Before the Exchange
For the last eight weeks I have been completing my student teaching practicum at
Hyannis-West Elementary School in my hometown. This is my last requirement before
graduating in December 2022. To acquire my Massachusetts teaching license it is only
required that I complete eight weeks in the state however, through my university I need
to complete fourteen weeks. I decided to exchange in Switzerland because I felt it would be a great opportunity to see education in a new perspective. Furthermore, when I was fourteen I was given the chance to take an educational school trip to Europe and stop in Switzerland for two days. I fell in love with the country knowing I needed to go back. This opportunity to teach abroad and live with another family was a dream I had been striving for since my first year of college. I am so excited to finally be living out my dreams before finishing college.

Organisation
The decision to study abroad is a major commitment. At first, I was worried about
the process and how I would go about it. Luckily, I had two great organizations who set
up my exchange in Switzerland making it a little less stressful. My professor from
Bridgewater State University (Dr. MacMillian) got in contact with Chantal Burkhard from
Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich and started to plan for my arrival. Once she reached
out to me I began the application process. The portals and sites were very easy and
simple to navigate, even if you had questions Chantal would answer them promptly. I encourage anyone to just reach out if you may have any questions or concerns because they will always have a solution. This portal is where they would assign me a placement for a school, a host family, and any contact information I needed for both. The Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich was so organized for my arrival.

The Exchange
Studies & School Experience Placement
On November 7th I began my school placement at In Der Ey public school in 5th grade. While many kids did not speak English fluently they were still able to communicate with me and enjoyed practicing their English. They loved learning more about where I came from but also teaching me about their home countries and cultures. During this experience, I was able to see many different classes including science, technology, and even gym. One thing I found interesting was that the primary teachers create lessons for all subjects including art, music, and physical education. In the US we have specialized teachers for these specific courses who attended college to get a degree in the electives. Furthermore, I found out that a teacher in Switzerland will typically teach the same students for three years. For example, they will teach first, second, and third grade or fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. The teachers will then rotate back to the beginning at the end of their third and final year. In the US, we have a new class every year with new students only teaching one grade. At the public school, I wasn’t able to understand much but through actions and gestures, I was able to take in a lot of classroom management strategies and observe the difference in behaviors. One week I was also able to see a day
where parents are invited into the classroom for the morning classes to observe their children and what they are expected of each day when coming to school. I think this is a great opportunity and would benefit students in the US for them to feel proud of themselves and parents to see classroom expectations and how their child acts in the classroom. On November 28th I started at a new school named SIS Wollishofen. This school was a private school and I got the chance to work in both a 5th and 6th-grade classroom. The dynamic of this school was much different than the public school because half of the day was in English and the other half was in German. Every student got the same curriculum however, in two different languages it was quite impressive. My experience at this school was another amazing opportunity. Here I got to teach a lesson about pen pals and had them write back to my second grade class in the US. They really enjoyed making
this personal connection and telling the students about themselves. I thought that going to both a public and a private school was very beneficial because I could compare the
two and see how similar and different they were. I would recommend that to all students who study education abroad. Furthermore, before this I had never had the chance to teach and observe upper elementary classes the highest grade I had ever worked in was fourth grade. I am so glad I got the chance to see what these grades looked like and hope to get some experience when I return to the states too. Overall, both these schools and all of my teachers that I shadowed over my six weeks were so inspirational and I couldn’t thank them enough for all of their help. I wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for them.

Accommodation
Switzerland is such a safe, friendly, and welcoming country. Everyone I met carried a positive and uplifting glow with them. I have never been to a place where so many people care about each other and their community. From all the staff at Pädagogische Hochschule Zürich to my host family everyone was so accommodating to my arrival. I am so grateful. One accommodation I was very grateful for was the university course about the culture and places of Switzerland 101 every Friday. This gave me the chance to learn more about the beautiful country and its history. Furthermore, I was allowed to work with other students who were my age from around the world. I got to talk with them about their education systems and collaborate on different ideas and strategies.

