One-Third Done

There is a time period after you move somewhere that it is new an exciting.  You are exploring a new place (and by exploring..I mean constantly getting lost).  When I arrived in Zurich, it was surreal and extremely overwhelming.  I was actually left to fend for myself and was living with a stranger for the first week.  I was jet-lagged and disoriented.  I actually remember thinking that I would never get a grip on this city, between the buses, trams, trains, and walking.

Four months later, it is no longer this exciting new place, but it has become my everyday life. I actually live in Switzerland.  I have a pretty regular schedule.  I have made a great group of friends who I adore (awww...).  I have explored a few countries and most importantly, I have figured out the city.  I know how to get places and can occasionally even give people directions.  I have cafes and bars that I love and I am still constantly discovering new places to go.

While I feel like I understand Zurich, I have isolated myself in an international bubble.  I am still trying to find the culture.  My family isn't Swiss and I don't have any Swiss friends. I am a little embarrassed to say that I have barely spoken to any Swiss people.  This was the opposite of what I thought would happen.  This isn't just my experience either, nearly all of my friends or people I have met seem to interact with the seemingly mysterious (or indifferent) Swiss people.  Maybe this will change in the next 8 months, but it doesn't seem likely.

(insert your own transitional sentence here...)

We are in the middle of the holiday season. The lights are up around the city, the Christmas Markets have arrived, and we even have a tree decorated in crystals!

It is glorious!

However, this is also bitter sweet.  I am so incredibly lucky and grateful for everything I have done and will get to do while I am here, but it doesn't make being away from family and friends for the holidays any easier.

The sweet part is what I am doing over Christmas and New Year's Eve.  I am so lucky to have a great group to travel to Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Germany with! It is going to be a holiday break for the books! I am sooo lucky to have a friend from college coming to visit and spend the next 3 weeks with me, in addition to a couple of other aupairs!

So while it is going to be a different kind of Christmas, I am so excited for it! I am amazed that I have reached my four month mark! Time is flying by and there is still so much to do before August rolls around.