Short-term Swiss Exchange

The Short-term Swiss Exchange in December of 2022 and January of 2023 was a fairy tale experience consisting of two weeks at the Freies Gymnasium Zürich, and two weeks of holidays. Hugo Finlayson and James Boyle (both Form V) left the day after Speech Day and returned a few days into the New Year, thus having the opportunity to celebrate Christmas and New Year in Switzerland.

Pictured: Matterhorn and surrounding area

After a long flight, we were greeted at Zürich airport in German, to which our response was just to smile and nod. Their warm reception did not go unappreciated, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our host families for their hospitality throughout the duration of our exchange, welcoming total strangers into their homes for a month and treating us like family.

School had some similarities, but also significant differences to ours. The class remained together for most of the day, except for a few subjects. School times varied throughout the week, with some days having early lessons at 7:30am and ending between 4.00pm sometimes, and even concluding at lunchtime every Thursday. While there was a school canteen, we were able to go into the city at recess and lunch, often catching the tram further into the city, such as to the lakeside Christmas Markets.

Once the holidays came, we went our separate ways and were both lucky enough to travel around Switzerland and the surrounding area, visiting places such as Bern, Chur, Waldshut-Tiengen, St. Moritz and Zermatt. Although our skiing skills were not at the same level as our host families, we still had much fun experiencing incredible views of the mountains, valleys, glaciers and even castles. We improved our skiing drastically over the few days that we spent there, largely thanks to receiving some beginner level tips. In Arosa, the proximity to the slopes, was excellent and it was easy to get the bus around town.

The Short-term Swiss Exchange has offered us both an incredible opportunity to learn a different language and to experience a profoundly different country and culture. Our time was riddled with interesting conversations and chances to grow as people, and ultimately it will be a month that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

Pictured: Lake Zurich and Mountains as seen from Meilen, Zurich

Photos taken by Frederick McIsaac (V)

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