Living in Zurich
My words can not even begin to describe how amazing my host family is. They live right outside of Zurich about a 30-minute train ride away. They have two boys, a two and International Office internationaloffice@phzh.ch Seite 2/3 a three year old, who are so excited I get to live with them while I spend my time here. So far, they like to show me around all their favorite places including an invite to a bakery they go to every Sunday. Thanks to them it truly has been such an amazing experience. One of my favorite meals so far has been Raclette this is a traditional Swiss dish where you heat cheese and melt it over potatoes. It is amazing, two of my favorite foods combined. My host dad has also brought me along to two professional Swiss hockey games at the new arena. They make me feel like a part of their family. I know that this connection will be one that I have for the rest of my life. I can not thank them enough for taking me in and allowing me to stay at their beautiful home.

After the Exchange
Administration & Conclusion
After spending an extra week traveling with my family, I returned to the United States. I started a long-term sub position at the school where I was student teaching before leaving for Switzerland. I had so many stories to share with my coworkers who were so interested to hear all about my trip. I am so grateful for this experience and I truly got a new perspective on education that I never thought I would have before. To this day I am still in contact with my host family who seems to miss me dearly. I hope to return someday to see them again or explore new places within the country. This was a life-changing opportunity and I can not thank Dr. MacMillan, Study Abroad, Emma Lynch and Mike Sandy, and BSU’s administration enough for the thought and planning that went into this program.

Hally hanging with the girls

I have just finished my third week here in Switzerland and wow is time flying by. As the Christmas seasons approaches each canton(town) is tuning into a magical winter wonderland. It is the season for Christmas markets, and I couldn’t be any happier. My host family lives right outside of Zurich about a 30-minute train ride away. They have two boys who are so excited I get to live with them while I spend my time here. They like to show me around all their favorite places including an invite to a bakery they go to every Sunday. Thanks to them it truly has been such an amazing experience. One of my favorite meals so far has been Raclette this is a traditional Swiss dish where you heat cheese and melt it over potatoes. It is amazing, two of my favorite foods combined. Furthermore, the chocolate here is to die for. If you have the chance, I suggest you go to the Lindt Home of Chocolate in Kilchberg. There you can learn the history of chocolate in Switzerland and taste so many delicious flavors, Lindt so happens to be my favorite chocolate and I loved visiting this museum. I highly recommend it.

As for my school placement, I have just finished at my first school, In Der Ey, which is a public school in Zurich. I spent three weeks there getting to know the students, teaching them about where I come from, and helping out with English lessons. During my time there I was amazed by how different schools are here rather than in Massachusetts. Each day the students are given 2 hours for lunch in which they go home and eat with their family and are expected to return for afternoon classes. While I worked with a teacher in 5th grade even the students who are in first and second go home on their own. It is truly incredible how independent these kids are. They are also given breaks periodically throughout the day which seems to increase the productivity during their academic time. Furthermore, each Wednesday they have a half day of school with only morning classes, the afternoon is set aside for teachers to prep and organize their classroom. This is important because each primary teacher has a lot of responsibility, they teach the basic fundamental classes along with electives such as gym, art, and music. Whereas in the US we have specialty teacher for elective classes. This week I was also able to see a day where parents are invited into the classroom for the morning classes to observe their students and what they are expected of each day when coming to school. I think this a great opportunity and would benefit students in the US for them to feel proud of themselves and parents to see classroom expectations and how their child acts in the classroom.

Overall, I have had an amazing experience so far. The next three weeks I will be at a private school observing the differences between them and the public school. I have never had experience in a private school or with upper elementary ages. My goal is to learn new strategies and cultures of the Swiss schools. I’m at an amazing school, SIS Zurich. https://www.swissinternationalschool.ch/en/our-schools/sis-maennedorf-zuerich/

Tschüss for Switzerland!
Hally

Written by Ava Naylor: 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.

Today marks 5 days until I leave Switzerland and I couldn’t be less prepared to leave this place. These kids have changed my world more than I ever thought possible. They’ve shown my kindness, gratitude, respect, and a willingness to try and I am so thankful for them. This country has made me a what some might label, and what some here have referred to as un-American. They don’t intend it in a derogatory way, but simply mean that I break the norms of what they expected when they were told they would have an American as their teacher. I have began to view our education system, our government, and the way in which we rear children with a critical lens and this experience has made me want, more than ever, to have some sort of ripple effect on the people around me when I come home. I understand that alone, I don’t have the ability to improve all of those things, but I know that if I change the way I teach and the way I live, the people around me will inevitably see what I have been seeing these past 8 weeks too. I feel as though I belong here, or somewhere within a Scandinavian country, as the way that I look at education doesn’t always fit in with the way many view education at home. I often feel as though my views are critiqued more than they are embraced whereas here, it has been the opposite. I know that coming home is inevitable, but this experience has given me what I’ve begun referring to as “educational wanderlust”. I want to travel and learn about education systems and I want to use that to better myself as a teacher, and therefore better the educational journey of my future room full of pre-teens academics. In short, I am happy here, and I feel as though Switzerland is as much my home now as the US.

