Pre-departure and arrival:
Preparing for my trip to Lausanne, Switzerland, was very exciting! Fortunately, the visa application process went smoothly and I received my visa within 1 month of applying. The hardest part of preparing for my trip was trying to fit everything I would need for a semester into one suitcase.
I realise now that it is more practical to leave behind heavy and space-consuming clothing items such as jackets and jerseys and rather purchase them at second-stores in Europe. They are cheap and probably a lot warmer (even K-way down jackets don’t make the cut in winter). It was also recommended to me to pack all the toiletries I would need for my time here instead of purchasing them overseas. In my experience, even in Switzerland where prices are higher than the rest of Europe, shampoo, conditioner and soaps are reasonably priced and you will save a lot of space in your bags. Overall, I think that the arrival process was more challenging than the pre-departure. It is very difficult making your way around a foreign country where people barely understand English, especially when you’ve just arrived and are exhausted after a long flight! Most coffee shops (especially in airports) have Wi-Fi, so I would suggest stopping in one when you arrive to let everyone know that you are here and looking on google maps to find out exactly where you must go if you do not yet have a good idea. Google Maps has really been a life saver for me – It tells you which trains/metros/busses etc. are available for your trips in every city that you visit and allows you to plan very well how to get to your destination (seems obvious I know – but when you travel around Europe and discover that every country has a different public transport system, Maps can be very comforting). It is also good to note that most metro lines are situated very close to airports and train stations in European countries, making it very convenient to get around.
My stay in Lausanne:
Because I am an MSc student and do not follow a course program, I was very flexible during my semester at the University of Lausanne (UNIL). I attended classes that I thought would be useful for my research, analysed my samples in the laboratories at the University and filled up the rest of my time writing my thesis, playing sports and travelling. The Sports Centre at the University is fantastic – I tried out most of the sports that were offered and eventually settled for badminton. Unlike Stellenbosch University, the use of the gym is free for all UNIL students, which I think is a great initiative. I made lots of friends and had so much fun that I attended all the practise sessions religiously. The courses that I attended were presented in English (all Bachelor’s courses are in French). I found that the learners battled to understand because they were mostly French, and the lecturers also seemed to struggle with English. Although UNIL is a top ranked European University, I still think that the education I received at Stellenbosch University is unparalleled. I never felt left behind in classes, nor had a feeling that my background knowledge was not up to scratch. Perhaps I was just fortunate at my home university to have had fantastic lecturers, and I often thought during my classes at UNIL that they would have explained the lecture contents better! I was very fortunate to do all the lab analyses for my samples at the university. Unfortunately, back home, the Stellenbosch University does not have the facilities to allow each student to do lab work themselves, and often samples are submitted to a lab technician or external laboratory for analysis. I learnt so much from this, and it was a really satisfying and rewarding experience.
The most exciting part of this exchange for me was meeting new people from all over the world, and travelling around Europe with the new friends I made. Because Switzerland is centrally located on the continent, it was very easy to travel to different countries. My friends and I discovered bla bla cars – a website with people offering lifts in their cars to places that they are travelling to. It is a safe (the drivers have profiles and get ratings on the website) and super cheap way to travel, and lets you meet new people (often locals) who can give you tips about the places you are going to. For the December break, I decided to invest in an Interrail pass. This pass allows you to travel to over 30 countries in Europe for free for a period of 7 days (non-consecutive) in a month. It was 200 Euros for the pass, but it saved me hundreds of Euros in the end, and I was able to travel to many places at very low prices. I highly recommend an Interrail Pass!
At UNIL, there is an organisation called ESN that is responsible for organising get togethers for the exchange students. This is really a good organisation, and as far as I understand there is one at most European universities. Attending the functions is a great way to meet people (I met most of my friends at these parties) and they also organise cultural evenings where you get to learn about the customs and traditions of other countries and try some of the local dishes. Don’t pass up the opportunity to attend the functions, most of them are free for exchange students too.
The sad departure…
My semester abroad flew by and much to my dismay, I had to say goodbye to my new friends and leave for home. I was, however, excited to return to warm and sunny South Africa (I am very likely suffering from a vitamin D deficiency) and catch up with my family and friends. I was warned not to buy too many things abroad but I did anyway and packing up my room was a difficult process. Fortunately, the university has numerous charity shops and I was more than happy to donate the beanies, scarves, gloves and thousands of sweaters I had accumulated over the past 5 months. Before this exchange, I had spent very little time abroad. Travelling around Europe, meeting new people and being exposed to different cultures has changed my life in so many indescribable ways! I am much more independent and confident than I was before. To think that back home I would hesitate to speak to a person who did not speak English well, and I never have tried speaking Afrikaans to my Afrikaans friends! That has all changed now. I have become someone who is forever eager to meet new people and explore weird and wonderful places. I have made so many amazing friends from all over the world who I am planning to visit in the future. Before coming to Switzerland, I had no plans to leave South Africa and find a job abroad. But now I am more keen than ever and have already started searching for internships available in Europe. I really do think that this exchange is an amazing opportunity and I encourage everyone to try and get involved and really make the most of it. My only regret is that I did not find out about these exchanges earlier as I would have loved the opportunity to possibly do a second one. Either way I am very grateful for the chance to have spent a semester in Switzerland. I will always look back so fondly on my time spent abroad.