Author: Guestblogger (Page 14 of 21)

Time flies. I have already been in Uppsala for eight weeks! Summer turned into autumn – and what an autumn it’s been so far! If you are living in Uppsala, you know what I am talking about. Otherwise, just look at those pictures in the header… 

There is only one problem. And it is not just me. No, everywhere you go, you will hear the same conversation.

– Hej! How are you?
– Oh, I’m so tired (trött, an important Swedish word).
 
Where does this seemingly chronic fatigue come from? I believe it is the dwindling daylight that affects me, even though we have had so many sunny days. And to be honest, it bothers me a lot! But I try to battle it as good as possible, with my secret weapon: outdoor activities. Which also has the upside of me being able to discover Uppsala. Such a great coincidence that there is a nature reserve (Hågadalen-Nästen) just behind my building in Flogsta! And another one only 10 km away!

One thing I like a lot about Swedes is their affinity to outdoor activities. If you are in a Swedish forest in autumn, you will meet a lot of people picking mushrooms (plocka svamp). They love those yellow mushrooms named kantareller. Many Swedes have special spots in the forest where they will go every year and pick mushrooms. Most of them wouldn’t even tell their best friends about their secret mushroom spots! That’s how crazy they are about mushroom hunting season!

So, if you’re chronically tired – try to be like a Swede! Go hiking, running, fika outside or pick mushrooms as long as it is possible. The snow will come soon enough…

* Please be careful when picking mushrooms and never take any that you are not 100% sure about. You could also look at this website.

/Anne Kristin Kästner

Right before I left Italy to move to Sweden, a friend of mine told me she would be extremely scared if she were to do the same, and she asked me how I could be so calm about such a massive change in my life. The first reply that came to my mind at the time was a metaphor. “It’s kind of like a videogame,” I said. “Moving abroad by yourself is like having to start from level one. It’s exciting more than anything else.” It has now been almost two months since I moved to Uppsala, and I’ve been thinking about some experiences I lived during my first days here. 

On my first day, I found out most of the lightbulbs in my room didn’t work, my toilet was leaking, and the tap in my kitchenette would flood the room if I left it running for longer than 30 seconds. Not terrible, but definitely not the best start.

On my second day, I decided to go to IKEA (the first stop for many new internationals moving to Sweden, of course) to buy new lightbulbs and other things I needed. That morning, I managed to get lost twice and I got on the wrong bus three times, all the while using Google Maps. How does one take the wrong bus three times while making the same trip? I must have broken a record. At some point it got so bad that a bus driver couldn’t help but laugh at my cluelessness, but only after helping me get on the right bus. As a matter of fact, one thing I’ve realized during this time is that Swedes are incredibly nice. Most of them, at least. Everyone but the evil mastermind who decided to pack IKEA scissors so that you need scissors to use them. [see picture]

mde

On my third day, I managed to get lost in the building I live in. Yes, this situation was as ridiculous as it sounds. Since apparently getting lost was not enough, I also trapped myself in the garbage room. I won’t share all the embarrassing details regarding this breathtaking — it was a garbage room, after all — adventure, but I have two points to make. First, I apparently have a problem with Swedish doors (why are they so heavy and why do they all have weird locks?) Second, somewhere out there someone must have watched a security tape of me having a mental breakdown in a garbage room before I figured out how to open the door. I really hope I won’t end up in a funny video compilation on Swedish television.

These are just some of the embarrassing situations I found myself in during my first days. During these two months, I’ve had to familiarize myself with a new environment and learn how to move and behave within it through a process of trial and error. In this regard, moving abroad by yourself could be compared to learning how to play a videogame you’ve never played before. However, if I were to use the same metaphor today, I would probably phrase it differently. Yes, moving abroad by yourself is like starting a new videogame from level one, but in this case the videogame is in a different language, it’s set on expert mode and you’ve skipped the tutorial. Good luck figuring it out – but don’t worry, you will master it eventually. The more you play a videogame, the better you get at it.

