Category Archives: Sweden Study Abroad

The Beautiful City of Uppsala

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Uppsala is a beautiful city, and Sweden a beautiful country, and almost three weeks after I arrived I still think about how lucky I am to be here. After picking up the keys to my room and going to the Nordic Languages Department to register for my Basic Intensive Swedish class, I was struck by how international this place was. Students were here from all over the world, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Taiwan, South Korea and many other European students, and it wasn’t until a couple of days later that I met another English person! I was immediately made to feel welcome in this city as everybody spoke great English, although I was looking forward to immersing myself more into the Swedish culture by learning the language – more o  n this later.

After leaving the hotel with all my luggage and arriving at my new flat, I was shocked at how dirty the place was – it had certainly not been cleaned as I had expected. The place seemed a long way out of the city and was very quiet – I did not get the same warm welcome that I felt in the city. I decided to head to the Housing Office to request to be moved. The housing guide stated that moves are not possible, but I thought ‘if you don’t ask you don’t get’, right? They allowed me to move into the city centre accommodation two weeks later, which was originally my first choice – success!

The next day I bought a bike to cycle from my accommodation to class and around the city – this really made me feel Swedish. There are bike racks everywhere and many people cycle here, although the feeling to me was more nostalgic than typical, given that I hadn’t ridden a bike since my early teens. Later that week it was my birthday and the first time I have ever had to go to ‘school’ – one blessing of being an August baby! After the Swedish class, I went to an elk farm and saw a moose for the first time. Upon our return, it was time to head to the Systembolaget, the only place where you can by alcohol with an ABV of more than 3.5%. I was surprised by the cashier with what I thought was a small bottle of wine, until I got home and realised it was de-alcoholised.

Later I headed to Flogsta, where most of the exchange students who arrived early for the Swedish course were living, for a great corridor party. One thing I wish I’d done before my move was to photograph some of my important documents, including my passport and EHIC card. It wasn’t until the next day when I fell off my bike riding through the woods that I realised this. I had to go to the medical centre in the city centre to get a large stone removed from the palm of my hand, but without my EHIC card I had to return the next day with it to avoid a hefty medical fee!

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Sweden so far and am sure even greater times will come. I have found the Swedish language course much harder than expected. I aim to really practice what I’ve learnt in class and try to avoid speaking English in the supermarket, cafes and shops, and hope to make a good improvement by the end of the first semester. Every day I find new places, see new things and meet new people, and I think this all adds to the excitement of an exchange. I am looking forward to starting my Law modules and explore more of what Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia has to offer!

Celebrating Saint Lucia or otherwise known as Saint Lucy

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University of Reading student studying abroad in Sweden for a Full Academic Year

Lucy is half way through her year studying abroad in Uppsala University in Sweden as part of his Law degree at Reading! Read on to find out what she has been up to after her first semester abroad!

I’m over halfway through my Study Abroad experience and I can’t believe how fast it’s going! Since my last blog I’ve been trying to make the most of what a Scandinavian Winter has to offer me. This of course included gingerbread (on which they put blue cheese-something I’ve found weirdly yummy) and copious amounts of Swedish mulled wine called Glögg (which I’ve found I prefer as it is sweeter than most of the English mulled wines I have tried). I have also spent my time trying to acclimatise to the dramatic drop in temperature, this we had all been warned about-especially since when we arrived in August we had a highly unusual month of lovely warm weather and the Swedes had ominously claimed that this meant we had a bitter winter to come to compensate.

In early November I, along with two friends travelled to Bergen in Norway for a weekend trip, eager to expand our experience of the Scandinavian nations. We arrived on Friday and I was immediately struck by the mountains dotted about everywhere while we bussed from the airport to our hotel. Once we arrived in Bergen and settled in we decided to wander down to the Bergen port-recognisable for Bryggen (a series of commercial buildings leftover from when the Hanseatic League traded in fish-a fact we became aware of when we went to the museum housed in one of these buildings). We wanted to get our bearings for the following day when we would be going on a tour of the fjords (the principal reason we had travelled there).That night we made use of our time by going up the mountain on a cable car-giving us a breath-taking view of Bergen. The following day we got to the boat early and I experienced one of the best moments of my life travelling through the fjords and seeing the gorgeous views, we even got to drink water from a frozen waterfall. The rest of the trip passed by quite happily.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Sweden for a Full Academic Year

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the 13th December is dedicated to Saint Lucia, otherwise known as Saint Lucy, this led to lots of jokes and the lighting of many candles as it is a festival of light. The elected ‘Saint Lucia’ wears a long white gown, has a wreath of battery powered candles on her head and is accompanied by her attendants carrying candles (also in white), their procession enters a darkened room singing traditional songs. It’s a unique and lovely tradition and I was thrilled that it was included in the Luccegasque that I attended as a Christmas celebration at my nation.

I was also lucky enough to attend a Christmas Carol concert in Uppsala’s beautiful cathedral, a hair raising experience in the best way.

Since coming back from the Christmas break I have been trying to get through my work and cope with the cold, I luckily missed the -20 degree weather that plagued Uppsala the week before I returned!

I’m loving my time here and am looking forward to the coming term!

Lucy

Missed Lucy’s last blog post? Catch up here: http://bit.ly/2jGl9gl 

Developing an addiction to cinnamon buns..

