Jessica Van der Berg at Lausanne University, Switzerland

Jessica Van der Berg

MCom in Economics

Semester Exchange in the First Semester, 2022 at Lausanne University

Pre-departure:

The pre-departure planning felt a little bit chaotic since there was still uncertainty about the covid-19 regulations and whether traveling abroad would be possible. However, there is only so much you can do to prepare and then you just have to wait and see what happens. Luckily Emirates started flying from South Africa again on the 01 February 2022, and my flight was on the 5th of February 2022, so everything worked out perfectly. Since I only have a South African passport had to apply for a type D visa with the Swiss Embassy in Johannesburg. If you are a student, you do not have to pay any visa fees. However, you do have to pay to get your documents delivered to the Swiss Embassy (if you are staying in Cape Town) which cost around R1000 if you use post-net.

The type-D visa requires you to send in 3 copies of all the documentation that they require, so the admin related to applying can take some time. The process also takes about 9-12 weeks; therefore, you should get started as soon as possible. I didn’t hear anything from the Swiss Embassy and when I contacted them after waiting 10 weeks, my visa was approved and ready. You then have to arrange with post-net to go pick up your documents and it takes about 2 days to get delivered to their branch in Cape Town. Since the visa process if quite lengthy, my suggestion would be to send in more information than necessary to ensure there are no delays. After I have received my visa application, I could start packing.

If you are staying with FMEL (Lausanne University accommodation), then you have to take your own bedding, cutlery and crockery. This ends up taking a lot of space in your bags and therefore I decided to purchase everything once I arrive in Lausanne. You can rent bedding from your place of accommodation, which cost around 80 CHF for 5 months. However, my advice would be to rather go to the IKEA which is a few train stops away and buy the cheapest bedding that you can find. I bought bedding, cutlery and some basic crockery which all added up to 120 CHF (with the bedding costing around 55 CHF). The only disadvantage of doing it this way, is that you have to leave all your purchases behind when you return home, or my suggestion would be to donate it to other students. My advice for packing is that less is more. Looking back now, I packed way too many jerseys and too many books that I never got around to reading. Only pack items that you really need. Remember that you will also purchase some clothing and gifts while travelling and living abroad, so it is best to leave space in your bag for when you return.

Experience at the host university:

The University of Lausanne gives you a very generous bursary of around 1750 CHF for 5 months. This is more than enough to cover your monthly expenses in Lausanne if you don’t indulge in too luxuries. When you arrive in Lausanne, you have to set up a meeting with the exchange coordinator and they give you a cheque for your first month’s bursary. You then have to take that to the bank and then you can either deposit it in a Swiss bank account or take it cash. The rest of the bursary is than paid into your Swiss bank account. It is relatively easy to open a bank account, however you do need to make an appointment and they do require you to have your temporary residence permit. You can make an appointment online and they tell you which documents you need to bring. The bank account takes about a week to activate. So, if you do not feel comfortable having 1 750 CHF in cash, you need to make sure you have enough money to survive for at least 2-3 weeks before you have all your admin sorted.

You also have to get compulsory health insurance when you are in Switzerland. You can apply for an exemption; however, they do have strict requirements. The cheapest option I could find was with Golden Care and cost 51 CHF a month. You have 3 months to get health insurance otherwise the canton you are staying with assigns you to an insurance company and then you don’t have any say in the price. The public transport in Switzerland is quite expensive. I purchased a zone ticket which allows you to travel around in centre Lausanne for 52 CHF a month. You can also buy a half-fare card for 120 CHF (for the whole year) which gives you a discount when you purchase a train ticket. Furthermore, there is also a 7/25 card which allows you to travel free between 7 pm and 5 am. This is great for longer travels over the weekend and cost around 49 CHF per month.

The University of Lausanne is an extremely culturally diverse university with many exchange students, which makes it easy to meet new people. To make sure I wasn’t falling into the trap of only becoming friend with other exchange students, I took a class that involved a group project and met some great people from Switzerland. The university sits right on Lake Geneva, and you often see sheep (the universities lawnmowers) walking around on campus. In terms of teaching, I was impressed by the quality of lectures that I had. The lectures were flexible in terms of attending class since there were still various COVID-19 rules in place when class started. All my lectures were in English and were presented both online and in person. The assessments focused on class presentations and assignments, rather than exams. This was a refreshing approach to assessing a student’s understanding of the work. I thought the difficulty level of the classes that I took was on par with that of Stellenbosch.

The accommodation process is also relatively easily with the only disadvantage being that can’t choose in which student house/apartment you stay. Before they assign you to a house, they ask you what your budget is. If you want to stay close to campus, you are going to pay at least 750 CHF rent per month, however there is accommodation further away from campus for 550 CHF per month. I really enjoyed staying close to campus and Lake Geneva, and definitely think it is worth the extra cost. The administers at the accommodation are extremely helpful and I often went to them to assist me with using the laundry facilities, insurance letters and getting around. So, don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need some. Lausanne is extremely beautiful and safe. You can take a train and travel all around Lake Geneva and visit many neighbouring cantons. Switzerland is also extremely central which makes it super easy to travel to neighbouring countries. A bus (with Flixbus) to France cost around 8 CHF and a bus to Milan around 25 CHF. You can also fly for relatively cheap with Easy Jets and travel to places like Croatia for 40 CHF (however the flight prices increase drastically during tourist season).

Return to Stellenbosch:

I am excited to return home to South Africa and finish my studies at Stellenbosch University but will definitely miss being in Switzerland. Switzerland has an extremely high quality of life, and therefore you are not exposed to problems such as load shedding. Switzerland also has a low poverty and crime rate, which was refreshing. I have also been very proud to be from South Africa and this experience has not changed that. If anything, I think I can take the life lessons that I have learnt in Lausanne and apply them to my life in South Africa. The exchange journey has made me realize that I would like to work abroad at some point in my life. There are many opportunities for you to grow in a professional capacity and ways to expand your career. However, I believe I will always want to return to South Africa.