My name is Vivi Dara, and I know first hand how it feels to arrive in Zurich as an international student for the first time.
I am originally from Greece and currently live in Zurich, while I am on my second year of my MSc studies. Like many others, I went through the same questions and uncertainties: where to start, how to navigate the system, and how to adapt to a completely new environment.
My curiosity and love for exploring new places helped me discover the city step by step. Along the way, the support of people who were already living here, combined with my own research, made the process much easier.
Before moving into the field of business and marketing, I studied Communication, Media and Culture, specialising in Journalism, and worked for almost four years as an editor and press office specialist across various industries. Writing, researching, and proofreading have always been an important part of my professional background.
At the same time, I had always wanted to create my own website, where I could combine storytelling, useful information, and personal experience.
This project finally became a reality during my current studies in the MSc in Business Administration with a Major in Online Business and Marketing at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), and more specifically as part of the Web Literacy course.
Zurich Decoded is therefore both a personal and academic project, aiming to help other international students familiarise themselves with the city, manage new procedures more easily, and navigate their new environment, all while discovering Zurich step by step and making the journey every time a bit more fun.
If you’re new in Zurich, you’re not alone. This guide is here to make your life easier during the adaptation process and help you figure things out, one step at a time.
