Author: Guestblogger (Page 17 of 18)

They say when in Rome do as the Romans do, so here are a dozen do’s and don’ts you need to learn as you come to Sweden.

1. Observe the 1-meter bus stop rule

Swedes in particular have space rules. While at the bus stop, it’s hard to find people next to each other unless they are couples or friends. So when you are at the bus stop or even sitting on a bench or inside the bus, make sure to keep the 1-meter rule and look for an empty seat.

2. Do not cut the queue line

Swedes do not line up in a queue but everyone knows the order. While at the bank, post office, bus station, train station and entertainment facilities make sure to look for a ticket number for the queue and it will be considered extremely rude if you cut or jump the line.

3. Do not call unless it’s an emergency

Most people in Sweden prefer texting over calling. It’s easier for one to say yes or no over text than over a phone call. This is one way of people avoiding confrontation unless it’s an extreme emergency, then you can call.

4. Do not pay or pick up the tab for someone

While in Sweden, it’s common for the men and women to pay for their tabs be it at any social place. Everyone considers themselves independent, especially the ladies, so it may seem polite to pay for her but don’t impose that on her.

5. Always say “tack “(thank you) after offered any help

“Tack” is the first Swedish word you need to be familiar with as this means thank you. Always say “tack” to show a sign of appreciation after offered any kind of help.

6. Handshakes or hugs on meeting someone

When it’s your first  time meeting someone, a handshake is mostly the accepted means of greetings. A hug is usually acceptable if it’s the second time you are meeting the person or if you both know each other.

7. Always be on time

Swedes hate it when someone is late. It is also considered rude if you are late and failed to inform them you would be late earlier. So it’s better to be 5 minutes early, before the agreed time.

8. Do not be the first or the last in starting tasks

It’s common in Sweden for people not to be the first to start something or the last to finish, be it tipping, eating or doing any other thing. It’s mostly considered a sign of bad luck. WEIRD, I KNOW.

9. Do not interrupt someone when they are speaking

It’s considered extremely rude to cut someone off when they are speaking and they haven’t finished speaking. So be cool and wait for your chance to speak.

10. Avoid eye contact when in public places

It’s considered extremely weird and creepy to stare and make eye contact with people in public place and to make the matters worse you don’t know them.

11. Do not speak loudly while on phone

While in public places and you have to pick up a phone call, it will be considered rude to speak in a loud tone. Make it a point to speak in a tone that does not alert everyone.

12. Keep quiet while at the cinema or theater

While at the theater or cinema, it will be considered rude to start talking or making phone calls while its silent and everyone is watching a movie. Excuse yourself and go out if you need to make a phone call or talk.

/Jackson

ICA is one of the grocery store chains in Sweden, and arguably the most popular amongst students. During your first few days in Uppsala as you begin to settle in, you’ll probably get hungry, and need to make your very first trip to your neighbourhood ICA.

My first few trips to ICA were a lot like a game of jeopardy, I wasn’t sure what I was going to come home with, and it took a few tries until I got it right. ICA Folkes Livs in Rackarberget was my first experience with grocery shopping Sweden. One of the first things you see when you walk in is a colourful wall of candy, or as Swedes call them godis. I thought ok well if Swedes love sweets so much living here won’t be hard at all. As you turn the corner, and approach the refrigerator section that is when things got a little more challenging. Since everyone in Sweden speaks exceptional English, this is when the language really hit me. I found myself taking 10 minutes just to pick out some butter, and milk just because there were about a million options. Google translate, and currency converters became my best friends during every grocery trip. Since the store is so narrow, and busy, people were trying to squeeze by me, I got a little overwhelmed and decided to try out a game of jeopardy. I just grabbed items that looked the most familiar based on the pictures, and few Swedish words I knew, and hoped for the best. For the most part it turned out pretty well but for others not so much; for instance I came home with rice pudding instead of yoghurt. Most yoghurt in Sweden comes in tetra packs much like the milk containers instead of the individual packs I’m used to back home so I figured how could that possibly be yoghurt, and opted for what turned out to be rice pudding. A friend of mine accidently ended up buy filmjölk or sour milk for her morning cereal. Just ask any international, and their guaranteed to have a great grocery story.

