I swapped big city life in Vienna for a life in the beautiful Swiss Alps in the summer semester of 2024. The whole process started about a year in advance and the international offices in Krems and Chur helped me a lot - whether it was drawing up learning agreements, helping with immigration or finding accommodation.
During my stay here, I live at Konvikt, a student residence directly above the old town of Chur. Walking up and down the hill was soon no longer a problem, as I saw it as my daily workout. I felt very comfortable there because I immediately got to know other exchange students and always found someone to hang out with - whether it was a game of billiard or spending a movie night in the dormitory's cinema.
The courses at the FH Graubünden proved to be super interesting and at the same time sort of confusing. At the beginning, I struggled with the different approach to assignments, as there is much more emphasis on literature research than I was used to. However, the professors were happy to help me and gave me good feedback. The other students were very nice when I approached them with my questions, and it was very pleasant to work with them.
As I study part-time, I have had a lot of free time on my hands so far. Arosa, St. Moritz and Davos-Klosters are super close and proved to be perfect for hiking. Cities like Zurich or Lucerne are only a couple of hours away. In addition, the ESN Chur is incredibly active and there was an event almost every week. My personal favourite so far was the game night where we met in the library and played pretty much every card and board game I've ever heard of. Events in Chur itself are the Calanda Spring Festival where there is live music in all pubs in the city or the traditional Maibaumfest in the beginning of May. The Swiss national circus Knie also stopped here. Two times a week, I went to the Vial sports hall in Domat-Ems, where a local floorball club hosted me during my time here. It was a great opportunity to see how the game I love so much is played at such a high level here. Joining a local club enabled me also to meet different people outside of the academic and student community.
Time is slowly running out now and there is still a lot of left for me to do. Most importantly left on the bucket list so far are still Geneva and Bellinzona. Chur offers a lot and with decent time planning there is no time left for boredom.
Jasmin Küng is an exchange student from IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems. She is currently studying in the New Business Master’s degree programme at the University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons.