One thought on “Photos from Dielsdorf, Zurich”

1. It has been almost 3 weeks since I have arrived here to Switzerland. In only 3 weeks I have fallen completely and absolutely in love, to name just a few things I love here: the education system, the people, the trains, the views, and I can’t forget the food; the cheese and chocolate and delicious dinners my host family makes for me are all amazing.
   Everyday is so different from the next, schools here have a changing schedule from day to day. The school days run from 7:20- 5:00 pm with a 2 hour lunch break in between and Wednesdays are half days. As a teacher though you only have to come in when your teaching and can stay to prep and then leave when your done. While there are some long days where we stay from 7:20-5:00, there are also days we don’t need to come in until 10 am or some days we leave by noon and we’re done for the day. This is same for the students, the students only come in when they have classes and then they go home when they are done. There is also no lunch provided at schools so all the students go home for lunch which is fine because the school is close to all the students homes that they can walk or ride their bikes. The teacher I am working with teaches 9 classes throughout the week (which is crazy to think about but they only meet once or twice a week depending) , both English and Math. I have taken over three of her English classes: two 7th grade classes and one 9th grade. My major is in special education and all my prior experience was in special education settings so being in these classes was a total change for me but one that I am learning a lot from. The students are incredibly motivated and it’s inspiring to see students who are excited to learn and happy to come to class everyday. Their English is amazing and makes communicating very easy. One major difference I noticed right away from students here, is that when they come in every day they shake your hand and when they leave class they shake your hand to say good bye, I really have liked this because it helped me to quickly learn the students names and create relationships with them. I have been given a few opportunities to even walk to another part of town to the KGS school, which is a separate school for students with special needs, while there I just get to observe because most students here don’t speak English, and for me its really interesting to see this setting in another country, I have been very thankful for this opportunity.
   When I have free time I walk around the city of Zurich, i’m living really close to the center of the city so it’s easy to get there and to walk around and see all the beautiful old town areas and architectural buildings around. Over the weekends I am choosing to explore Switzerland a bit more my first weekend I went to an old medieval town called “Regensberg” where I climbed to the top of the castle and had amazing views. This past weekend I went to the city of St Gallen where I visited a monastery from the 6th century with amazing historical pieces and buildings and the most incredible library I have ever seen. From St Gallen I then went to a small village called “Appenzell” which was just surrounded by huge beautiful mountains, they are known for having a very traditional culture and their cheese (which was incredible), I just walked down the cobblestone streets and looked at all the cute shops and breathtaking mountain views.
   There is so much to say about my experience here and i’m so grateful that this is where I get to spend my final months as a student, I am learning invaluable amounts about teaching and culture here. This is a place I truly feel like I belong in and i’m enjoying every moment of it.

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