Another challenge I faced was the prices. One Canadian dollar is nowhere near one Swedish krona. Dividing by 7 was a challenging task, and I ended up just using a conversion app. It took a while to get used to what the Swedish krona system actually meant as when I read some of the prices, I wondered how on earth could milk ever cost $40?! Why is does my total come to $150 when I only purchased a few things?!… right this is the Swedish krona we’re talking about, and in my mind I thankfully just saved a lot of money.

Luckily in Sweden, grocery shopping is fantastic for people who are lactose intolerant or have other dietary restrictions. Two of my friends are lactose intolerant, and they have so many milk, yogurt, and ice cream options compared to back home in Canada. Another friend of mine is allergic to peanuts, and found the phrase “kan innehålla” meaning “may contain” a very helpful phrase.

One of my greatest tips when grocery shopping is don’t be afraid to ask for help. It’s normal to want to feel that sense of belonging, and try to be as Swedish as possible when you first arrive but Uppsala has many international students who are all in the same position. The swedes are beyond helpful when you ask them which will make your experience a little easier.

/Michelle

Ahhh yes, Rackarbergsgatan. Also known as Rackarberget (if you’re referring to the area that it’s in, pronounced “racka-berry-it”), “Racka-something” (if you’re an exchange student who has just arrived and have no idea how to pronounce that beast of a word), “Rackies” (if you’re Australian), or just plain “Racka” (when you’ve given up).

Location:
Hands down, the best thing about Rackarberget is the location. Here’s about how long it takes me to get to the important places:

And one of the best things that I’ve just recently discovered about Rackarberget is its proximity to Ekonomikum park. It’s a nice open field with a lot of room to picnic with friends and soak up some sun, and it’s where a good portion of Valborg takes place. This ended up being super convenient during Valborg for me and my friends, because we could just use my room as a sort of home base for the weekend. My friends came over in the morning and brought all the things they would need for the day (food, drinks, extra layers of clothes) and we just brought what we needed to each event, since it’s much closer to the city center compared to Kantorsgatan and Flogsta, where they live.

Corridors:

Of course, the downside of Rackarberget is that you have to share the bathroom and shower. Some corridors in Rackarbergsgatan house five people, and others have seven, like mine. You’d think that sharing a bathroom and shower with six others would be a disaster, but it actually works out just fine. We’re all on our own schedules, so it hasn’t really been an issue.

As for cleaning, we just rotate chores each week, like cleaning the bathroom/shower, taking out the trash, tidying the kitchen etc.

The kitchen:

Big window, nice lighting during the day, and pretty well stocked with cooking necessities, like a coffee maker, toaster, pots and pans and such. We share our utensils and most of our dishes, and then have a cabinet to keep our personal food. Sometimes our schedules will clash when cooking, since there’s only four stovetops and one oven, and most people eat around the same times. But it hasn’t been that big of a deal.

One thing that I don’t really like about the corridors in Rackarbergsgatan though, is that the kitchen is a bit small if you want to have more than four people sitting and eating at the table. And on top of that, there’s really no communal living space where we can have a couch or something, like there is in Flogsta. Because of that, there’s not really any place where everyone in the corridor can just hang out. So, most of us just end up going to our separate rooms at the end of the day or after cooking dinner, which can be nice after a long day, but it would be nice to have the option of just hanging out somewhere besides your own room.

Rooms:
The rooms are pretty decent though, especially given that it’s on the less expensive end relative to the other residence buildings. I do have my own sink, which is convenient, ample closet space, and a desk and chair, shelves, armchair, bed, and my favorite part– the big window. It’s not the most spectacular view or anything, but I love the fact that it lets a lot of light in, and fresh air too if I want to open it. But the view’s not bad either. Here’s a picture I snapped during sunset, while the days were still long:

As for decorating the room: at first, I really didn’t feel all that motivated to put anything on the walls, since I knew I would be leaving in five months and didn’t want to spend money on things that I would have to get rid of at the end of my stay. But then the plain walls got boring. So I decided to put up some of the free maps that I had gotten from my travels, and just other small, barely sentimental things that I had accumulated and would probably get rid of anyway, like ticket stubs, receipts for train tickets, etc. It added some nice color to my room, and since I put everything up chronologically, it turned out to be a nice way to document my time abroad.

