Act one: The First Week

It has been one week since I arrived in Bern, Switzerland. I have decided to post on this blog once a week, as I am already keeping a journal. I can only write something twice that many times. Also, since this is a blog, I think I will structure this more for public consumption, although very few people actually have the address to my blog.

One of the first things to strike me when I touched down in Zurich airport was how small it was. I was tiny as far as I am concerned. The arrival area was smaller then toapayoh interchange.

Travelling alone as its problems, problems which in all my years of travelling I have never really thought about since well, I was never alone. Going to the toilet was a problem, since I was heavily burdened with 3 sets of luggage. That’s where the handicap toilet came in handy, I pushed my trolley into the handicapped toilet so that I can keep it in my sights.

As I was waiting for my mentor Anja to arrive, I realized that I would not have been able to make it back to my room without the help of another. My load was not only too heavy, but too cumbersome to manage single handedly.

So when I met Anja in Bern station, I was more then relieved to have found someone friendly to help me make it back to my room. Now on hindsight, after dragging my stuff all the way from the station back to my room, I really would not have been able to make it.

The next day, Mel came down to my level, she lived only one level above me, to see if I am still alive, and I am. That afternoon I went to meet Sze Wing’s mentor, Benjamin in Bern station. He was instrumental in our orientation of Bern and the University of Bern.

He aided us to the best of his ability, brought us around, helped us with the setting up of our bank accounts, getting our sim cards activated, getting the train concessions, cooked dinner at his place, made cheese fondue at our place, brought us to the resident permit office to get a resident permit, brought us to the carnival in Luzern, later on we will be going to the Bern Carnival as well.

Our orientation would have been a whole of different without him.

The rag tag group I tag along with includes, Mel, an economics major 3^rd year, Tanya and Sze Wing, two English Literature majors 3^rd year as well. There’s supposed to be one more, Terri, but she seems to have her own plans, that’s expected since she was here like 3 weeks ago. We are really new compared to her.

Stating every single thing I did here doesn’t make much sense as of now. So, I shall end my first entry quite casually. There are other issues I would like to talk about, such as the direct democracy of Switzerland, its xenophobia, the working poor, the transportation system. The speed, the population density amongst other things that I have discovered in my short time here, but not to worry, all in good time.