We are interviewing Elisabeth* today, a Swiss student who spent a semester in Bozeman, Montana. From skiing at Bridger Bowl to exploring Yellowstone, she had an amazing experience.
Interviewer: Thanks for joining us today! To start off, what inspired you to choose Montana, Bozeman, for your exchange semester, especially coming from Switzerland?
Elisabeth: My cousin knew someone who graduated from there and had a really great time, so it was recommended to me. She had been to Bozeman herself and loved the town.
Interviewer: Did you love it as well? What was the town like when you arrived?
Elisabeth: To be honest, of all the cities I have been to in the US, I liked Bozeman by far the best. It has a very outdoorsy vibe—almost everyone is into sports, especially winter sports. It felt kind of like a big ski resort. It was definitely a great place to be, especially because of its proximity to Yellowstone.
Interviewer: Did you take part in activities like skiing or exploring Yellowstone?
Elisabeth: I’m from the Alps, so naturally, I love skiing. There was a bus commuting between the university and the ski resort Bridger Bowl, and it was always full of students taking a break from studying. It was really great to try skiing in a new country.
And yes, I also went to Yellowstone twice during my stay. It was especially stunning during the winter months, and I saw a lot of wildlife there.
Interviewer: How did the nature you’re used to back home in the Alps compare to the Rocky Mountains?
Elisabeth: To be honest, the nature felt very much like the Alps. But we don’t have universities that are that close to ski resorts, so that was really cool. We also don’t have bears in the Alps, so I was always a bit anxious when I went hiking. However, in the winter, they’re supposed to be hibernating, so I stopped worrying about it once it started snowing—it actually started snowing for the first time around Halloween.
Interviewer: Did the early snowfall impact your day-to-day life or studies at the university?
Elisabeth: That’s a good question. Not really but the altitude in Bozeman is pretty high—over 1,400 meters—so the winters there were intense. I couldn’t leave the dorms without a hat, scarf, and gloves, and I never wore trousers without leggings or tights underneath. Jeans are impractical in such cold weather.
Interviewer: Did all the snow bring students closer together?
Elisabeth: Yeah, we had a lot of fun. Some students built ramps on campus to do tricks with their snowboards and skis. A couple of people even built igloos. We had lots of snowball fights too. I also saw some students tie a rope to their cars and get pulled behind them on snowboards. I’m pretty sure that was illegal, but it was so cool to watch.
Interviewer: Did you make lots of friends in the US, and how did that change the way you see things?
Elisabeth: Yes, I had some great friends there, from all continents except Australia, actually. I think meeting people from different countries really helps you see life in a new way. For example, since it’s almost Christmas, I remember my South American friends telling me how sad they felt as kids watching Christmas movies. They always saw snow in the movies, but for them, it was summer with skyrocketing temperatures.
Interviewer: Were there moments where you found yourself sharing something about Swiss culture and surprising your friends?
Elisabeth: Oh yeah, for sure. We have a very interesting political system, where technically we don’t have a “president” or “prime minister” the way other countries do. We have one, but it’s more of a representative role. A lot of people found it confusing—the idea that you could have seven heads of state instead of just one. And when I explained that we vote on a lot of issues, it seemed pretty weird to people. Some of my friends are not used to voting at all. It doesn’t occur to them that they can be politically active without being actual politicians.
Interviewer: Was there anything about the U.S. that made you wish Switzerland had something similar?
Elisabeth: Well, I felt that people in the U.S. were more open. It happened a lot that I would randomly get smiled at—and that’s really infectious. Moreover, Americans small-talk much more often than Swiss people do. I quite enjoyed making small talk with random strangers while queuing. But maybe that’s more of a Bozeman thing. I think the U.S. can be quite different depending on where you live.
Interviewer: Looking back on your exchange as a whole, was there something that changed you?
Elisabeth: Studying in Switzerland, in a city different from where I grew up, I used to be the kind of person who would go home every weekend as soon as possible. I’d even take my laundry back home every weekend. I think it was really good for me to live somewhere where I didn’t have the option to get homesick and go home. And, surprisingly, I didn’t actually get homesick at all.
Interviewer: Do you feel like that exchange experience has changed you?
Elisabeth: For sure. When I got back to Switzerland, all my family and friends told me I was so much more “open” than before. Socializing became so much easier for me. I felt like I had done more in one semester in the U.S. than I would have in two years in Switzerland. It felt as though I had woken up.
Interviewer: That’s a very beautiful way to describe it. If you could go back in time and give advice to yourself before starting this exchange, what would it be?
Elisabeth: I wouldn’t do anything differently.
Interviewer: Thank you so much for sharing your story.
* name changed