Robin, could you please tell us more about your exchange experience?

I went to Staffordshire in the UK on a volunteering exchange in summer 2021. My job was looking after animals and the garden of a large English manor house, owned by a lovely lady called Nicki. She has three large Newfoundland dogs, goats and horses. I helped look after the animals and did a lot of gardening work. Nicki was in the process of redecorating a part of the house and I also helped her with that.

Why did you go to the UK?

I was about to complete my bachelor’s degree in English and IT at the University of Bern. Every English major is required to either study or work in an English-speaking country. I would have liked to study abroad, maybe in the USA or Canada. But because of COVID-19, I decided to stay closer to home. I already had enough ECTS credits, so I decided to go on a volunteering exchange.

Because of the pandemic, there were very few volunteering opportunities. I wrote 20 requests to volunteer, but they all got turned down due to the pandemic, which was very frustrating. Then I saw this opening to volunteer at a manor house in Staffordshire. When I asked if I could come, Nicki simply replied with “yes”.

How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect your stay abroad?

My main challenge was that it was very difficult to plan anything. I already wanted to go abroad in 2020 but postponed for a year because of COVID-19. Getting to the UK with all the travel restrictions proved to be a major challenge. To begin with, the rules on COVID-19 and the immigration requirements were very unclear. Apart from lots of forms, I had to do a PCR-Test in Switzerland and then another two upon arrival in the UK.

When I arrived, I encountered delays, hours of queuing at Heathrow airport, the Tube did not run and the trains to my destination were cancelled. A regional train eventually got me to Stoke on Trent, where Nicki greeted me like an old friend. She had been shopping for me and made sure I had everything I needed for my ten days in quarantine.

Which cultural differences would you highlight?

You can’t rely on trains in the UK in the same way as in Switzerland. I think every single time I took a train it either did not show up or was delayed. In the UK you don’t get any replacement buses – your only choice is to wait.

I learned to take such experiences with a dose of pragmatism and humour. It was the same when I helped repair the old tractor and a couple of the seven lawnmowers. The breaks of the tractor never worked. The guy mending the tractor told me “just drive uphill when you need to break.”

Any adventures you would like to tell us about?

We went to an amusement park on the day after the UK government announced the end of the pandemic; they called it “freedom day”. One could feel how everybody was so fed up with the rules that they made full use of the first day of looser regulations. It suddenly felt as if the pandemic did not exist anymore. A Swiss friend and I were the only two people who were still wearing masks.

How has the University of Bern supported you?

Nicole Nyffenegger, the study abroad coordinator at the English department, went out of her way to help me plan my stay abroad. She supported me during the entire process. When I was worried about all the insecurity of planning a stay abroad during the pandemic, she reassured me and made sure a backup plan was put in place.

What did you learn from your stay abroad?

I learned to deal with the unexpected – positive and negative. As mentioned, COVID-19 threw up a lot of challenges. But I also encountered many positive moments and made friends for life. I will definitely go back to Staffordshire to see Nicki and the three dogs again.

Interview: Caspar Bienek
Images: Robin Steiner