When you think of Switzerland, you probably imagine cute little chalets with flower boxes lining the windows. Since I was moving to Zürich, the biggest city in the country, I expected to be in a flat near the center of the city or at least within walking distance of the main campus with cobblestone streets. My student accommodation could not be further from that.
I live in a small, modest neighborhood close to the edge of the city. It stands in contrast with the wealth of most of the rest of the city. I knew I would be sharing a flat with 8 other people, but I had no idea who they were. I wasn’t even given any names of who my flatmates would be. When I first arrived, I was quite overwhelmed at the state of the flat. As someone who can be a bit uptight about keeping my space clean and organized, the sheer volume of random stuff just lying around in no particular order gave me a lot of anxiety about what the next year of my life would look like. I hadn’t signed my leasing contract yet and I started looking for other places to live, however Zürich is one of the most expensive cities in Europe so I didn’t really have a choice. I was stuck in the student housing no matter how messy it was.
Things improved as I started to meet my flatmates. Some are exchange students and some are permanent residents. They were all extremely welcoming and very curious about life in the US because I was the first American most of them had met. At GW, I lived with the same roommate for my first two years and we had living together down to a science. Adjusting to 8 new people all at once was stressful at the beginning, but now I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. It was challenging to move into a place where half the people there had already been living there for multiple years. I struggled with feeling like I was intruding on their space, but I had to be assertive and make the space my own as well in order to function. The process has been gradual, though. I’ve been here for 43 days and I built up the confidence to use the coffee machine for the first time yesterday.
The last shock of my flat came when I realized how far I was from the campus. I need to allow at least an hour on public transport to comfortably get to my classes downtown on time. Last year I lived at 2109 F St and all my classes were in the Elliott building. I had become accustomed to waking up 30 minutes before class started and walking 5 minutes to class. I kept asking other people in my building if we were particularly far from campus, but I always got the same answer: an hour commute is pretty good for the area and we are really lucky to find student housing at all because of a housing shortage in Zurich.
My living accommodation has played a big part in shaping my study abroad experience.. I have learned to be more laid back about cleaning and accept the space for what it is. I have learned to be grateful for the people that I live with and that this flat is just as much my home as it is there’s. I have learned better time management skills and am now an expert in Zürich public transportation. My flat may not be picturesquely Swiss or anything like where I’ve lived in DC, but I think being put in this new environment has been a crucial part of my growth as a person.
Margaret Light
Academic Year 2024-25
GW Exchange - University of Zurich
Elliott School of International Affairs
International Affairs Major