/Camilla

“Det finns inget dåligt väder, bara dåliga kläder!” There is no bad weather, there are only bad clothes, Swedes believe (!) . However, Sweden is cold most of the time for us — foreigners. So, the weather becomes a quiet important topic in a daily life conversation, even it is usually the most convenient way to fill the awkward silence. In the past few days, it was the trend topic once again, thanks to the surprising temperature rise in the middle of autumn, which is called “Brittsommar” — British Summer in Sweden.

 Unfortunately, the sunshine went like the wind and left us with a gloomy (typical?) Swedish weather. Wishing more of these sunny days I want to give some tips that you should keep in mind for the next time ?

1- Go for a walk around Flogsta
Living in Flogsta means many things, but most importantly no need for an alarm at 10 pm and having a small forest as your backyard. The nature right out of your window will make you feel like living in a painting. Having the bright sunlight in this scenery; well… you are lucky!

The view from Flogsta Building 1

There are lots of beautiful places around Flogsta to take a walk or to do your daily exercise. One of them is known for its pretty sunflowers. You can just stop by there and take some pictures. Great to be the cover picture of your Facebook, hah?

2- Explore the beauty of  Hågadalen Nåsten
Time to celebrate the sun while you are discovering the amazing nature reserve, called Hågadalen Nåsten.

Entrance at Håga Bridge between Flogsta and Eriksberg

Hågadalen Nåsten

 
The reserve spreads over 17 square kilometres, which is host to lush woodland, flourishing farmlands, gloomy forests, and many more. You can enjoy its diverse and rich nature all day, but never get enough of this wonderful place!

 You can go there with some friends and have a picnic or only fika ! Also, it is a perfect place to relax your mind. Are you overwhelmed by your studies? Do yoga in the peaceful nature of Håga and listen to the silence.

Hågadalen Nåsten

Look at those cuties! I was surprised to see many of them just 15 minutes away from my home. This is the magic of Uppsala, where you can easily feel the city and the nature at the same time. Don’t forget to touch the fur; no worries, they are just friendly ? 

3- Take your bike and do some sightseeing
Uppsala is a picturesque city divided into two parts: the historical old town in the west and the modern town in the east, by the river Fyris (Fyrisån). There are so many activities to do in Uppsala. However, walking along the river to feed the ducks is my favorite when the sun shines brightly. You can also sit by the river and enjoy your fika (yes, anywhere-anytime basically). Don’t be surprised if you see some Swedes, who take a sunbath ? (I saw some of them even in University’s garden)

Fyrisån River-Uppsala

/Müge

Dear parent,

Having your kid leave home and moving north, all the way to Sweden. For most parents: a huge step. Your child has most likely never been so far away, for so long, on its own. Now who will take care of him/her?

No worries, once landed in Sweden, your child will get a very warm welcome from nobody less than Mamma Sverige. And luckily for you, dear parent, Mamma Sverige is a very protective mother. I can assure you: your child is in great hands.

Unless your child grew up in the Netherlands or Denmark, you must be worried about cycling. How about traffic? What if my child falls of its bike? Now don’t worry. Uppsala is a wonderful small town (and yes, of course you may visit us!), which means that the traffic is really quiet compared to other cities. Besides that, many separate cycle lanes have been constructed in order to diminish chances of bikes and cars accidentally meeting each other. Biking with a helmet is strongly recommended by the university, although I have never seen one student do it. In the dark, lights must be adjusted to the bike, and neglecting to do so will result in a fine equivalent to 20 beers at your son/daughter’s student nation. I’m sure s/he will not take this risk. Furthermore – completely incomprehensible to me, a Dutch person – giving lifts on your bike will be heavily fined to. For safety, I guess.

Furthermore, the railway crossing closes at least ten minutes before the train passes by .This may result in coming late to class, but definitively eliminates the chance of your son/daughter being run over by a train.

In case your child forgot this crucial fact over the summer: at the beginning of the academic year, all students are reminded of the fact that in case the fire alarm goes off, they have to leave the building. Better safe than sorry!

