WW Around the World - Zurich, Switzerland

Hello from Zurich, Switzerland, one of the business and biotechnology (my other main interest) capitals of the world! I have been here about two months now and am thoroughly enjoying everything about this beautiful city and wonderful country including the people, the academics, the fondue, the travelling, the outdoor sports (I have gone skiing, climbing, whitewater rafting, swimming, or hiking at least once a week), EVERYTHING! One of my favorite trips inside Switzerland so far was my trip to Scuol with is in the Romansch speaking part of Switzerland (in Switzerland they speak four dominant languages-German, French, Italian and Romansch, the last of which has Italian roots) closer to the Italian border. I went with the Erasmus Student Network which is a group of Swiss students that organize dinners, events, and trips around Switzerland and abroad for exchange students and Swiss students to get to know each other and see Europe and Switzerland together. I had never been rafting before and we had perfect weather so the trip was an awesome experience. You can see my newly acquired whitewater navigating skills below(I am in the middle up against the rock with my paddle in the air)
as well as a picture of me skiing (for only my second time ever in my life!) in the glaciers of the Alps at 10,000 feet above sea level which is a little more than one third the height of Mount Everest. My next excursion in Switzerland will be a chocolate tour with stops at all the fine Swiss chocolate factories and the chance to make my own chocolate next weekend!
















Because Switzerland is so centralized in Europe, and because the country has one of the best train systems in the world, I have been very easily able to travel both within the country and abroad a fair amount since I got here. In the beginning of September I went to Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Venice for a six day trip that was a whirlwind of sites and amazing food and general splendor at the beauty that emanates from so much of the country. The first day of the trip we were in Rome and we saw 12 sites in 10 hours (!) including the Colliseum and the Forum (see below) which were both amazing. Though I loved Rome, however, I think my favorite city was Venice, with its boats for subways, rivers for roads and a charm that truly captivated me.




















In addition to Italy I have also travelled to Prague. Walking around the city is almost an other-worldly experience, the pastel facades and ornate decor of the majority of the buildings reminiscent of a sort of play or toy city. The clash in this city between its ancient Eastern European roots and the remains of its closed communist era (only having ended in the late 80's, early 90's) and the rapid commericialization (think Lacoste stores and beautiful new malls full of Western stores on every other corner) that is currently ongoing was fascinating. The face of the city is under quite an upheaval and I was glad to get there now, as I think that soon many of the authentic remnants of the city that I was able to enjoy including gulash (see below) in a local restaurant not swarmed by tourists and a trip to one of the lasting markets that mostly locals alone frequent will soon be caught up in the increasingly everpresent tourism business that has taken hold of the city. Now that I am home from Prague, some of my other travel plans for the semester include Paris, Vienna, Berlin, and Norway to stay with some friends I have met while here.














Here in Zurich I have loved exploring the city as well as really taking advantage of the wonderful program offerings and courses of my exchange University. The school is predominantly engineering and business which suits me extremely well as a double major in these fields and the caliber of the students and the courses is extremely high. Since I am in a biomedical engineering and business combination masters program the courses are very application based and I have begun to go beyond general chemistry courses into the science behind the development of new drug delivery techniques (think a cure for a tumors) coupled with the assessment of the market for these treatments and their current status in the pharmaceutical industry. Learning both the science as well as the to-market aspects of bioengineering has been fascinating and I feel like Penn put me in a really good place in terms of background knowledge to be able to take on the challenge of integrating business and bioengineering at this higher level while I am abroad. Many of my courses have also often involved company visits and lectures by company representatives that are doing research, development, or investment in the biotechnology realm which has been very exciting and provided great networking opportunities as well.

See the view of Zurich from the Terrasse of my school below with the Alps in the background!















Both at home in Switzerland and abroad in Europe, my experience over the past few months has been SEHR GUT (very good in German), and I would be happy to give more details about any of the above (just email me at sarahed@seas.upenn.edu) in case anyone else in Europe is planning on visiting any of the places I have been or those still at Penn are interested in looking at coming to study in Zurich! Guten Tag (have a nice day!)