When my parents first told me that we were moving to Switzerland, I was elated. I have always been the type of person who wants to explore the world and meet new people. And where better to do that from than the middle of Europe? Suddenly it seemed like I had the whole world at my fingertips. All I had to do was pack up my things and get on the eight-and-a-half-hour plane ride to Zurich.

We arrived at our new home in Uster, Switzerland three days before my 19 birthday. The house was spacious and beautiful, complete with vine-covered balconies on all sides and a pool that looks like a pond (this made my golden retriever, Sophie, incredibly happy). I spent my birthday hiking on top of a mountain surrounded by a gorgeous view of the Swiss countryside.

The first week of July, my mom and I went shopping in Germany, a 45-minute drive from my house (it’s much less expensive than in Switzerland).

A few weeks later I went to Austria to see a concert with a new Swiss friend. The venue was shrouded in the shadow of the start of the Austrian pre-Alps.

Shortly after, I traveled to Lucerne, Switzerland, to visit my friend’s exchange brother. We went out with his friends and celebrated Switzerland’s independence day.

My friend Sage soon came to visit me from Paris, France, where he was participating in a Lehigh University study abroad program. He stayed for the weekend and we learned the ropes of the nightlife in Zurich.

About a month later, in mid-August, my mother, father, sister and I traveled to northern Italy to explore. We went to 12 different places in 12 days, including Interlaken, Austria; Liechtenstein; Bologna, Italy; and Venice, Italy.

I spent my summer the best way possible — traveling, meeting people, eating good food, going out with friends, and spending quality time with my family. What more could I possibly ask for?

But there were many times when I was lonely. The transition back into home life from being away at school is difficult enough without the added factor of being in a foreign country. For the first time in my life, my only friends were my immediate family. Making this more challenging, I don’t even speak the native language (German, in and around Zurich). Although I realized this over the summer, I didn’t think about how hard it would be to leave my friends again during the holiday season.

This time last year, I was home where I grew up, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, surrounded by not only my family but all of my close friends. It felt like we had endless time to catch up with each other. But not only my friends close by were accessible — I could easily travel to see people in New York, New Jersey, and even Mississippi.

This year is different. Even New Jersey is thousands of miles away. This year being “home for the holidays” still feels foreign. I still absolutely look forward to being in Europe and going skiing in the Swiss Alps (something I have wanted to do my entire life), but not feeling completely at home at “home” is new to me. I already love Switzerland, its people, and its culture, but not having my friends close to me during the holidays is a new challenge. I will miss them all terribly at the time of year that I’m supposed to be closest to them.

This being said, I still look to make the most out of the time that I have abroad this winter. Switzerland, through being away from my friends and in a foreign environment, has already changed and developed who I am. My fashion sense has changed, I’m stronger, more fierce and more independent, and I am now a fearless traveler. This move has equipped me with the skills and growth necessary for my future experience studying abroad two semesters from now. Despite struggles like missing my friends and not understanding 90 percent of the words that come out of people’s mouths, it is easy for me to see just how much it has affected me in an extremely positive way. My new global perspective will allow me to face all of my problems more evenly and to approach any new adventure with open arms and an open mind. I cannot wait for the holidays in Switzerland! I’m sure that it will make my new “home” feel much more like home.