Although the above mentioned seems a bit exaggerated, I assure you that everything stated truly happened to me. Clearly, Mamma Sverige really wants the best for her students, even if that results in some crazy things. It does mean that most things are really well arranged. To mention one thing in particular: Uppsala University’s facilities for their student’s wellbeing are very elaborate. There is help for people with disabilities; a light room against winter depression; student psychologists; help if you have difficulty with academic writing; a career desk; housing help if things actually go wrong; and probably more. Most importantly: the university really makes sure that all students are aware that this help exists, so that they know where to go in case of need.

Dear parent, I assure you that Mamma Sverige does everything to make sure your child has a splendid time in Uppsala.

Now breathe in, breathe out, they will be fine.

N.B. Please keep in mind that these experiences are based upon my own and are thus most likely biased. Other people’s experiences might thus differ from mine.

If you need help from one of the above mentioned institutions, or if you want to read more about the facilities offered by Uppsala University, I recommend you have a look at the following page: https://www.uu.se/en/students/support-and-services/

/Fleur

Sweden is absolutely a nice country to live and study – being so organized and peaceful, having well-preserved beautiful nature and pursuing an awe-inspiring sustainable living system. But it also means that Sweden is totally different from Vietnam – my home country. The tranquility in Uppsala reminds me of a busy, messy, crazy, crowded city – Saigon, my hometown. I’d never lived in anywhere outside Vietnam before, therefore, I can’t help but feel a bit nostalgic on my first few weeks of being in Sweden.

Though parts of me still miss home somehow, I figure out some ways I can deal with living far away from home without missing everything so badly:

1 – Let’s start your day with food from your hometown

I manage to cook for myself every day, though most of them are very simple meals. They are also not all Asian foods, as some Asian ingredients and spices can be very rare and expensive here. I try to balance by having both or try to cook so-called Western foods but with Vietnamese taste (It’s rumored that you just need to add fish sauce to every dish and it becomes Vietnamese food)

Someone told me that if you have breakfast with your home country dishes, you will feel as if you were never away from home. Therefore, I try to have breakfast with either fried rice with egg or sticky-rice at least for a few times during the week.

Two of my typical Asian breakfasts in Uppsala.

It’s always a pleasure for me to visit Asian grocery stores where I can find so many familiar ingredients. Asian livs & Sivia Matcenter are 2 places I would recommend for any Asian wanting to eat like home.

I made a bowl of Hoành thánh soup for this weekend (Chinese name: Wonton). The wonton skin and other ingredients can be found at Asian Livs. This is an authentic Chinese dish and I cooked it with my Chinese roommate’s consultancy. So delicious!

Like Swedes enjoy coffee, Vietnamese people drink Bubble tea. It feels so hard for me not enjoying that delicious drink for a long time. Luckily, I found dried “bubbles” in Asian Livs. It took me 1 hour to cook those tiny balls into real “bubbles”. It’s totally worth that much effort.

2- Talk to other people from other nations. And be proud of your country.

I’m now living in a condo along with a Swede and a Chinese student. Last week, we had a dinner for us all together to cook traditional food from our home countries. I’m so proud to cook Vietnamese beef stew and Green bean dessert and put them on the menu along with dishes from Sweden, Russia and China.

We had a great time sharing our own food, our traditions and our views. And it’s very interesting to reflex how things are different here and there. Every time we talk, we find out different interesting things about how strange another nation could be (And we even exist on the same planet!)

3- Focus on studying

Studying here is different and comparatively difficult from my experience in Vietnam. I finished my bachelor’s degree 3 years ago, therefore I barely touched as many books and documents in those recent years as I’m doing now. It feels so stressful just to think about all the assignment and essay deadlines. So, let’s just focus on studying – as it is the reason why I came such a long way to be here. Also, you will feel much better because you have no time left to miss home.

I don’t have any photos I took to illustrate this part, so I just put here one of my lecturer’s slides from yesterday.

From: invisiblebread.com

4- Still missing home so bad? Call your loved ones to speak your mother tough and get updated about home

Being far away from your family, friends and loved one can be the hardest thing about studying abroad. It is for me and I still miss them so much. I rarely meet anyone from my home country since I ‘ve been to Uppsala, therefore, I really value every single time talking on the phone, speaking my mother language with my family and friends.

