Semester Exchange in the Second Semester, 2022 at Bucerius Law School
Pre-departure:
The pre-departure preparations were daunting at first, but if one follows the steps provided by the International Office, everything should run smoothly. The International Office was very helpful with any questions I had, and they helped where they could. It is definitely advisable to start preparations as soon as possible, as leaving fundamental requirements, like visa applications or accommodation to the last minute will only add to the already stressful atmosphere of leaving the country for a few months.
Even though pre-departure is full of excitement, it does come with a lot of unavoidable stress, so make sure to have everything in place as early as possible. I personally left my accommodation to the last minute and ended up paying a LOT more than I originally budgeted for, so I would definitely advise that one sort it out as soon as possible. DISCLAIMER: if you decide to go to Bucerius Law School and you want to stay in their dorms, fill out the form within the first few seconds, because I filled it out within five minutes, and it was already full.
The visa application for Germany was pretty straight forward, and I received my visa within a week of my appointment, but I guess it depends on the country you’re visiting. You just have to make sure that you follow the directives given for the application and that you have all the necessary documents. But again, I would definitely try and sort out the visa application as soon as possible, because you never know what might happen. I visited Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, and they were very helpful with giving us all the information with regard our pre-departure preparations. This included information about housing, insurance, module registration etc. So, I would advise that one utilizes all the information and make sure that you stay up to date with any new information that the host university might send your way. What worked well for me was to make a list of everything that I needed to do before I left and to systematically tick the boxes. You just have to make sure that you actually do what’s on the list (unlike me with my accommodation…). And then lastly, just enjoy the last few months with your friends and family and don’t let the nervous excitement eat you up, because I can promise you, you are going to miss them.
Experience at the host university:
My experience at Bucerius Law School was amazing to say the least. Talking about the academic program specifically, it exceeded my expectations. The classes were extremely interesting, and they had top class lectures teaching the classes; to give you an idea of the caliber of lecturers that we had, the Business Mediation lecturer, Prof. Dr. Lars Kirchhoff, teaches mediation and ADR skills at the United Nations as well as at the German Federal Office and the Arbitration lecturer, Prof. Dr. Stefan Kröll, is the Director of the Center for International Business Resolution.
I would advise you to go out of your comfort zone and to take classes that you don’t normally get to take in South Africa as this really broadens your perspective on things, and it keeps you interested. A lot of the classes also required practical participation by the students, and I would definitely encourage you to take these classes as it allows you to work with other students and to get to know them a lot better, in an academic sense. Classes were also quite small (between 15 and 40 students), so you were forced to participate in class, which made it a lot easier to focus in class. This also forced me to do the readings before class, in order to be able to participate.
Christiaan with friends at Volkspark Stadion
Also, the International Office at Bucerius was extremely helpful and they went above and beyond to accommodate everyone and to help with any questions we had. You could literally go to them with any question, and they were extremely welcoming; they really made us feel at home. Another interesting aspect of the program was that they offered seminar styled classes, that ranged between5-to-9-hour classes. These were very intensive classes, but you only had three of these for the whole semester, wherein you would cover all the work, which was quite enjoyable. The University also offered a lot of extracurricular activities for the international students, like day trips to nearby cities, excursions to concentration camps and visits to Christmas Markets. You merely had to register for the activity, and most of it was free of charge. Bucerius Law School is definitely an excellent choice, academically, but on a more social level, the City of Hamburg is something to experience; but that could be whole blog post on its own…
Return to Stellenbosch:
It is inevitable that you will miss your friends and family during your time abroad, but I never thought that I would miss South Africa itself as much as I did. It is hard to pinpoint one thing about the country that I missed in particular, but as soon as I was back, I knew I was home. The exchange program really broadened my perspective on a lot of things, and honestly it was an experience that I would not trade for anything in the world. I met so many amazing people, that I hope to see again one day, and I feel that the whole experience really enriched my life academically, socially and intellectually and I am eternally grateful that I had the opportunity to do it. That being said, I realized that the grass is not always greener on the other side, and that I am extremely happy with what I have in South Africa. I always thought that I would one day move abroad, but I realized, despite all the struggles that we face in South Africa on a daily basis, I would still not want live anywhere else in the world.
