Servus and Grüezi! I am Victoria from Austria and currently in my last semester of my master’s programme Digital Media and Communication at the UAS Burgenland. Here in Chur, I am attending courses from the master’s programme User Experience Design und New Business.
To be honest, a few years ago I never thought that I would ever do an exchange semester. But then I started my master’s programme, took part in an information event for a semester abroad, looked at possible destinations for my studies and now I am here in Chur. The decision for Switzerland was easy for me because I love the nature and mountains. I am from Lower Austria, and I grew up with nature all around me but the mountains there are not the same as those in the Grisons. Even though I have never been to Switzerland before and never really thought much about this country, I was really looking forward to it. The organisation of my home university and the UAS Grisons was really good, which it made easy to prepare everything.
I also thought that it would be nice that the people here also speak German – but Swiss German is definitely a different language! I had a lot of moments when I heard people talking and wondered what language they were speaking. But no worries, at university the study language is High German. But for me, I love Swiss German, and I am always looking forward to learning new words and phrases. Sometimes my Swiss study colleagues also learn new words that are only common in Austria – for example leiwand or Erdäpfel. But what I also didn’t know is that they don’t have the letter “ß”. They just write “ss” instead. A few examples: Liebe Grüsse, Schliesslich, Ausserdem, grossartig. So, you might think the DACH region is similar but there are a lot of differences.
Swiss German was not the only language I was practicing during my exchange semester. I also spoke a lot of English because I lived at Konvikt with other international students. There were people from Canada, Spain, China, Nigeria, Austria and the French part of Switzerland. It was a great experience to learn things about their way of life and to spend evenings together. Konvikt is the perfect destination for this. We have our own little cinema, fitness studio, billiard tables, darts, study rooms and a large terrace with a trampoline, table tennis, little football cage and a lot more. You always have to walk up the mountain to get there, but in return you have such a beautiful view over Chur (and also better endurance after months of doing this :D).
As you already read, I am in the last semester of my master’s programme and therefore I am writing my master’s thesis. In addition to this I also attend courses here which are on Thursdays, Fridays and sometimes Saturdays. So, on the one hand you think you have a lot of free time, but on the other hand university takes up a lot of time if you want to make progress. Nevertheless, I already travelled a lot by train and used the train rides to work on university projects. For example, I have visited places like Zürich, Arosa, St. Gallen, Konstanz, Vaduz, Lugano – and I have many more on my list! If you want to see some photos of my stay in Switzerland, you can check them out here on Instagram (www.instagram.com/vici.captures). The trip to Tirano was also a highlight for me. Together with six other internationals, we spent a night there and travelled back on the
famous Bernina Express. Everyone always says that you will make friends from all over the world during a semester abroad and it’s true. I am so glad to have met these people and to be able to share such a great time and experience with them.
So, if you are thinking about an exchange semester and reading this blog article then just do it – you are ready for it! I can confidently say that you won’t regret it and will surpass yourself. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience something like this. I am so glad that I decided to take this step on my own and will now have such wonderful memories on an unforgettable time forever.