Some pictures I received from my family and friends. From left to right: 1/ Fireworks in Vietnam Independence Day 2/ Parade to celebrate our national team winning a football match 3/ One of my favorite dish in Vietnam

Welcome OUT parade in Uppsala that I joined (left photo) vs. Gay Pride day in Saigon that my friend joined.

I guess I’m over my homesickness due to these small simple things. Missing home, I also feel so blessed for this wonderful opportunity to study and live in Sweden, to get out of my ‘comfort zone’, to go to somewhere so far away from home and get as many exciting experiences as I could. I will end this article with a famous speech from President John F. Kennedy – The Moon Speech, which my boyfriend sent me the day before I departed to Sweden, to motivate myself and anyone may feel the same.

“We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”

– President John F. Kennedy

/Yen

Swedes are, undoubtedly, very good at English. In fact, Sweden is the fourth best country worldwide in terms of non-native English skills following Norway, the Netherlands, and Denmark according to Education First. However, to err is human, even among Nordic countries. The funny mistakes Swedish native speakers make in English have coined the term ‘Swenglish’ (or ‘svengelska’ in Swedish). But what is Swenglish? And how can you spot a Swenglish speaking person?

Swenglish is, as the name suggests, a mixture of Swedish and English. More concretely, it is English (a) spoken with a Swedish accent and (b) influenced by Swedish grammar and idioms. So, let’s have a look at it!

And, just as a disclaimer: By writing about Swenglish, I am of course neither trying to diminish Swedes’ English abilities nor boasting about my own. I am part German and can assure you: Denglish is much less charming and much more ridiculous.

Pronunciation

If you’ve ever tried to speak Swedish, you may notice there are some sounds that are so difficult, they make you want to cry: words such as sju (= seven) or sked (= spoon) or stjärna (= star). For a non-Swede, these words are very difficult to pronounce. However, there is still some justice left in this world, which means that vice-versa there are also some words in English which Swedes find difficult to pronounce. We are talking about words with a J or a CH.

The English J sound, as found in jail, joke or Jew, is not part of the Swedish language. Instead, Swedes pronounce it as Y: A Swedish Julia will prefer to be called Yulia. This is often transferred to English turning jail into Yale (what an upgrade!), joke into yolk as in an egg yolk, and Jew into you.

Another difficult sound is CH as found in choose, cheap, or chit chat. Since this is also a very uncommon sound for Swedes, they tend to pronounce it more softly as a sh. That turns choose into shoes, cheap into sheep, and – my absolute favorite – chit chat into sh*t shat.

But then again, if you ask a non-Swedish native speaker to pronounce sjuksköterska or just Kristianstad, they will probably rethink their life choices.

Grammar / Idioms

As Germanic languages, Swedish and English are in many areas similar. However, there is some small differences, which make for funny mistakes.

One grammar issue I often notice are words that have several meanings in Swedish but not in English. Examples for this are ‘rolig’ which means both ‘fun’ and ‘funny,’ ‘lära’ which means both ‘learn’ and ‘teach,’ or ‘låna’ which means both ‘lend’ and ‘borrow.’ This can be a bit confusing to foreigners when you have a funny roller coaster, lend my book, or learn me how to spot a Swenglish speaking person.

Idioms, on the other hand, are always tricky when speaking a foreign language. There is so many weird sayings in every language, which everyone thinks are normal, because they grew up with them, but which are so random. Nonetheless, this leads Swedes (and many other nationalities) to use their idioms literally translated in English. Some of my favorite Swedish sayings translated to English are “Everyone knows the monkey, but the monkey knows no one” (= being known ≠ being popular), “You’re burning fires for cows” (= you’re doing something completely useless) or “I will be the one carrying the dog’s head” (= I will take the blame). As an English speaker, you will have no idea what the Swenglish speaker is talking about.

And on a side note for German, Dutch, and Danish speakers: At least among these languages, many idioms are pretty similar, but that is just the dot on the i! Does anybody know that idiom in any other language?