Overall:
Overall, I’m really happy I ended up in Rackarbergsgatan. I don’t even remember if it was my first choice when I listed my preferences in the housing application, since it was all a blur and all the names were so long, but I am really satisfied. The location is great, it’s not boring, but it’s not too rowdy either. It’s definitely not Flogsta, but that’s also nice too because, well, it’s not Flogsta 😉
/Su Fang

Accommodation is right up there with residence permit (if required) as a high priority subject in the checklist of an international student. The accommodation situation in Uppsala is pretty grim with long queues and waiting lists. I was lucky enough to be offered accommodation by the Uppsala University Housing Office that made my work a lot easier. The place I have been calling home for the past 9 months is the Klostergatan-16 Student accommodation. This student residential area was a hotel until 2015 after which it got converted into a modern housing area. Klostergatan 16 is quite an anomaly in the student housing scenes of Uppsala which are dominated by corridor style residential areas. The biggest attraction though of this place is its location which is the best one can get in Uppsala.

1. Location:
Klostergatan 16 is located in central Uppsala near the Fyris River. Being in centrum, it is very well connected to the other parts of the city. Almost all busses stop at the various bus stations located nearby ( Stadshuset , Dragarbrunn or Stora Torget). Moreover it is only about ≈ 700 m. from the Uppsala central train station. Centrum is the hub of Uppsala with shopping centres, restaurants, movie theatres and banks and this makes Klostergatan’s location a flawless .There are 2 stores of ICA, the popular supermarket chain, located in close proximity. Willys, a usually cheaper alternative to ICA is present a kilometre and a half away. All leading banks have their branches nearby. The most exciting thing about Klostergatan’s location is that it lies within a kilometre of all the 13 Student nations.

#[Pro Tip 1] : Living in centrum is enviable  and a masterstroke

2. Rooms:
Most rooms including mine are about 23 square meters in area. Each room has a private bathroom and a fully equipped kitchenette with a mini-fridge, microwave and basic kitchen equipments (plates, cups, glasses, cooking vessels, cutlery, microwave safe bowl etc.). The kitchenette is meant only for heating and light (normal) cooking .Heavy cooking or deep frying will trigger the nearby fire alarm. This fire alarm is directly connected to the fire brigade, which means that if there is an alarm due to heavy cooking, the tenant will have to pay the cost. There is a common kitchen on the ground floor which is fully equipped and can be used for heavy cooking when necessary .Initially I was a bit paranoid about triggering the alarm. But slowly I found out that if one is a bit careful with not overcooking/burning the food (that generates a lot of smoke), it is absolutely fine. The rooms are furnished with a bed and a mattress (including pillow and quilt), chairs, one table, wardrobe, curtains and ceiling lamps. Basic cleaning equipment is provided by the landlord. There are also common vacuum cleaners which can be used by the tenants.

# [Pro Tip 2]: Things one should bring: 1) Bed linen 2) Ethernet cable 3) router 4) microwave safe containers

#Note: Heating, Internet and Electricity are included in the rent

This is what my room looks like

3. Other Amenities:

3.1 Laundry: The laundry room with fully functional washing machines and dryers are located on the ground floor. All the washing machines have an automatic detergent dispenser (So no need to buy your own). The laundry washing stations can be booked in advance via an electronic booking system.

The laundy room in all its glory

3.2 Common kitchen: The common kitchen like the laundry can be booked using an electronic booking system. It is located on the ground floor and can be used for extensive cooking. It is even equipped with an automatic dishwasher.

The common kitchen has 9 individual cooking stations

3.3 Common areas: The building houses a cafe of its own. Yes you read that right..! It is managed by the Uppsala University housing office which has its office next to it. The cafe is connected to a common room where one can chill, relax, eat, study or have a party. This is equipped with free Wi-Fi. Besides this, the 2^nd floor of the building also has a garden.

Common room

2nd floor garden

Green Cup cafe

3.4 Bicycle store area: The bike storage area is located in the basement. It is basically a cage like structure which needs a common code for entry.

Bike Parking/store area

3.5 Gymnasium: The building also houses a moderately equipped free gym for the residents.

#[Pro Tip 3]: Though the gym is small , it is never crowded/congested

Gymnasium for the tenants

3.6 Garbage room: Household waste after segregation (organic, nonorganic combustible, Glass etc) is dumped in individual drums (of each category) at the garbage room located on the ground floor.

