Coming to Luxembourg from Nepal was one of the major decisions in my life. I decided to join my masters program at Luxembourg School of Business for my higher education. Different land, different people, different language, and staying away from my parents for more than a year was something that I was ready for yet challenging. In all of this, I always kept the feeling that I had in my undergrads, “Be the Best!” to keep the grit going on. This has been a truly learning journey and here are some of the things I have learnt about Luxembourg from a students perspective:
1. Luxembourg is “Expensive”
By this I do not mean to discourage or scare people planning to come here. What I mean is that from food to rent everything is atleast 4 to 5 times more than the cost back home. Similary, the base wage is also more than any other country in the world (but this is only applicable after finishing my student life).
The bright side is that if you can survive in this country then you can survive in any other country in this world for sure.
2. Diverse set of people from various nationalities
Best part about being in Luxembourg is that you are able to meet with various group of people speaking multiple languages. At first, it might feel a bit overwhelming due to a different working language but if you can speak English then you will be fine. You get to learn from all the people and you will be amazed how helpful and disciplined people are here.
3. Working as a student is “Limited”
If you happen to plan to work as a student and earn a whole lot of money then I would probably suggest that you need to change your thinking. Working as a student is limited to 15hrs/week and well, if you are lucky you will be able to manage those hours given that your university gives you the flexibility. For me, fortunately, my school classes are 3 days and I get to work 2 days in a week.
4. Secured National Insurance Policies
Before coming to Luxembourg, you are required to have a compulsory health insurance till the duration of your stay. For visa purposes, SwissCare, AXA, and Europ Assistance might be a cost effective option but I would definitely recommend getting the health coverage from Caisse Nationale de Santé (CNS). Its a bit expensive but more effective and easy to get reimbursed. Generally, you can get reimbursed in 2 weeks (Currently due to high demand they take about 4 to 6 weeks but normally its 2 weeks).
5. People mind their own businesses
The biggest cultural difference I observed was that even if people are friendly and all, they do not come into your personal space. They will support you if you ever need any help up to the point where they can help you. Also, if you hear ‘No’ at times then do not worry, its normal here.
All in all, coming to Luxembourg has taught me a lot of things over a year. I believe that I will get to learn more and learn from all these amazing people around here in this coming year as well. I am thankful to all the mentors both in school as well as in the student job who are helping me a lot to learn in a better way. Looking forward to this journey and making the most out of this experience.