8.13.14 My Individual Morning Excursion (More of a Rant)

This morning I decided that my tram was going to be late to meet the others at the train station and decided that instead of going to the station to see if the others waited, I would go to the university and meet them there. Unable to contact them, I went through with my plan that had little thought incorporated. I got off my tram and came to my first of many conflicts. I didn't have the slightest idea of how to get to the university; I actually didn't even know which direction. With no hesitation I asked the first person I saw, she happened to be a tourist so I asked another who told me to go to the train station area where many trams run and one of them would work. Once I got there a woman told me the 9 ran there but I could not find any stop for a 9. I walked back in the other direction and asked a man in an orange vest assuming he was working with or had some connection to the transport system. He and a nearby woman told me to wait for the 4 at what didn't even resemble a tram stop, they insisted it was and I waited. A 4 tram eventually came but did not stop at the random spot in the street I was told to wait, but instead at a normal stop nearby. I got in the tram and looked at the list of stops seeing no sign of the university, I asked a young man for reassurance. He and others near who saw my desperation  explained this tram was definitely not going to the university but I could get off at Paradeplatz and take the 5. I did as told to be told again that the 5 did also not lead to the university. Then I finally met some university students at Bellevue stop who told me to take the 9 and I would arrive at Campus Irschell, my final destination, finally. Summarized I got a little lost. On a positive note, I met many different people along the way and saw parts of Zurich I hadn't seen before. I now know which parts of town I was in.


The Rest of Our Day
When I got there I met Maria Langle, a student at Zurich University from Mexico and her friend Gianluca, also a student. First we toured through the anatomy display which maintained many preserved human body parts. This was interesting but also disturbing for most (especially the dissected babies). Then we walked to a newly built Relaxing Lounge for the students to study and/or sleep. Maria explained her reason for studying there and her experience moving to a new place and learning a new language. She and Gianluca also explained a program called AIESEC for the new students from abroad wishing to find internships, flats, or friends. This program helped her start her life in Switzerland and make friends. After they finished, the Managing Editor of the Zurich University student paper, Nina Kunz met us and brought us to the newspaper room. She explained the various aspects of the non-funded and entirely student run paper. After learning about this small, local paper's ways we had lunch and later went to the Watson news office. There the CEO, Hansi Voigt, also explained their goals and recent activity. We learned various advertisement techniques and many of the company's current issues and tactics with social media. After, we found a sitting area and discussed what we found most interesting and least of the day and of the information we learned. We also conversed about possible questions and topics to ask Alain Berset about.


Free Time
After, dispersing on our ways back to our host families, a few of us who had to go to Zurich main station decided to discover more of the city. We walked through the old town, went in a few shops ,enjoyed the lake and Swiss Chocolate.