11 Years of Switzerland

March 2, 2021

A few days ago, I celebrated my 11th year in Switzerland. It is crazy to think that I have spent now a third of my life in this country.

Yesterday I was listening to a podcast where the participants discussed the "sliding door" moments of their lives - a term inspired by the movie with the same name dating back from 1998. It was used to pinpoint crucial milestones in their paths that completely changed the route of their realities.

Leaving Brazil and making the decision to move to Switzerland was definitely a sliding door for me. I couldn't even (and think I wouldn't even want to) imagine how my life would look like nowadays hadn't I made that step.

Initially, I came only for the studies, but I confess that, since the beginning, I told my friends and family I wasn't sure when (if) I was going back. Even though I spoke the language, I didn't feel comfortable using it, it was rusted, and I felt weird the first times I tried to use it. I had visited Switzerland in the past with my family during vacation, but it is entirely different when you start living in the environment. Different people, culture, mentality, ways of living, ways of studying, infrastructure, everything. The contrast opposite of the reality I used to know back in Sao Paulo - one of the world's biggest cities in a developing country (vs. Zurich - a "big city" in Switzerland where everything functions flawlessly. To put things a little bit into perspective, the entire country of Switzerland has fewer inhabitants than Sao Paulo alone).

Not only that but also from a personal perspective, it was like diving into cold water. My parents stayed in Brazil, and I left my friends and a boyfriend behind to pursue an unknown and uncertain path. It was my first time living alone, standing on my own feet, the first time leaving the comfort zone altogether.

I confess, the first year was the hardest. It got me emotionally in so many ways. I felt alone, unsure, scared. I was lucky to have some family members around here that I could reach out to and a sister that had gone a similar path before me, who helped me from afar in so many ways. As an introverted, it was hard to "be out there", to make new friends, to make new connections. And when new in Switzerland, if you want to meet people, you must make the first step. During the first months in university, I was sure I would be going back to Brazil once completed.

However, life had better plans for me. In the second year of university, we had to go abroad (one of the reasons I chose this particular course ;)). I went to the US and had the opportunity to press the reset button. A chance to restart. To be whoever I wanted to be, try new things, go out there, and open myself for new experiences—a more comfortable place to do that given the open culture and similarities to the Brazilian culture.

It gave me the necessary strength to go back to Switzerland with a new mindset. I remember a talk I had with my grandmother, who told me to give Switzerland a second chance. I remember sitting in the plane, flying back to Zurich, looking at the clouds, and thinking for myself, "I will make it a positive experience, I will go back, and give it a new chance, go with an open heart and see what it has in store for me". "I am no longer who I used to be".

Things have changed since then. I met amazing people, and I made so many inspiring friends. I started adventuring myself in trying out my Swiss German; even writing in Swiss German became a thing. I started embracing the local culture, understanding the people, the systems. I started living the Swiss life, and what a great life it is I came to discover.

With time, leaving the comfort zone and trying new things, new perspectives, being open to people and situations have started becoming a habit. When being too long in one place or feeling too comfortable, I feel the urge to move, change, grow, and develop. Leaving the comfort zone has been a constant since I moved here. I have created countless sliding doors since that gave my reality new routes. My latest life experiment not being any different.

There are times I question, there are times I cry, there are times I feel insecure and doubtful (and I thank all the beautiful souls around me who continuously support and motivate me in the difficult days), but just like what I went through 11 years ago, I know that this too shall pass. I understand that the challenges are the ones that make us grow faster and stronger. That in a few years, this will only be a milestone, a memory necessary to reach out to new dreams and new realities.

Have you ever stopped to reflect on your sliding doors?