That being said I have some helpful information for anyone hoping to call Switzerland their home too in the upcoming semesters:

-whatever you think is a good amount of money to save, double it. As a student traveling in the fall, here are some monetary commitments I made that you may want to consider too.

• transportation. Get an SBB monthly pass. I would recommend the unlimited zones pass for your first month so you can travel freely within the canton of Zurich (175 CHF). After that, you can reevaluate which route you want to go, but Sam and I both went with purchasing passes for the zones it took to get to school each day instead of all zones for our final 2 weeks (90 CHF for Sam, 120 CHF for me). For the first few days in Switzerland before you are able to get your SBB pass (ask your host family to take you to the station, they can help with effectively communicating your needs to the people who issue the cards), be prepared to spend 30-60 CHF on trains/busses getting you from the airport to where you are staying and for whatever early exploring you want to do. Do not try and cheat the system of passes. They don’t often check passes, so I suppose you could get away with not purchasing them all the time, but the one time you get caught will cost you 100+ CHF that you could be spending on raclette or mulled wine.
• travel. This adds up really quickly. you may be coming into this experience thinking you’re going to globe trot while here, but that isn’t realistic. I would recommend picking 2-3 weekends which you would like to take big trips on (neighboring countries are a good choice) and set aside 200-300 CHF for each weekend you intend to spend out of country. With this in mind, there are really cool places in Switzerland where you can go for the day and spend much less money. Sam and I often bought what they call supersaver tickets (train tickets at odd hours) and would only pay about 20 CHF for the whole day of transportation, and we still got some really cool pictures and food. If you do travel out of country, consider taking a FlixBus. They’re relatively cheap, and comfortable for journeys of 4-5 hours.
• Christmas markets. If you’re traveling in the fall, you will inevitably end up spending much of your free time perusing the Christmas markets not only in Switzerland, but in Germany too. They don’t always have many hand crafted things like you would expect, but prepare to spend at least 20 CHF each time on food, because you cannot go to a Christmas market and not get mulled wine and snacks (they have the BEST food at the markets, I promise).
• gifts. just get people chocolate. You cannot go wrong with chocolate. For the special people, go to a place like Laderach, you can get a cute pack of truffles for about 10 CHF or you can also buy chocolate bark for about 8 CHF per 100 grams. There’s also a little place called Gottliber (there’s a cafe in Winterthur across from the train station where you can get a really great cappucino/hot chocolate and a snack) that sells these chocolate sticks rolled in a wafer type thing, that you can get in a fancy Swiss tin box (15 CHF) that I assume people at home would this is cool. They also have a hazelnut spread (10 CHF) that I will be buying at least 3 jars of because it’s to die for.  For your friends who aren’t as special but demand gifts anyway, Callier (sold at Migros) sells really great bars of chocolate for about 3 CHF a piece.
• coffee. If you are addicted to coffee, as I am, prepare for the most expensive caffeine fix of your life. They don’t have coffee like we do, so cappuccinos are your next best bet. These bad boys will run you about 5-6 CHF for a small. I would recommend buying the espresso/ coffee capsules at the grocery store (10 CHF for a pack of 10) if your family has a Nespresso machine, or the like. It’s a million times better than the quality of coffee our Keurigs produce, and it will be much cheaper than buying a coffee everyday (I do splurge on Fridays and get myself a cappuccino at my favorite cafe).
• food. Set aside 10-15 CHF a week for lunch stuff. I mostly bought a bag of bread, a pack of cheese, and a pack of turkey, in addition to some yogurt each week to bring for lunch at school and was totally fine. Sam didn’t need to do this because her kindergarten fed her, but if you’re going to a secondary school, or even primary school, the kids often go home for lunch so you won’t have the opportunity to snag a free snack/lunch. Also, set aside about 30-40 CHF per week to eat out once a week. I know this may sound frivolous but it’s really nice to have that set aside when you want to go out or try a new restaurant somewhere. Eating out also gets expensive quickly so be prepared. As far as alcoholic drinks go, if you intend to order one while eating out, or even at a bar, prepare to spend 15-16 CHF per drink. Beer is the same price as it is at home, so if you enjoy beer, you’re all set. just a side tip: when in doubt get raclette. always get raclette. It’s literally just melted cheese blanketed over food. you cannot go wrong with it. (It smells horrible but I swear it tastes amazing).
•  flights. flights are cheaper than you would think if you plan properly. Sam and I spent about 400-600 $ round trip. I splurged on an extra piece of luggage (200 CHF round trip for the extra luggage). which I don’t regret at all, especially traveling in the fall you’re going to want coats, boots, and sweaters. lots. of. sweaters.
• homestay. set aside 1,100 CHF for your 7 weeks here. Also, set aside 20-50 $ to buy your host family and teacher some little gifts from the US.
• school supplies. don’t bring any other than some pens for yourself. The school systems here are fully funded by the cantons so they often have supply rooms full of literally anything you could possibly need. However, you may want to consider bringing a pack of flair pens for your teacher. They’re insanely expensive here compared to what they cost at home, and the teachers here love them.
• phone. I bought an international phone plan for 60$ a month. check with your carrier but this is a helpful thing to have otherwise you’ll get charged with a ridiculous amount of international fees

