Hi!

I'm a student from Minnesota in the U.S. studying teaching language arts, and I have been invited to student teach abroad. The options I have right now are Augsburg (Germany), Basel, and Zurich. In these places I would be teaching at the respective International Middle Schools of the city.

My question is, Basel or Zurich? I've done research on both, and I know the schools and what I think about them, but as someone from outside even Europe, I have no comprehension of which city would be a better experience.

I like the idea of Basel because of it being so close to France and Germany, but I also find the size of Zurich appealing. Any other factors that would be important between the two to understand?

Whichever you pick, you're only one hour away from the other city by train. You could even live in one and work in the other, they're close enough.

Personally I'd pick based on the better job. If you then discover you love the other city, you can move to the other and commute.

Zurich is more pretty than Basel - in my opinion.

Some people may disagree, but I have lived in both and found Baslers to be more welcoming and less "snooty". There is much more money in Zurich, which is probably a reason for that in my opinion. Basel is a little more "artsy". Personally I like Basel more in every way!

Let's say, sailing in Basel is difficult. But that may be irrelevent to you. Who knows.

Basel is to Birmingham, what Zurich is to London...

I'd agree with that. Basel might not be pretty, but it's a bostin place to be.

Zürich is the financial centre of Switzerland. Basel is the social, intellectual and cultural centre.

Cheers,
Nick

That is stretching things a bit. Depending on where you live / work in the respective places you're talking about ca. 1h45 - 2hrs one way commute. No go if you expect to have a social life.

If your work and home are both next to the train stations and your working hours allow you to travel by ICE you might just make it inside an hour.

Cheers,
Nick

The centres are an hour apart. The home-work commute will be longer, but I know plenty of people who do it and are happy with it and manage a social life. Your mileage may vary, in both senses.

Basel warm

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZurich

In addition to the other comments... For one year you'll probably have a great time in both places, i'd say the natives of Basel are a lot more easy going and the art scene is more accessible, it feels like there are also more art stuff happening (Beyeler, Schaulager, Art Basel etc) in Basel. It's also nice to be able to cycle over to France and Germany in a few minutes. Zürich has a nice lake, is more picturesque has more arthouse cinemas and nightlife. Augsburg could also be a great experience (especially if you like beer and sausages), maybe ask about that on the toytowngermany.com/ forum.