I started to recall the places I have traveled to in the past. I went to Zurich in 2023, which was almost my first time leaving China (except for a trip to Japan when I was a child). I lived in Zurich for half a year; this was my exchange semester during the second half of my junior year.
One of the reasons for choosing Zurich for the exchange was actually to travel around Europe. Traveling to Europe is not easy for Chinese citizens. Tourist visas must be applied for early on, requiring a lot of materials to be prepared, and then spending a large amount of money to go on an assembly-line tour of those Western European countries, especially in a place like Switzerland where money flows like water on hotels, dining, and so on. In hindsight, actually renting an apartment in Europe, staying for a few months, and slowly traveling to different countries is indeed the right way to experience Europe. In fact, it is cheaper this way, and Europe is always very friendly to young people (compared to North America and Asia), offering various discount tickets and student fares.
My impression of Switzerland started with how expensive it was; in fact, it was so expensive that it made me feel sad. As a student in Switzerland, I had no income and could not work. I remember spending 120 francs on an SBB half-fare card. On the train from Geneva Airport to Zurich, the carriage swayed from side to side with the terrain. Accompanied by my disbelief over the 120 francs, I called my boyfriend, who was on an exchange in the UK at the time, and the feeling I remember most clearly was sadness.
There are many luxury cars in Zurich. It is probably the place where I have seen the most luxury cars and supercars among all the places I have visited so far. Porsches are very common as ordinary vehicles, perhaps because it is a German-speaking region. There are also various classic cars; those white old-money individuals drive their classic cars on the road as a way to show off their wealth.
On my first day in Zurich, I took a picture of the sunset glow from my room, and that was also the most beautiful sunset glow I saw during my subsequent half-year stay in Zurich; I never saw one like it again.