4. Pros & Cons Analysis

/Arindam

New and old students planning to come to study in Sweden Universities; to make your stay as comfortable as possible below are the 10 essential survival kits by me the Time traveler and Sunset chaser you need to have before and after coming to Sweden (Not arranged in any order of importance)

1. Documents to have
– Passport
This serves as an identification card for you to transact some of the required transactions such as paying rent or sending money via western union.

– Academic papers
Have all you papers with you and kept safely you may need to produce them in case of verification or job requirement

– Residence permit card
This you will get before coming to Sweden from the migration office in your country and this together with your passport will help you to board an airplane.

– Fee statement
If you are a scholarship student then you don’t need to bother yourself with this, but for the fee paying students you need to make sure you have paid atleast your first semester fees to be allowed entry into Sweden as part of migration rules and campus admission.

2. Clothing and shoes
Sweden can get quite cold, dressing for the weather is very important. All the necessary clothing can of course be bought in Sweden, but if you already own some good winter clothes, it can be wise to bring them.

Winter clothes:
– woolen socks and coats
– gloves
– good winter shoes
– skin tights

3. Tech stuff (check point 8 where to buy all this stuff and more)
– Mobile phone and a mobile number
You need to have a good smart phone with WiFi enabled and a mobile number that will work in Europe. Lycamobile offers very cheap UK and international calls to Asia, Africa, Europe and America. Make sure you have Google maps as this will make your movement easier from point a to b.

– Laptop or tablet
A good working laptop or tablet is good as this will make your work easier as internet connectivity is essential. If you cannot afford one don’t worry as the universities have well equipped computer labs and so you will have access to them.

– L.A.N cable or internet cable and a Router
Your will also need to buy a router and the router to be functional you will need a L.A.N cable to connect to it, if you are lucky some rooms have the L.A.N cable.

– Two pin plug for the European plug
make sure to have a plug that will fit well with the European sockets present in Sweden. This plugs can be bought as well here but if you have one come with it.

4. Personal/coordination number and Bank account
A personal or coordination number is a tax number which you will get from the skatteverket (check point 8) or Tax office. To get this you need to carry your passport, residence permit card and university letter of acceptance.
Opening a bank account is important or if you have one its okay as this bank account number will be important if you are planning to work part time to get paid through. To open a bank account, you need your passport, Swedish ID and university letter of acceptance. You need a bank account and a tax number if you are planning to work in Student nation.

5. A registered nation and nation card
Currently we have 13 student nations in Uppsala and among them my Nation is V-dala Nation. (http://www.v-dala.se/en/) The reasons may vary with people but to me it is the best since it is student friendly, holds awesome parties, dinners and has a lot of part time jobs for students. All you need is to visit the nation and get registered as a nations member and a wait for your nations ID card.
This card will allow you access to any nation, so you need to have a student’s nation card from any of the 13 nations to be able to visit any of the nations. The cost of registering for the nations card vary from one nation to the other as from 200 to 300 kroners.

6. Bicycle or bus card
A bicycle is the common means of transport in Uppsala as opposed to the bus. A bus card costs around 500 kroners per month while a second hand bicycle will cost less than 1000 kroners and it will serve you for up to 3 years or more with minimal service required. Go to point 8 for sights to follow to get second hand bicycles or a bus card. Always check by test driving your bike before buying. If you decide to buy a bike remember to have a good lock, back and front lights. Finally remember to read the rules regarding road usage by bikers as hefty fines can be charged upon you if caught using a faulty bike on the roads of up to 500 to 1000 kroners by police.

7. Housing facilities
Housing in Sweden for students is the hardest part if you don’t plan for it in advance. However Uppsala University offers housing to fee-paying Master’s, Bachelor’s students and most exchange students.
So you need to make proper arrangement for housing and if you plan to have your own arrangement on housing you can check housing links on Facebook (point 8).
The rent for housing from one estate location to the other with the lowest ranging as from (3000-5500 kroners). You can also look at the Facebook links in point 8 where people usually let out apartments which are fairly cheap.
Every housing facility has its own terms of contract, take time to read though as they contain details from the time required to pay your rent and issuing of vacation notice.

