Your First Week at AELO Swiss Academy: What New Students Can Expect

The acceptance email lands in your inbox, and for about ten minutes you just stare at it. Then the questions start. What do I pack? Who will I sit with at lunch? Will my French survive a single conversation? Is my train ticket valid on that one connection? I remember that feeling vividly, because I lived it myself, and because every new intake at AELO Swiss Academy walks through the door wearing that same mix of nerves and pure excitement. The good news is that the first week is designed to catch you. The better news is that by Friday, most students can't quite remember what they were so worried about.

Here is a realistic, honest walkthrough of what your first seven days actually look and feel like, from someone who has both lived it and watched hundreds of new students live it too.

Start Before You Fly

Half of a smooth first week happens in your bedroom at home, a week before departure. The students who land calm are almost always the ones who sorted their paperwork early. Before you zip the suitcase shut, check that you have all of this:

• Your passport, valid well beyond your intended stay, plus two printed copies stored separately from the original
• Your admission letter and any visa or permit paperwork, printed, not just on your phone
• A handful of passport photos, because they vanish quickly during registration week
• Proof of existing health insurance or the documents you need to arrange Swiss coverage
• A small amount of Swiss francs in cash for your first day, before you have a local account

Printed copies sound old-fashioned until your phone battery dies at the exact moment someone asks for your admission letter. Trust me on this one.

Two smaller things worth remembering. Swiss power sockets are the three-pin Type J variety, so pack an adapter or two. And pack layers rather than one heavy coat, because Swiss weather can move from brilliant sunshine to a cold drizzle inside a single afternoon, and you will be walking more than you expect.

Day One, From the Plane to Your Room Key

Switzerland runs on its trains, and the trains run on time to a degree that still amazes me. Watch the departure board, find your platform, and board with a few minutes to spare, because doors close promptly and the train simply leaves. My own first day, I second-guessed an announcement and hopped off one stop early, then stood on an empty platform watching my train pull away without me. It cost me twenty minutes and taught me a lesson I now pass on to every new student: when in doubt, stay on board and ask someone.

Once you reach the campus area, the welcome process begins. In most intakes, the student services team has a welcome desk running during arrival days, and someone is reachable by phone if your flight is delayed or you get turned around. You will collect your room key, sign a few forms, and get your first orientation schedule. It is deliberately light. Nobody expects you to absorb a full briefing after a long flight. Get your key, find your room, take a breath, and look out the window. The view alone is worth the trip.

One practical note about that first evening. Eat something real, even if you are not hungry. Jet lag and travel fatigue masquerade as many things, including homesickness, and a proper meal plus an early night fixes more first-day misery than any pep talk.

The Campus Tour That Actually Matters

Every new intake gets an official campus tour, and you should absolutely go on it. But here is what I tell students on their second morning: the tour that matters is the one you take yourself, with your timetable in hand. Walk your actual route from your room to your first classroom. Find the cafeteria and check its hours, because the first time you arrive at 2 p.m. hoping for lunch and the hot counter has closed, you will understand why this matters. Locate the library, the quiet study rooms, the admin office, and the printer you are allowed to use.

Take a photo of any notice board aviation English proficiency you pass. Intake schedules, activity sign-ups, and room changes get posted on boards, and the students who photograph them always seem to be the calm ones when plans shift.

Placement, Timetables, and Your First Real Class

Early in the week, usually within the first two or three days, you will have a placement review or introductory assessment, depending on your program. I know this is the part people dread. Don't. It is not an exam you can fail in any meaningful sense. It exists to make sure you land in a class where you are challenged without being drowned, and in most programs there is flexibility to adjust levels during the opening weeks if something feels off. Plenty of students move up, move sideways, or switch focus areas after the first fortnight, and nobody treats that as a setback.

Your first real class will probably feel smaller than you imagined. That is one of the genuine pleasures of studying at AELO Swiss Academy. Instructors learn names fast, often within the first session or two, and participation is expected rather than optional. If you come from an education culture where sitting quietly was the safe strategy, the first days can feel strange. Raise your hand anyway. Say the half-formed idea out loud. The students who thrive here are the ones who treat the first week as a rehearsal space, not a performance.

Expect a low-stakes first assignment, something designed to get you producing work rather than grading you into anxiety. Do it properly. It sets the tone for how you will be treated, and how you treat your own studies, for the rest of the term.

The Swiss Practicalities Nobody Warns You About

Switzerland is a fantastically organized country with a handful of rules that surprise newcomers, and the first week is exactly when you should handle them.

