Here comes the sun... at last!

Yesterday afternoon, the sun finally came out - in perfect timing for my first ever trip to the university. I took too many trams and got lost at the bottom of the hill, but finally climbed all the way to the top and had to steady myself against a fence because it was just breathtaking.

I didn't take any pictures of the front of the building (I have to work on this looking-like-a-tourist-phobia thing....) but here are a few from Google Images:

www.mladiinfo.eu

That's the front of the building, and just to give you some perspective - I'm probably about the height of one of those "Universität Zürich" stones at the front, or half the height of the front door.

...And this is the inside:

www.ius.uzh.ch

Oh, here's a picture I took from the back too:

It's just unbelievable. It seems like most of the campus is designed in those grandiose, classical (?) architectural styles that are equal parts intimidating and enticing. I'm desperate to explore all of them, but at the same time, I'm afraid to even breathe on them for fear of besmirching their glory with my unworthy breath.

I had a few minutes before I went inside, so I followed a path around to the back, and again had to cover my mouth so none of the bystanders would hear me gasp. The hill drops down right after the main UZH building, and reveals a spectacular view of the city.

The view from the top of the hill

Not even close to being able to capture the glory that is Zurich...

As usual, these pictures just can't do it justice... but trust me - it's unbelievable.

After spending so much time taking pictures, I actually ended up almost being late for my info session, so I had to race inside and, despite wanting to drop everything and stare at the building, find my way to a classroom. There, the exchange admins handed out some supposedly important documents and our student IDs, so now I'm officially a UZH student! Apparently we don't really need them for anything except getting student discounts and possibly to prove our identities during exams. But they're pretty and official, so I don't care ^^

When the meeting was over - I'm pretty sure it only lasted around 15 minutes - the student coordinator brought us all to a bar in downtown Zürich, and I went about trying to be social... But I actually ended up meeting some really cool people and hearing about tons of faraway places. Most exchange students speak English to each other, but everyone has a different accent, so it still feels very international. And of course, I made sure to order and pay in German ^^

On the way home, we walked through central Zurich, and as we were crossing the bridge (I wish I knew which one it was, or which river it was, or something, but I have no idea :P) I just had to stop and take some pictures. (I'm still trying to get used to this camera, bear with me)

You know you're jealous ;)

That's pretty much everything from yesterday.

Today I finally forced myself to get out for a run. The weather was perfect - around 5-6C (40-42F) and cloudy, which may not be great for sightseeing, but for running it's divine - and I managed to find the least convenient route down to/along the river. I think you can see most of my route in the picture from my last post, maybe?

I also had some immigration stuff to do, so a really nice Russian guy who lives down the hall from me took me to the center of Altstetten (my area of Zurich - I still haven't figured out if it's a different town altogether or just a named part of the city - which is really cute and SO European) and showed me how to get to the Registrar's office (Kreisburo). The woman who helped me was amazing - she was really nice and even though I originally wanted to speak English (I was worried I wouldn't understand any of the "official" words and I really didn't want to mess this up) she heard my accent and encouraged me to speak German the entire time...then, when there was a word I didn't know, she'd help me first in German, and then in English.

A lot of people here are understanding - perhaps reluctantly so - and will help me muddle through official words I never learned in school, but they mostly just switch to English once I reach a word I don't understand, and then I have to forcefully forge on in German to get them to keep speaking German. But the woman at the Kreisburo was patient and told me just before I left that my German was so good, she didn't want me to think I couldn't do the whole process. 

I had just gotten home, when a Finnish guy I met yesterday messaged me to ask about the international students' Stammtisch, which is apparently a weekly thing where exchange students meet downtown and have a huge table/area reserved so we can all get to know each other. So we raced off back into town and once again Google Maps came in handy. I met people from all over the place, including an Austrian who told me I sounded like a native German (yay!) and a girl from Alaska who goes to MIT (though sadly, she didn't recognize any names I interrogated her about... ^^). I tried to talk music in German, but found out it's surprisingly difficult - though I've made a new goal to be able to explain a classical piece in German - and learned that Breaking Bad also breaks language barriers and makes insignificant even the seemingly insurmountable gap between the northern and southern hemispheres.

Anyways, things are looking up, as they say, and even the freezing rain this afternoon (the first time I've been cold since I got here) wasn't enough to spoil the evening. I'm going to try to open a Swiss bank account tomorrow, and then a few of us might go explore the city, so hopefully I'll have many adventures to share tomorrow!