8. Website and Facebook links
Bus card:
uppsalastudentkar.se/buses

Flea markets for Second hand clothes and stuff:
redcross.se/uppsala
destinationuppsala.se/flea-markets

Electronic stuff:
mediamarkt.se
blocket.se

Buying a bike and other stuffs:
Facebook: Buy & Sell in Uppsala
Facebook: sell/buy/give away
Facebook: Buy and Sell items

Private Housing:
Uppsala University: Accomodation
Facebook: Uppsala Housing
Facebook: Uppsala Housing (2)

Details on Student nations:
Uppsala University: The student nations

Tax agency:
The Swedish tax agency

Part time jobs at Student Nations:
Gotlands Nation
Gästrike-Hälsinge nation
Göteborgs nation
Kalmar nation
Norrlands nation
Smålands nation
Stockholms nation
Södermanlands-Nerikes nation
Uplands nation
Värmlands nation
Västgöta nation
Västmanlands-Dala nation
Östgöta nation

9. Places to shop
There are a lot of places to shop in Sweden but if you are looking for second hand stuff that are really nice from clothes, shoes and electronics you can go to the open market in centrum and some of the red cross centers (check point 8). Remember to have with you some essentials like stationery and other bathroom essentials if you have room to carry them.

10. University login account
A university login account is the most important as this will ensure that you register for courses, see you schedule for studies and results regarding courses will be posted here. This is a must to ensure your smooth flow in University life. Get in touch with the administration of your campus to get your account login details or check the university website for more details.

“change is difficult but often essential to survival”

/Jackson

Uppsala hosts many events during the year but Valborg is extra special for all students. In this magnificent event, there are numerous activities to do and watch, being Forsränningen (River Rafting) one of the most expected ones either for does active in the raft run or for the spectator. Firstly, it is not really easy to get a raft once the selection is made by a lottery, but 120 lucky teams get to experience it each year. The building starts on Saturday, one week before Valborg (The River Festival), and it goes on until the following Friday, when you should have everything ready.

Building the raft
My friends and I (Frida (team captain), Feli, Fine and myself) amazingly got a raft and for all of us this is the first time doing it. We chose a Harry Potter theme and decided to make the Hogwarts Express (we named our raft “The Raft That Must Not Be Named” (I know, sounds great!)).

For those who are building rafts for the first time I guess it can be a surprise what you will find at the building area on the first day (you don’t have to go on the first day if you don’t want to as you can start any time during the week as long as you finish by Friday). Of course, everyone knows that the building happens outside at one of Uppsala University’s building grounds, which means that if it is raining, snowing, hailing, sun and blue sky or any other weather condition possible, you must find a way to do this (Wednesday 26/04 had all the conditions mentioned = nightmarish). Then, you arrive there on your first day and check out the equipment you have to work with: three different sizes and formats of Styrofoam, three 3,60 meters’ pieces of wood and a bottle of glue (that is not really effective when you want to glue Styrofoam on Styrofoam, seriously). Additionally, you may get saws, nails, hammers and other useful stuff that you can work with.

Now come the tricky part, how can you use your pieces to fit the design you want? Well, starting with drawing your ideas on the Styrofoam might be a promising idea, because them you can see what pieces will be best everything that you want to do and what material you will have left (at least that is what we did and it worked). After that, you can start cutting the Styrofoam and shaping the way you want. For us it started okay on Saturday, we managed to create a good frame for our base Styrofoam and the weather was nice even though it was cold. The next days were not that nice, it was raining and cold, seriously, how can you work with glue and paint when it is so wet? Not easy, sometimes you don’t, but we managed to cut and glue everything by Wednesday (the nightmarish day), but not with that glue I mentioned before because that doesn’t work well for that, so most teams buy foam glue that is really sticky and will get your pieces and details together (and it will leave you with really sticky hands, almost impossible to get off!!).

After getting your raft approved, you can start painting and that’s when you noticed that you have managed to put some nice stuff together. We did our painting on Thursday, which was the nicest day in the week as it was sunny and even though there was some hail, it wasn’t that much. Oh, and don’t forget to make some paddles (why sawing is so difficult?). WE DID IT!!

So, after a week of building on both bad and pleasant weather, we did manage to build our raft (I know, it looks amazing). Moreover, it is super cool to see all other teams working on their rafts creating amazing designs, and the friendly atmosphere with loads of people, tasty food, cotton candy, kanelbulle, music and more.

Today (Saturday) we will load the rafts to trucks for transportation to the starting line. Clearly, the anxiety for tomorrow just grows, the river water is around 4°C (super fun) and the chances to falling in are high. Can’t wait to get started.

