Cyril Dittli | Growing up in Canada, education in Switzerland
06.12.2024
The Swiss Abroad Cyril Dittli talks about his ”try-out” days and subsequent apprenticeship in a Swiss specialist bicycle shop.
“My name is Cyril Dittli and I come from St-Isidore, a village near Ottawa, Canada. I grew up on a farm there and successfully completed high school. My parents emigrated from Lucerne to Canada 35 years ago for a new adventure. At that time, many Swiss emigrants moved to this region. So, I always had contact with other Swiss families and my parents only spoke to me in German, while I spoke English and French at school. Every Saturday, I went to the German language school. At the time, I didn’t like having to go to school on Saturdays, but now I’m grateful.
Every summer I was able to spend my holidays at my grandparents’ home in Switzerland and in the tenth grade I attended the Kanti Sursee for six months as an exchange student. During this exchange semester, I had the opportunity to do a ‘try-out’ week in a specialist bike and bicycle shop. So later, when I applied by phone from Canada for an apprenticeship as a bicycle mechanic, the company took me on as an apprentice with open arms. A month later, I packed my bags and moved to Meggen, Lucerne. It’s the perfect location. I can cycle to the shop in ten minutes or to school in 20 minutes. That would be unimaginable in Canada!
It wasn’t that difficult to get used to vocational school here in Switzerland. Life in Switzerland is certainly different from Canada, but I find it interesting to get to know the Swiss culture better. Everything is very close in Switzerland.
The hardest thing for me was not being able to see my friends from high school so often. But we managed to keep in touch and some of them even came to Switzerland to visit me on holiday. What I like most is how independent I have become. After I finish my apprenticeship, I will continue to work here because I appreciate the discipline and the joy of good work. As the high cost of living in Switzerland is not a myth, I would never have been able to start an apprenticeship in Switzerland without the financial support of my home canton of Uri. I would also like to thank educationsuisse and its staff, who supported me with my scholarship application and helped me with any questions I had. I was able to have lunch with my grandparents every day and my parents helped me with administrative tasks and often gave me emotional support over the phone. It wasn’t always easy living alone and so far away from home for the first time. A big thank you also goes to my training company, which gave me the opportunity to do an apprenticeship in Switzerland.”
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