I left Switzerland on July 17th, and it was one of the toughest things I ever had to do. I will miss the country and being able to see the Alps occasionally, but mostly I miss the people I had gotten to know there. Saying goodbye to them was so hard, especially since I had to say goodbye to some earlier than others, and sometimes I didn't know if I would see them again before I left or not.
My last week in Switzerland was spent mostly at home or in town or the pool with friends.
On my very last day my bike was stolen. My host mom had taken the basket off of my bike to put on her own, and the lock was normally kept in the basket. I went to the pool to say goodbye to my friends and didn't realize that the lock wasn't there until I had already arrived. I thought, what's the big deal? I was only going to be there for the afternoon anyway, and there were so many bikes there that surely nobody would bother looking for unlocked bikes to steal. And I had kept my bike safe and sound for an entire year, so it was highly unlikely to get stolen now.
Well, I guess I was wrong because as soon as I came out, it was gone.
I think I was a little too sad from saying goodbye to really freak out, so I took the bus home and planned how I was going to tell my host mom that my host sister's bike was stolen. When I told her that I had bad news, she immediately assumed that I had been hurt or something, but when I told her about the bike she actually wasn't mad at me. She was just thankful that I was okay and hoped that the bike would be found again. So far it hasn't, but even my host sister wasn't upset. I truly had the best host family ever.
That evening I had to finish packing my room. I had to fit everything I owned into one suitcase and a backpack. The suitcase also had to be under 50 pounds - an impossible feat I soon learned. I tried everything, and I even left stuff there, but it is simply not possible to fit an entire year's worth of belongings plus gifts and chocolate in one suitcase and expect it to weigh under 50 pounds. I decided just to pay the fee for overweight luggage then.
I ran into a little Visa problem when I tried getting out of Switzerland from Zurich, and I was actually pulled aside by police, but the misunderstanding was cleared up, and I was allowed to go. I was alone though, since I had decided to extend my stay in Switzerland, and there were no other exchange students or adults with me.
The flight ran smoothly after its three-hour delay, and I landed in JFK Airport in New York. My family picked me up and drove me on home. I remember the odd feelings of suddenly speaking English again, hearing the American accent, driving on American highways, seeing American cars, and eating American food (For the record, I did not have a cheeseburger for my first meal.).
By the time we got home it was late. The house hadn't changed much, but our garden had. However, I still found myself wondering where everything was and marveling at how different my American home is to my Swiss one. Walking in, I couldn't find the light switches anywhere, I noticed we had very soft carpet, and the sinks and doorknobs all seemed strangely lower. I assume that's just due to the age of the house though.
I still found myself thinking in German and almost even talking to people in German because sometimes I forget that they won't have a clue what I'm saying. I'm so used to subduing the English part of my brain that it became hard to give back the reigns.
It was cool that I met an old friend just the next day at Target who had spent a year in Germany, and we had a random conversation in German in the middle of the store.
It has now been almost two weeks since I got home, and I think that I have actually adjusted surprisingly well. I expected it to be terrible when I got home, tears every night and horrors at how the American people live, but I adapted well. In fact, I was happy to be home, and since I'm still in contact with some of my Swiss friends, they don't feel that far away anymore.
My year in Switzerland has certainly been a ride and a life-changing experience. I hope you enjoyed reading my blog and learned a little something about the Swiss culture. This will be my final post, but I'll leave it all up so that you can still read it in the future. Thank you for reading!
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