Conclusion

Learning a foreign language is difficult and confusing, which very often leads to funny situations and embarrassments. However, that should never stop you from trying again and learning. Just last week I confused ‘stjärt’ with ‘hjärta,’ which made for a fun conversation, but now I know that it is my heart that breaks not my butt. And I will move on with a smile.

This concludes my short dive into Swenglish. I find it fascinating how well Swedes speak English and yet, how common these characteristics are. But I am sure there is many more. What is some of your most heard or favorite Swenglish? What are some common mistakes native speakers of your language make when speaking English?

/Layla

Coming to a new place where you do not know anybody or anything can be hard. You have to adjust to a new town, you have to organize so many things (Hello campuscard!) and maybe you experience language problems. But these first weeks are so exciting as well, filled with new people and thousands of opportunities!

First of all, a disclaimer: Whatever I write about my first weeks in Uppsala, it will never be the same for anyone else. There are simply too many welcome events to attend everything. But my advice is, do as many things as possible! Dive right into the student life! Maybe the most important thing: participate in as many events organized by your programme as possible, especially if you are a Master or Bachelor student. It’s highly likely that you see the people you meet there on a daily basis in your classes. Imagine how nice it is if you found friends there before university officially started! 

Join a nation! Working there is an uncomplicated way to get to know people outside your programme. It’s fun, it helps you to get into life in Uppsala and everything is way easier with friends. Besides, if you are part of a nation, you can go to the recentiorsgasque (a formal dinner for new nation members and the perfect opportunity to dress up) and other events. That has – so far – been one of the best things in my student life here.

Attending the Recentiorsgasque with friends.

Go to the Welcome Reception and the Welcome Fair! It was a nice (and formal) way of being welcomed into Uppsala University. At the welcome fair, a huge number of student organizations present themselves (choir, sports, debate, whatever you want to do). And last but not least, explore Uppsala and its surroundings! 

The Welcome reception in the main building. What a great atmosphere!

These first weeks can be hectic and exhausting. But it is so worth it! In the beginning, everybody is just as desperate (and excited) as you to get to know new people. It is so easy to meet new friends and have lots of fun. Even if you are a bit more introverted and need time for yourself, don’t worry. Needless to say, you don’t have to attend every single event if you don’t want to. For me personally, it was great to push myself out of my comfort zone and I am happy about how my time at Uppsala University started. 

Oh, and by the way, if Swedish people are not talking that much to you, don’t take it personal! They are really friendly (after you get to know them a bit better). 😉 

/Anne Kristin Kästner

Learning Swedish must be the most common resolution among international students. However, like any language, Swedish comes with a wide range of possibilities to make mistakes. Blundering your way through learning  a new language may be very awkward, but it might also be the most efficient way to learn. Not only because you will forever remember your cringe-worthy mistake, but also because you will tell your friends about it, repeating what you should’ve said (or, like me, write a blog about it, for the whole world to know).

My most awkward Swedish situation so far happened at Flying Tiger. For those who don’t know: it’s the ultimate store for everything you need in your students room, that you forgot at Ikea and don’t want to go all the way back for. Can openers, laundry bags, those kinds of things. I had gathered a pile of stuff that I did or didn’t need and went to the counter to do what I usually do: pretend to be Swedish (and pay, of course). Pretending to be Swedish starts very easy: you put the desired articles on the counter while you say “hej hej”, in a high pitch voice, the first ‘hej’ a bit higher than the second. The cashier will scan the items and ask something that most likely means “do you want a bag?”. Usually I take my own bag, so I politely decline saying “nej tack”. However, this time I was unsure whether the cashier asked about a bag, or about something else. The only way to solve it was to drop my incognito Swedish identity and ask “wait… that means ‘do you want a bag?’, right?” Polite as the Swedish are, the cashier apologised for speaking Swedish, to which I replied that I was trying to learn Swedish anyway. He explained to me that ‘påse’ means bag, and asked in Swedish whether I wanted a ‘kvitto’ (receipt). Of course he had to explain what ‘kvitto’ means as well. 

