Viviane Meyer

By Emmi Zoccolan, French section of Switzerland.

Viviane Meyer is a nineteen year old Swiss girl. She is from Zurich and she speaks Swiss-German. Her parents are from Bern and she has a younger sister who is seventeen years old and works with children. Viviane finished high school before coming to Santa Barbara and after her trip here, she wants to study Economics at the University of Zurich. Her hobby is handball; she has played for twelve years now.

She chose Santa Barbara because she knew some people who were here before and told her that it was really amazing.  Furthermore, she thinks it is better to live in a smaller city like Santa Barbara than in a bigger city, like Los Angeles, because you can go everywhere and you do not need a car. Everything is near and accessible. Even if she feels good in the United States, she feels a little bit homesick; she especially misses the food from Switzerland, like the fondue and definitely her bed. According to her, the biggest difference between Switzerland and Santa Barbara is that here everything is within walking distance. Although, if you want to go to another city, like in San Diego, you need to plan. You cannot just go there, because you need to rent a car and book a hotel. In Switzerland, it is really different because it is a small country; so if you want to go in another city you can just take the car and be in the nearest city in less than one hour. In addition, she likes the fact that the stores stay open in Santa Barbara until 10p.m. because in her country they close earlier.

Viviane has already been to a lot of countries, but China was the most exciting experience she has had so far. She went to Shanghai for two weeks and compared to other European countries, China has a completely difference lifestyle. She said it was interesting to see how people live there and how it is so different from our lifestyle in Europe. She noticed that America is also different form Switzerland, but it was even more different than China. The most beautiful place she has been to is Croatia; she has been there three times already and she loved it. For her it is the most beautiful place she has seen because the water is clean and the landscapes are stunning. Moreover, she liked the fact that there are not sandy beaches and she did not have sand everywhere when she went home. She wishes to visit more Asian countries in the future, especially Vietnam. Perhaps she will take a trip to South America also.