-as far as packing (if you’re traveling in the fall) you’re going to want to bring:

• multiple warm scarves
• lots of sweaters (you’re going to want to layer)
• jeans (if you’re in a public school, most of the time it’s a really casual dress code. I wore jeans every single day)
• a warm hat
• a pair of rain boots. it doesn’t snow much here, but it does rain, so rain boots work for all of the rain and the occasional flurry of snow. just bring multiple pairs of wool type socks
• warm coats. I brought two good quality dressy wool coats instead of my normal LLBean puffer coat and I didn’t regret it. People here are often dressed up so I felt less touristy when wearing these coats.
• a pair of converse/tennis shoes/ dressy type of laced sneaker. These are good for when you’re traveling, but people rarely wear athletic sneakers so I just avoided bringing them and opted for a converse type shoe and was comfortable.

-other random tidbits of information:

• If you’re homesick, go to an Irish pub. There’s almost always at least 1 in each city. Find the ones owned and operated by actual Irish people. These pubs provide a homey feel and a genuine sense of belonging that I felt was really lacking everywhere else I went. Plus it was really nice to be surrounded by other English speakers even if it were just for a few hours. Plus the food is often pretty cheap which doesn’t hurt.
• Be direct. People here want you to either say yes or no to everything, no “it doesn’t matter” or “whatever you want”, etc. They get annoyed with that rather quickly.
• Learn a few swiss german words (please, thank you, I would like, hi, goodbye, etc), it will help you communicate and people will respect you a little more for making the attempt at learning their language.
• if you travel in the fall, you may want to bring 20-40 CHF for advent calendars. your host family may ask you to participate and it’s a nice way to bond with them.
• don’t bring things you intend on throwing away. They have to pay for trash here so the amount which you can throw out is limited.
• bring a reusable shopping bag. Most store will make you pay for a shopping bag, so it’s just easier to have one with you. I carry mine everywhere with me and it always comes in handy.
• bring an external battery for your phone. it’s helpful for trips especially if you go out of country so you don’t need to buy multiple different converters.
• be prepared for long school days. My students are in school from 720 am to 5pm most days, so you should be prepared to stay for that length of time too until you get into the swing of things.
• Wednesdays are always half days
• if you’re in a secondary school, prepare to brush up on your grammar. I had to teach myself a lot of grammar that we often take for granted as native speakers
• buy Spotify premium for 2 months. Pandora doesn’t work here and you will spend a lot of time on trains and busses.
• Zurich is in the German speaking part of the country, meaning they also have personalities similar to the Germans. They are very straightforward to a point where you may feel as though they are being rude or mean. They likely don’t mean it, you just need to understand that it’s a cultural difference.
•  There is a widespread American stereotype here. Most are okay with Americans but you are likely to experience one person who will treat you differently because of your nationality. That was the worst moment of my time here was having someone judge me based on something I could not control. Also, people will openly ask you about guns, schools, Trump, racism, and the like. Be prepared to answer questions. They also know a ton about our politics and you’re likely to get caught off guard at times with how much they know. The teachers at my school and my host family were following our midterm elections and asked me my opinion on the results. I follow politics so it was an easy conversation for me, but I can imagine it might be uncomfortable to be asked these things if you don’t know the answer.
• staring is normal here. People will stare at you constantly, and for a length of time which sometimes gets uncomfortable. It’s normal I promise.
• Guns are everywhere. I had a difficult cultural experience recently because of guns which I’ll explain in a minute. The military and regular community are one in the same. Men have mandatory military service and its normal to see people in uniform walking through the train station carrying large guns in the open. I knew that, but what I didn’t know is that people can carry large military weapons in the open without being in a military uniform. I ended up being late to school one day because I was unaware of this and saw a plain clothed man with a large gun strapped to his back getting on my train, so I refused to get on the train and ended up waiting for a later one. My cooperating teacher was understanding but I had to explain to my students why I couldn’t get myself to get on the same train as that man. So long story short, the guns are normal.

