My ex­change ex­pe­ri­ence in Chur

After a ten hour long drive, my mum and I arrived in Chur on the 11th of September. I was so nervous. Am I going to make friends, will I be fine, what is the study load? Those questions where going around in my head the entire time. Well, I can tell you, yes, I am fine and yes I have made many new friends from all around the world!

Konvikt Student Residence

During my exchange I am staying at Konvikt, which I really recommend. It is a very easy way to meet other exchange students since most of them will stay here. All the students live on the eighth floor where we share a kitchen. During the week, breakfast and dinner is arranged for. On the third floor there is a cinema room where you can plug your laptop to a beamer. It's really fun to have movie nights with the other exchange students. The living room is the room where we get together the most, mostly we play pool, poker or just chat with each other.

University

The first few weeks of school were a bit overwhelming as UAS Grisons uses a different system and platform than my home university, and I struggled to find information about my courses. After about three weeks, I got used to the system and knew where to find what information. Luckily, I have very kind classmates who are ready to help you if you're struggling. The program itself I would say is very nice. It is a good combination of practical learning and theory. For half of my subjects I have a project or a paper as examination and for the other half I have a written test. The workload is similar to that of my home university. This basically means that you must work for school during the week, but if you keep that up, you have time to have fun during the weekends.

Weekends

At the weekends, I am often busy trying to see as much of Switzerland as possible. For travelling, I recommend buying a half-fare card since it will save you a lot of money on public transport. For most of my trips, I just google online or ask some of my classmates if they have any recommendations. I also join some of the other exchange students' plans and ESN trips. ESN is a European organisation which stimulates exchanges in Europe. ESN Chur organises all kinds of events which are really fun and a good way to see more of Chur and to meet other students. 

Looking back at the three months I have spent here, I can only say that it was and still is a memorable experience and I am very happy that I chose to do my exchange here in Chur.