it was up to myself to find out based on their degree structure and course syllabus.
- take a minimum 20 ECTS credits. I don’t recommend exchange students take much more than the minimum.
- 2/3 of the course credits are earned through courses offered by my home department, Computer Science.
I did a bit of trial and error with my course selection. After the first week of lectures, I realized that some of the courses I had planned to take were a bit more advanced than I could keep up with, especially since I wanted to travel more. I took “Introduction to Machine Learning”, “Virtual Reality I”, “HCI: Cognition and Usability”, and “Shape Modeling and Geometry Processing”. However, I ended up dropping the latter course partway through the semester and switched to “Data Modeling and Databases”.
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| Silent study vibes on a stormy night. | Main building (Hauptgebaude). |
In terms of studying, I didn’t find many differences compared to UBC. I had lectures from Monday through Friday and usually spent my time in the library. I frequented the Mensas (cafeterias) for lunch and dinner when I didn’t feel like cooking. However, I did notice a difference in the number of student resources. There were many guest lectures and often catered networking events. There is also the Student Project House (SPH), which is an initiative that provides teams of students with the tools for prototyping ideas and building physical and digital solutions. The Computer Science student community also hosted numerous academic, professional, and social events throughout the term. I participated in some of these and really enjoyed my experience!
Swiss way of life
I tried to immerse myself in the Swiss way of life. I paid extra attention to being timely. With multiple clocks at every street corner, there was constant reminder at how important time was to the Swiss. It’s a good habit that will stay with me, because I realized that being on time equals efficiency. The transportation system is a good example of that. Buses, trams, and trains are rarely delayed even by a minute; I can only recall two occasions of significant delays: one time when a herd of cows blocked the train tracks, and another when a car caught on fire. They work together seamlessly to make travel so easy within the country.
When it comes to trains, I was very impressed. The Zurich train station is quite sizable, and during the winter, many locals carry their ski gear to and from ski resorts. I did the same, and it was honestly a significantly different experience to hop on a train with my skis and arrive directly at the base of a mountain, compared to Vancouver, where I would need to drive a car and potentially encounter traffic. During the summer, instead of skiing, it was hiking.
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| I like taking the train. ETH can be seen on the hill above the train station. |
Sundays were noticeably quiet in the city because it is a day of rest. Shops are all closed on Sundays, with the exception of some grocery stores at the train station. Instead of taking out the trash or doing other house chores, people would head outdoors and participate in fun activities with friends and family.
I was very active while living in Switzerland. I went on many evening walks, did lots of runs, went to the gym, played basketball at night with my friends, trained in badminton with a former Olympian, participated in two national-level badminton tournaments, went skiing, biking, and hiking… I even completed my first half-marathon! Perhaps this kind of active, balanced lifestyle is part of what makes Switzerland one of the happiest countries in the world. I was definitely happy.
Friends and travels
I had the pleasure of meeting many amazing people from around the world. A significant number of the friends I made were either my housemates or fellow classmates. Over the months, we became close, and I’m certain I’ll stay in touch with many of them. These are highly accomplished and motivated individuals from whom I’ve learned a great deal. While traveling, I explored different parts of Europe with various groups of people, but it was with my new exchange friends that I had the opportunity to visit places like Paris and Rome. I also embarked on solo journeys to a few destinations. Exploring Europe, delving into the history, culture, and languages of these places, and trying new cuisines has been truly wonderful. I must say, Italian food is simply the best. It feels like the world has opened up to me, and I’m now more inclined than ever to continue traveling in the future.
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| Raclette is good, but this seafood pasta in Naples is next level. |
Click, click!
I brought my camera with me whenever I could to capture much of the beautiful scenery and atmosphere around me. It’s a Sony RX100 VII compact for any camera geeks out there. Travelling consistently gave me plenty of opportunities to grow my passion for photography and practice different techniques. I post some of my photos here!
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| Switzerland is b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. These are just some of the more recent photos in my camera roll. |
Thank yous!
I am beyond grateful to everyone who supported me. Special shoutout to mom and dad for all of your unwavering support and for making this experience possible, and to my sister who welcomed my spamming of photos and endless video calls day and night :) And to all of the new friends I made throughout the past six months, thank you for being a part of my journey.
My semester at ETH Zurich has reminded me that embracing new experiences is a gateway to endless growth. As this chapter closes, another one opens. I will be doing an internship for the next 8 months and really look forward to what’s to come. Here’s to the adventures that shape us and the memories that stay with us forever! <3
Until next time,
Iris