I meant to go to the office supply shop next door to get tape and batteries. Unfortunately, they only had super-sticky-double-sided-invisible-magic-tape, which of course costed ten times as much as regular tape. Therefore I decided to go back to Flying Tiger, which at least put me in the position of practising the words I had just learned. Of course I ended up at the same counter as before. The conversation (IN SWEDISH!) went quite well, until the final moment when the cashier told me to “har en bra dag”. Now, I knew what these words meant, however, what is tricky is the Swedish intonation: the Swedes tend to sound surprised with everything they say. Therefore my brain decided in a split second that the cashier had asked me whether I had a nice day, and I promptly blurted out a very loud “ja!” (in my defence, it had been a very nice day). Slightly embarrassed, the cashier politely explained to me that he actually had meant to wish me a good day.

Walking out I got a text from my housemate. “Since you’re there, could you bring me a stapler?”

“Nah man, I just walked out the second time. If I go in again, the cashier will either think I am very dumb, or madly in love with him”

/Anne Fleur Van Luenen

Introduction and short history – By Erik Skogh, edited by Rhianna Rees

You’ve arrived in Sweden’s fourth largest City, home to the tallest church building in Scandinavia and thousands of students. There’s a lot for you to get acquainted with, and quickly. You have perhaps signed up for basic Swedish courses – you may discover you don’t really need them if you’re only here for a short time, as almost everyone speaks English fluently. You may have also heard about the nations and seen old large houses around the city…

These houses are historical and cultural landmarks, protected buildings. Flags fly above each of the houses to signify their affiliation to the district they represent. In total there are 13 nations and every nation is famous in its own right, for various different reasons.

You may have heard people tell you to join a nation. Being a part of a nation in Uppsala is like having a home away from home, a place where you can play sports with friends, start bands, sing, study, work, play and have fun. There’s a reason why there are more and more ‘jubilee members’ – those who have been members for 50 years or more.

Choosing your nation – Infographic by one of our bloggers

Hej hej!

Some of you might be reading this before you come to study in Uppsala on exchange or for your masters degree and we on the International Committee (the IK) can’t wait to welcome the thousands of international students that will arrive.

The IK is made up from representatives (International Secretaries) from all 13 student nations and we want to help all internationals have an amazing time whilst you’re here whether its for a semester or two years. We can all relate to how it feels studying in a new country in either your 2^nd or 3^rd language so we’re here in case you have problems with settling in and most importantly to help you make friends

If you’re arriving on the Arrival Days (23^rd-25^th August) you’ll meet us at Segerstedthuset where you get your keys, SIM card, your internet sorted and get your picture taken for your campus card. We will provide you with information about Orientation Week Activities, organised by us for all of you, at all the different nations. We have some great events with a bit of something for everyone including beer pong, picnics, karaoke, lindyhop dancing and educational seminars. You can also get a sneak peek of Swedish life too by trying Swedish food, playing games and attending a ‘How to Sweden’ crash course ‘ and there’s definitely enough fika to go around! You can also join us for a Walking Tour of Uppsala- the easiest way to learn where the essentials are: nations, the library, Max (better than McDonalds), Systembolaget, your campuses and where the free wifi is. At the end of the week we will travel to Old Uppsala to where the city began in the 3^rd Century and you can hangout with your new friends amongst Viking burial mounds or take a swim in the river.

Our job on the Arrival Days is also to provide you with your temporary Student ID, you need one to visit nations in the evenings, whilst you’re deciding which one to join (don’t worry though, being a member of one doesn’t stop you from going to others). Remember to bring an acceptance letter (or email) and some ID! You can also buy tickets for your first traditional Uppsala dinner where we will teach you ‘how to gasque’ before partying the night away, so that’s something extra special to look forward to!

If you’re not arriving on the Arrival Days, you can meet us at the Welcome Fair on the 31^st August (look for the ‘IK’ Table) and pick our brains for the best cafes, which nations have the best burger, what bus is it to IKEA and get student ID if you haven’t managed yet. Make sure to join the term-activities too, Pub Crawl and Swedish folk dancing! You can also travel to Lapland to see the Northern Lights, meet some friendly locals (huskies and reindeer) and visit the Ice Hotel.

It’s going to be an awesome term and we can’t wait to meet all of you soon!

Vi ses!