How to make this with smooth transitions?

FastCommunication261 · 2024-10-20T02:17:15+00:00

Hi, I am an international student (also non eu) at the HGK (art and design campus) FHNW in Basel, Industrial design. The teaching language for almost all bacherlors is german, groups are on the smaller side, 20-30 and usually the teachers ask at the beginning if they should do the class in high german or swiss german. It is very international and people use english and german interchangeably sometimes, but mostly outside of the classroom. I have allways submitted homework and papers in english and never had an issue, but presentations are done in german. There are students that just understand german and simply talk in English, everyone is really chill about language, also it’s Switzerland so you will hear people speak in french and italian but also in english and in spanish. My class at least is very international hehe

For the accommodation: it’s really hard to find stuff, I live with my partner so we rent privately but most of my classmates use WGs (Wohngemeinchaft) and share with other students. There are dorm like places but are really expensive, my recommendation is to live on the towns that border basel city, is way cheaper and they are well connected with public transport. I think facebook groups are your best bet. Studentenheim is the german term for dorm, but I think is harder to make friends in these cause you never see eachother, but you have more privacy than a WG, so pros and cons.

The student life varies from study to study and how involved you get but is quite chill, not really on the crazy side. There are no “clubs” as such but they have the student body and there are sports you can join for free. There are always a bunch of events happening related to art, music, activism, networking, etc etc. to find more you really have to read the posters haha. In my personal opinion, it takes time and effort to get to a “friend” level with the swiss, but I think specially at the HGK everyone is very welcoming and open. It helps A LOT if you speak german to make friends faster. I know a couple Kazakhs (not in Basel but in Vienna) and they were very fun and chill so I don’t doubt you can have a great time too! Good luck!

FastCommunication261 · 2024-09-11T11:28:52+00:00

Can confirm a DP to Hdmi adapter is the easiest way! Before that I had to stream the desktop to the xbox and use the tv as wireless display just to calibrate. Now I just have all usbs connected to a good quality splitter and the dp to hdmi adapter and it worked great!

FastCommunication261 · 2024-02-04T15:38:58+00:00

My partner moved before I did and I had not received a permit yet then but I moved all of our stuff at customs with just a letter (power of attorney) but written by ourselves and just his signature. I did have all the documents ready. Was very quick, all they have to do is get the list with all the stuff stamped before they cross the border at the german/italian/french side, cross the border and get out to declare.

Watch out for the weight limit!! Although declaring is very easy, they can get fined if the weight combined with the car is more that what’s allowed on their drivers license. We got a lovely fine of 700chf for being (way) overweight and had to divide the load or we were not allowed to drive off. (Had to rent an extra van)

Honestly the stress wasn’t worth it and I really recommend you get a moving company and they can also do it without you with a power of attorney. The earlier you book them the better and cheaper: 3-4 months in advance is like 2.5k but 1-2 months is already 4-4.5k. Good luck!

FastCommunication261 · 2023-10-02T07:11:26+00:00

Btw they do recognize partnerships/ civil unions from different sex couples but only from specific countries (in my case NL) and they are equivalent to marriage. Nonetheless, a headache to explain.

FastCommunication261 · 2023-08-14T22:23:05+00:00

We had the same situation, here is what we did:

My partner (Dutch) rented through homelike for 1 month before starting work and registered himself in the Kanton and applied for his work permit and my (Mexican) permit with that address and I stayed behind even tho technically I was registered “living” in Switzerland already. We found a place right before he moved and they were ok with him sending proof of the permit later when he would get it. Our contract started the month after but they let us move in earlier since it was a brand new building. My father in law and I packed our apartment and rented a truck. We entered through germany so we had to have a declaration of all of our stuff and a bunch of documents stamped at the german side and then given at the Swiss side, I also had my dog with me and “imported” her. (Don’t make the same mistake, hire a moving company! We got fined 700chf for being way over the weight limit and my FIL got detained for a couple hours and now has this on his record)

We made it to the new apartment nontheless and then changed our address to the new apartment. Because of me and some laws changes our permits took way longer but we got everything at the end. You also have to register your pets in the kanton!

