Flying off to Zurich!


Saturday, 4th May 2019

We took a night flight to Zurich on 4 May and we were certainly very excited about the trip. Below is a picture of us at the airport and a short introduction of the team:

From left to right - Wen Xin, Felicia, Ashwini, Yu Pin, Evangeline


We are a mixture of student-teachers from the primary and secondary track who are assigned to teach different subjects:

  • Wen Xin - Geography and Social Studies (Secondary track)
  • Felicia - Art and English (Primary track)
  • Ashwini - Tamil and Tamil Literature (Primary track)
  • Yu Pin - Geography and Social Studies (Secondary track)
  • Evangeline - Music and English Literature (Secondary track) 
Due to the different tracks and subjects that we are teaching, we were all attached to different schools in Switzerland:

  • Wen Xin and Yu Pin - SIS Swiss International School. 
  • Evangeline - Sekundarschule Dielsdorf (public secondary school)
  • Ashwini and Felicia - Punt, Maur (public primary school)

Sunday, 5th May 2019

We arrived at Zurich airport in the morning and were picked up by our respective host families. It was a long 13 hours flight with a 2 hour layover at Abu Dhabi Airport.

Some tips for students who are considering Zurich as their IP destination:

  • Consider if you would like to stay with a host family or in an Airbnb. Staying with a host family allows you to be immersed in the Swiss culture. We were advised to pay CHF 750.- contribution (5 weeks) for accommodation, food and living expenses to our host family. However, full boarding is not guaranteed and you might have to cook your own meals and learn to be independent if the host is working. 
  • We bought a local prepaid SIM card from Sunrise, one of the network providers the moment we touched down at the airport. It cost 50 CHF with unlimited data and local calls for 1 month.  To purchase a Swiss prepaid card, you must show your identification – either a passport or another form of ID. After 1 month, you can top up the account to continue using the data. Topping up is a breeze and can be done at the post office or at many existing kiosks, gas stations and supermarkets. Topping up is also available online. However, do take note that the SIM card cannot be used if you are travelling out of Switzerland to another country in Europe since Switzerland is unique among European countries in that it’s not a member of the European Union (EU) or European Economic Area (EEA). 
  • All of us purchased a Swiss Half Fare Card at 100 CHF for transportation. With the Swiss Half Fare Card, you can purchase tickets for train, bus, boat, and a few mountain railways throughout Switzerland at half price. The Swiss Half Fare Card has a validity of one year and can be obtained at nearly every Swiss railway station. 
  • Both Ashwini and I only purchased the Swiss Half Fare Card since we do not need to take any public transport to school. However, if you are attached to a school that requires you to take public transport, you would have to purchase an additional travel pass that covers the zone you are travelling. If you have any questions about travelling within Switzerland or are unsure about the best travelcards and tickets to buy, you can always go to the SBB office and the staff there will be able to advise you. It will also be good to carry with you a passport size photo. Otherwise, they would help you take a photo on the spot to make the Swiss travelcard for you. 
  • Download the SBB app on your phone. You will use this app often to buy your tickets to travel around Switzerland. It is a very useful app that shows you the directions to your destination as well as the arrival time of your bus, train and tram. Transportation in Switzerland is usually very punctual and if you do miss your transport, you would have to wait around 20 minutes for the next one. 
  • Transport in Switzerland works based on a trust basis. You can easily get on the transport without buying a ticket, unless except if the ticketing officer comes to inspect. However, it is advisable to always buy your ticket before boarding. Otherwise, you would have to pay a hefty fine if you are caught. Better to be safe than sorry!
We hope these tips would be useful for you! Both Ashwini and I will be sharing more of our IP in Punt, Maur as well as our travelling adventures in the subsequent posts!

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