below is a photo of a project I did with an art class I took over during my last two weeks:

Being pretty centrally located in Europe has its perks. It is pretty easy to get to surrounding countries and doesn’t take much time or money. Surprisingly we have found that it is cheaper to travel from Zurich to another country such as Italy or Germany, than it is to travel within Switzerland itself. Although Switzerland itself is a beautiful country I am trying to travel inside the country on week days, specifically Wednesday because every Wednesday is a half day or take smaller day trips. I have been saving my weekends for larger trips. Two weekends ago and this weekend I have traveled to Italy.

First Me an Amelia both traveled to Milan for a long day trip. We got on a Flix Bus early in the morning and traveled about four hours to Milan. Upon arrival there was magnificent architecture and very large cathedrals and buildings. For the day we took the time to walk around the city and look through all the different stores. We tried to go to the Santa Maria delle Grazie, the church with Da Vinci’s  The Last Supper , but tickets were booked out for two weeks.  So instead we continued our journey and decided to go to the Sforza Castle  and see the Porta Sempione.  To end our trip in Italy we obviously had to get gelato, which was some of the best gelato I have ever had and pasta, which was also amazing before boarding our bus back to Zurich.

Over the past few weeks I have been looking up flights to different countries and different places to visit. I have been trying to find somewhere that wouldn’t cost me a whole lot of money, but still be a great place to see. This past weekend I decided last minute to take a trip to Venice. Thursday night I had been up searching for flights and to fly to Venice round trip was only $88 if I left the next morning at 7:45. So I went for it and I am glad I did. It was a quick flight, only about an hour and I stayed for two nights.

For the next three days i wandered the streets and waterways of Venice

After a long week at school it was time to unwind and do some traveling around Switzerland. Saturday morning Amelia and I both wanted to be able to sleep in, so we did just that. At about noon we decided we were going to take a train to Bern. Thankfully we got super saver tickets for 25 Swiss francs one way or else it would have been 51 (transportation is very expensive here). So we set off to Bern which is the capital of Switzerland.

Once we got off the train we started walking toward what looked like and ended up being the old town. The old town is the medieval city center of Bern. Built on a narrow hill surrounded on three sides by the river Aare, its compact layout has remained essentially unchanged since its construction during the twelfth to the fifteenth century. Throughout the old town there are many shops, cafes, and restaurants.

As we walked through the old town we stumbled upon the Federal Palace of Switzerland, which is where the Swiss Federal Assembly and the Federal Council or the legislative and executive branches of the government are housed.

Next we reached the Bern Minster Cathedral. For 5 Swiss francs you could climb the stairs to the top of the cathedral for an unbelievable viewing point, so we did. Nervous at first we stated climbing the stone steps of the narrow stairwell. As we started getting closer to the top there were windows you could look through to get a sneak peak of the view, but it didn’t beat the view when we finally reached the top. You could see over the whole city of Bern and it was amazing! A view you couldn’t beat for only 5 francs.

Lastly while in Bern we saw the Zytglogge, which is a large clock tower in the middle of old town. On the hour we were told that we needed to see what the clock did as it was a cuckoo clock. We got there a little early, about 10 minutes till 3 to wait and see. Although the clock is beautiful, the production was much to be desired.