University Life

This is what most of the streets in the old downtown look like. It's pretty much where everything is in Winterthur. I walk through old downtown to get to school. Turns out it's a little further than I thought...about 1.5 km, but that's ok..easy exercise. We started orientation week on Monday. There are 56 exchange students from 17 different countries. I have set my schedule up and as it is right now, I have every Thursday and Friday off of school! We still have to work our German class into that schedule, but I have my fingers crossed it's on one of the other three days. I also found out that Swiss students are older than Canadian students because they tend to go straight from high school into a 3 or 4 year apprenticeship before entering University. I was very happy to hear this...perhaps I will find people closer to my age to relate to! I've only met two Swiss students so far and they are both in their late 20s...yay :) Classes officially start next Tuesday for me (Monday is a holiday in Winterthur), but during this orientation week I am taking about 15 hours worth of German language classes (which I desperately need).

I've been pretty busy this first week adjusting to my new home. I've gone grocery shopping a few times, had to buy bedding and towels, applied for a residency permit, and filled out a million forms. In Switzerland, there is a form for everything...apparently even singing in the park, watching TV and listening to the radio all require permits. Anyway, all of this stuff takes a long time to figure out and do because everything (signs, paperwork, labels, etc) is in German and I have to walk everywhere. I did take the bus on the way home from ice skating on Monday, but other than that, I haven't attempted to figure out public transit. Big on my to do list for the day is figuring out how to pay my rent and book a time slot to do laundry...again, not so straight forward because the lady only speaks German.

Oh...side note...I don't think I can send or receive texts with people who have sasktel cell phones. If someone does figure it out, let me know so I can pass it on.