In the first few days in Reykjavík, I noticed that people on the street did not really look each other in the eye. Everyone seemed to keep to themselves and go their own way. Somehow, this made me feel a little strange and not particularly welcome. However, I soon realised that this was simply part of the local culture, and I focused on respecting it for what it was.

I arrived in a new country with an open mind and found it fascinating to see almost 250 exchange students coming together. Different languages, customs, cultures, values and norms, different mentalities, and so much more. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to meet many Icelanders. Instead, I learnt a great deal from people from other cultures and countries. The Spaniards like to arrive late for class, the French are not always fond of deadlines, and the Americans are very good at giving presentations.

At first, though, I had other worries. For example, on my first day, I stood in the supermarket wondering whether I needed to buy bottled water or whether it was safe to drink tap water. I was also fascinated by the supermarket itself, and Google Translate was my saviour when I was trying to find milk.

I have to say that I got used to living here quite quickly. Since my flatmate is also from Switzerland, I never really felt homesick because I always had a little piece of home with me. This definitely made it easier for me to settle into life in a foreign country.

I am very lucky with my flatmates, with whom I spend a lot of time. Having a cleaning schedule in place from the beginning has also made our lives much easier. There are never any arguments because everyone knows exactly what they need to do and when. Since we have a washing machine in our flat, doing the laundry has also been very straightforward.

My flatmates and I make life easy for ourselves. We enjoy cooking, eating and spending time together. We have been on road trips together and explored this fascinating new country as a group.

As for the university, the University of Reykjavík is very modern, both technologically and in its teaching methods. In every lecture, we had guest lecturers from all over the world who introduced us to different perspectives. In short, the university here throws all kinds of knowledge at you – structured, of course – and your mission is to make the most of it and specialise in the areas that interest you. There is no learning bulimia here, so to speak.

After going on a big road trip around the entire island, I fell more and more in love with the country. There are no real trees in Iceland, only bushes and small plants. Although the vegetation is very limited, you can experience the vitality of nature more intensely than ever before.

As I mentioned before, I fall more in love with this fascinating country every day! All I can say is that doing this semester abroad has been the best decision of my life so far. I can see for myself how much my horizons are expanding and how much I am growing, both academically and in terms of my knowledge and personality.

Let’s see where else this country will take me and what opportunities it will offer me. I am looking forward to discovering new things, and I am open to whatever comes my way.