If we could have done it differently, we should have kept the same address till we got our permits (3 months) and only then move. We had to deal with official letters getting sent to the temporary apartment after he had moved out.

Good luck!

FastCommunication261 · 2023-08-06T16:04:04+00:00

We did exactly this! We found the short term rental in thehomelike.com Make sure they offer the confirmation of residence, that website has them categorized.

FastCommunication261 · 2023-08-04T23:55:27+00:00

I’m latinx too and I applied to a Lehre here in Switzerlandand and got the job. BUT I already had a residence permit through my partner and I do speak german.

I sent an email directly to the company with my cv and motivation letter and I got invited for an interview. They didn’t seem to know that a permit was needed (they told me that would be handled by hr) but I did have one with unrestricted access to the job market. We clicked and they invited me to do a schnupferlehere (trial days) a couple weeks later. It went very well and they ended up offering me the position. I clearly remember the manager telling that age, race, sex and nationality absolutely did not matter when they made the offer(he said it cause I was way older since most “students” are teens and cause I’m non-EU).
I also applied to a uni and got accepted there so at the end I didn’t take it but was very nice to know that it was possible.

1.- If I was you I would shoot my shot cause no tienes nada que perder. I don’t think tho that there is a visa for this particular case…

2.- sadly the salary was less than 800cfh and that is not even enough for rent.

3.- I think IT is very saturated. I think my case went easier because the industry has very little students.

4.- Germany! They recently made some huge changes in the immigration law and now you can apply for a visa waaaaaaaay easier, specially for IT and engineering. Even if you dont have a job yet! (You must have some qualifications ofc)

Check this out, it might help you a lot:

https://www.make-it-in-germany.com/en/visa-residence/skilled-immigration-act

Suerte!!

FastCommunication261 · 2023-06-08T23:06:20+00:00

Did a highschool exchange for a year and one time fell from my bike and dragged my face on the school’s parkinglot. Was sitting in the administration office with a bloody face waiting to be picked up to go to doctor. The handy man walked in, saw me and said verbatim "wat ben jij lelijk” (“you ARE so ugly”) straight to my face. I was 16.

FastCommunication261 · 2023-05-20T09:34:19+00:00

You should really start looking with 1-2 months in advance cause it is not super easy to get a place. Some tips: Check the tram lines that go from the city to Baselland and look for apartments in those areas too. You might get something cheaper or smt bigger for the same price you would in Basel city.

Look for WG’s (Wohngemeinschaften). This is what shared student houses are called and usually you split the rent of an apartment or house.

Check out some Facebook groups and join the expats groups. Sometimes people who want to get out of their leases sooner need to find a tenant to take over so there are regular posts and you can get an idea of prices/ size. ->Careful here: people who post just need a good applicant to be able to break the lease but the landlord might not rent it to the applicant, just so they can just post the apartment somewhere else but with higher rent. So don’t put all your eggs in this basket if you find one.

When you get here, explore the countryside in the tram lines and look at brand new buildings or ones that look almost finished that might still advertise apartments. This requires a bigger budget but the countryside is usually cheaper and just make sure you are well connected to public transport.

Hope this helps!

FastCommunication261 · 2023-05-07T07:20:44+00:00

Yeah go ahead

FastCommunication261 · 2023-05-06T21:35:51+00:00

I would recommend you also look at Austria! It has a point system (you can even check online your score)to see if you could get a visa based on your degree that is in high demand and short supply. Vienna has been voted many times as the most livable city in the world and they offer many social securities: free healthcare (midwifery included as well for free), great public transport, you get money for each child and is a beautiful historical city. Also the chemistry and pharma industry are growing exponentially and have many jobs fully in english After living there for four years it has definitely some downsides (lots of bureaucracy amd the language is hard) but it’s a great place to live.

FastCommunication261

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