Health insurance is mandatory for residents, and new arrivals typically have a window of a few months to arrange coverage, but start the process in week one rather than letting it slide. If you are staying longer than a few months, you will also need to register with your local commune, usually within the first two weeks of arriving. The student services team deals with these questions every intake, so ask for guidance rather than guessing. Bring your paperwork to them and let them point you at the right offices.

Beyond the bureaucracy, a few cultural facts will save you real friction. Most shops close on Sundays, so do your grocery run on Saturday. Grocery shopping itself is a delight, because Coop and Migros are everywhere, reasonably priced by Swiss standards, and the tap water is excellent, so a refillable bottle saves you a surprising amount over a term. Quiet hours are taken seriously in most buildings, generally starting around 10 p.m., and recycling is close to a competitive sport. Embrace all of it early and you will fit in faster.

Budget honestly. Switzerland is expensive, and pretending otherwise helps nobody. A coffee in a café can run 4 to 5 francs, a simple restaurant lunch often lands between 20 and 30. Cooking with classmates is the great equalizer, and it doubles as the cheapest social life available to you.

Friends, Fondue, and the First Thursday Evening

The social side of week one is engineered, and I mean that as a compliment. Most intakes include a buddy or mentor pairing, where a returning student takes a small group of newcomers under their wing, plus a welcome dinner or evening gathering in the first week. The icebreakers will feel awkward for roughly four minutes. Then someone mispronounces a word, everyone laughs, and suddenly you have people to sit with.

The strongest friendships I have seen form here almost never started at official events. They started in shared kitchens, over a group attempt at cooking that went slightly wrong, or on a train platform when two people realized they were heading the same direction. My own closest friend from my intake burned a pan of rice beyond recognition on our second night, and we have been laughing about it ever since. Say yes to the invitation, even when you are tired. Especially when you are tired.

Your First Free Weekend

Here is my strongest advice for the first weekend: do not overplan it. You will be exhausted in a way you do not yet realize, because new country, new language, new faces, and new rules all drain energy quietly. Pick one outing. One.

If you arrive for a September intake, that might mean a swim in a lake that is improbably clean and cold in the best way. A January intake means snow within easy reach and the peculiar joy of a warm café after cold air. Many students pick up a Half Fare Card once they settle in, which cuts train costs roughly in half, though you can decide that in week two. The mountains, the lakes, and the towns nearby are all wonderfully reachable by rail, and the first trip you take with your new classmates will be one you talk about for the rest of the term.

Five Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me

Since I cannot go back and brief my own younger self, I will brief you instead:

• Arrive ten minutes early to everything. In Switzerland, on time means early, and it never goes unnoticed.
• Learn a greeting in the local language and use it in hallways and shops. It changes how people respond to you, instantly.
• Finish your commune registration and insurance paperwork in week one, while the momentum is there. Week four is a bad time to discover a missing document.
• Cook with other people at least twice in your first week. It is cheaper than eating out and it builds friendships faster than any organized event.
• Call home on a schedule, not only when you feel low. Regular calls keep homesickness small; crisis calls make it bigger.

When Homesickness Shows Up, and It Will

I want to be honest about this part, because an article that only sparkles would be lying to you. For most students, somewhere around day four or five, the excitement dips. The novelty of the mountains wears off just enough, your family's group chat feels far away, and you have a moment in a stairwell wondering what you have done. This is normal. It is not a sign that you made the wrong choice.

Here is the judgment call I offer every struggling first-weeker: do not make any big decisions in week one. Do not book a flight home, do not email about withdrawing, do not conclude anything about your abilities. Wait two weeks. In my experience, almost every student who feels that dip in week one is comfortably happy by week three, and the ones who acted on week-one feelings always regretted the speed, even when the eventual decision was fine.

The End of Week One

By Friday evening, something strange and wonderful has happened. You unlock your door without thinking about which key it is. The cafeteria staff recognize you. You know the shortcut between buildings, you have a name for the person who sits two seats to your left, and your calendar has more on it than you can possibly attend. The mountain view that stopped you in your tracks on day one has become the background of your ordinary life, which is the most quietly luxurious thing about studying at AELO Swiss Academy.

Your first week is not about mastering anything. It is about arriving, repeatedly, in small ways. Show up early, ask the obvious questions, eat the bread and cheese, join the awkward icebreaker, and let the country work its punctual, lake-bright magic on you. By the time Sunday evening comes around and you lay out your things for the second Monday, you will catch yourself feeling something you did not expect on the plane: impatience to start the week. Enjoy that feeling. It only happens once.