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University of Reading student studying abroad in Sweden for a Full Academic Year

Lucy is currently studying abroad in Uppsala University in Sweden as part of his Law degree at Reading! Read on to find out how she’s adjusting to life in Sweden for the next academic year.  

Waking up at 1AM to get on a plane destined for Sweden was definitely one of the most scary things I’ve ever done, but equally one of the more rewarding. I craved adventure and my study abroad experience has definitely delivered!

Uppsala is the fourth largest city in Sweden and as such there is something foreign and beautiful to be entranced by wherever you look in the city centre and even on the outskirts where my accommodation resides, Uppsala Cathedral is my personal favourite to date.

A couple of days after I arrived and had explored a little, the University put on a welcome day for the international students where we were given information, signed any outstanding contracts and had the opportunity to buy tickets for the International Student Gasque (a type of event put on by the University, or one of the twelve Student Nations which centres around a formal dinner with speeches and singing, often followed by an informal after party).

University of Reading student studying abroad in Sweden for a Full Academic Year

We were then given a week to mingle with the fellow international students and join in with social events put on by different Student Nations (each Nation being modelled after a different area of Sweden). I used the week to explore Uppsala and make some friends.

The following week I began my first module- Criminal Law Theory, I chose the course because of my great interest in Criminal Law and hoped to gain more insight into the subject. The module certainly gave me that, I was provided with a new way to look at Criminal Law and got a better idea about the differences in Law between countries, during the first half of the module I also had the pleasure of being taught by a Mr A. Simester, who’s work I have followed throughout my study of Criminal Law. The teaching style in Sweden is heavily reliant on group discussion, which took some getting used to, however it has been interesting to see the differing opinions of students from around the world, which made up the class.

Between studying and making new friends, I have tried to explore not just Uppsala, but the surrounding area. The obvious first stop was Stockholm being the countries’ capital. On my first visit, I accompanied a friend to Skansen, which is aptly described as an open air museum, I would thoroughly recommend it for a fun day out, where you get to learn more about Sweden’s history in an interactive and fun way, we were particularly spoilt by being shown an English printing press once one of the displayers learnt where we were from. I have also taken advantage of the Study Abroad experience to travel, my first trip was to Copenhagen in Denmark.

The Swedes are warm and friendly once you get to know them, and I have quickly discovered that the language barrier is virtually non-existent.

So far my study abroad experience has been brilliant, though I am developing an alarming addiction to the cinnamon buns!

Lucy

If You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get

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University of Reading student studying abroad in Sweden for a Full Academic Year.

Samuel is currently studying abroad in Uppsala University in Sweden as part of his Law degree at Reading! Read on to find out how he found the move his new home in Sweden for the next 10 months. 

Uppsala is a beautiful city, and Sweden a beautiful country, and almost three weeks after I arrived I still think about how lucky I am to be here. After picking up the keys to my room and going to the Nordic Languages Department to register for my Basic Intensive Swedish class, I was struck by how international this place was. Students were here from all over the world, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Taiwan, South Korea and many other European students, and it wasn’t until a couple of days later that I met another English person! I was immediately made to feel welcome in this city as everybody spoke great English, although I was looking forward to immersing myself more into the Swedish culture by learning the language – more on this later.

After leaving the hotel with all my luggage and arriving at my new flat, I was shocked at how dirty the place was – it had certainly not been cleaned as I had expected. The place seemed a long way out of the city and was very quiet – I did not get the same warm welcome that I felt in the city. I decided to head to the Housing Office to request to be moved. The housing guide stated that moves are not possible, but I thought ‘if you don’t ask you don’t get’, right? They allowed me to move into the city centre accommodation two weeks later, which was originally my first choice – success! The next day I bought a bike to cycle from my accommodation to class and around the city – this really made me feel Swedish. There are bike racks everywhere and many people cycle here, although the feeling to me was more nostalgic than typical, given that I hadn’t ridden a bike since my early teens.

University of Reading student studying abroad in Sweden for a Full Academic Year.

Later that week it was my birthday and the first time I have ever had to go to ‘school’ – one blessing of being an August baby! After the Swedish class, I went to an elk farm and saw a moose for the first time. Upon our return, it was time to head to the Systembolaget, the only place where you can by alcohol with an ABV of more than 3.5%. I was surprised by the cashier with what I thought was a small bottle of wine, until I got home and realised it was de-alcoholised. Later I headed to Flogsta, where most of the exchange students who arrived early for the Swedish course were living, for a great corridor party.

One thing I wish I’d done before my move was to photograph some of my important documents, including my passport and EHIC card. It wasn’t until the next day when I fell off my bike riding through the woods that I realised this. I had to go to the medical centre in the city centre to get a large stone removed from the palm of my hand, but without my EHIC card I had to return the next day with it to avoid a hefty medical fee! I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Sweden so far and am sure even greater times will come. I have found the Swedish language course much harder than expected. I aim to really practice what I’ve learnt in class and try to avoid speaking English in the supermarket, cafes and shops, and hope to make a good improvement by the end of the first semester. Every day I find new places, see new things and meet new people, and I think this all adds to the excitement of an exchange. I am looking forward to starting my Law modules and explore more of what Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia has to offer!

I am looking forward to sharing my experiences and adventures with you in my next blog.

Samuel