/Mayra

Here’s what normal humans do: they can go to the grocery store, cook their own food, exercise, socialize, sleep, and not be constantly stressed while doing all those things.

I really hadn’t realized just how stressed I was at my home university until I came here and found myself thinking, “Wow, I have time to make myself a proper meal and eat it? NICE. What, you mean I could get 8 whole hours of sleep tonight? SCORE. Wait, a whole hour of free time that I could do whatever I want– go to the gym for an hour, sing in the shower for an hour, eat Swedish candy for an hour? ALRIGHT!”

… and then it hit me: this is what being a normal, healthy person is supposed to feel like.

While I think that any change of environment would have helped me come to this realization, I think a huge factor was the academic environment and attitude here. I’m currently taking two courses, one that’s a ‘100% study load’ and another that’s a ‘25% study load,’ and I usually have 10 hours of class each week, give or take. Most of those class hours are seminar-style rather than a lecture, and pretty much all of the work is done outside of class in the form of readings, to prepare for the seminars. By no means is the environment lazy or unmotivated, but it feels much more focused on student learning rather than testing and “efficiency.” Looking back at it now, I’m realizing the extent to which my home university is focused on this “efficiency”: fit as many students in a lecture hall as possible, cover as much material as possible in the class period, and transition to your next class within 10-15 minutes.

At Uppsala, my classes are usually 2 hours long in total, with a 15-minute break for every 45 minutes of class. That’s really not all that different, time-wise, from the “breaks” at my university, but the attitudes surrounding the breaks are entirely distinct. Here, the breaks are to clear your mind, stretch your legs, get some coffee, and ask your friends about their weekend– not so you can power-walk to your next class and quickly stuff your face with some yogurt because you’re always in a be-as-productive-as-humanly-possible-mindset.

The breaks did take some getting used to though. I actually found them really annoying at first. (Because come on, if we’re going to be here for another 45 minutes, we might as well just get on with it…) But then I started realizing that my brain gets a little pouty after 45 minutes and just refuses to continue absorbing information. So, much to my chagrin, I’ve started giving my brain the breaks it demands, and it turns out that doing nothing for a little while is really helpful for doing everything else later on. Seems pretty silly that I had to move to the other side of the globe to learn how to a) do nothing and b) be a normal human, but without a real change of pace, I’m not sure that I would have otherwise.

/Su

‘Special’ diets are usually a big issue in many places when, but not only, we want to eat out, right? For instance, in my home country (Brazil) there is a strong culture of a necessity to eat meat in preferably every meal. Therefore, it can be extremely annoying when you go to a restaurant there and you do not want to eat meat for whatever reason. Hard for a vegetarian, right? Now imagine a vegan, it is basically impossible to get anything to eat unless you go to specifically vegan restaurants, which are not common at all. From there things just get harder and harder, gluten free options for example are essentially never available, I personally have friends that are gluten intolerant and have to always bring their own food or just eat before leaving home. Moreover, that is not something that happen only in Brazil, many other Americans or European countries have the same problem. However, if you want to study in a place where you can find vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, lactose free, nut free or whatever your needs may be free basically wherever you go, Sweden is your place.

Well, starting from the basics…

Supermarket
Okay, I will admit, back home it was quite easy to go to the supermarket and get loads of fresh vegetables for decent prices, but you know even though vegetables and greens are quite important in a veggie diet, we do not eat only that. Here you can go to the supermarket closest to your house and you will find all sorts of vegetarian/vegan options that you can choose from, that is vegetable based milks, yogurts, cream, ice-cream, cheeses, burgers, sausages or basically anything you can think of, specially great assortment of mushrooms (summer will be amazing for that, you can go pick your own mushrooms in the forest). And that is not the only think, you can also find a whole session of gluten free products with nice goodies. Talking about goodies, Swedes have a tradition of eating candy only on Saturday (at least for the kids), which is the Lördagsgodis, and if you are vegan or vegetarian you can enjoy it as well as everyone else as here you can find all sorts of gelatine free gummy-like candies.

Fika
I know, talking about fika again? Yep, we all love fika! Everyone enjoys going to cafés or having fika with friends in any place. In all cafés, you will be able to find vegan and gluten free cakes, cookies, pastries, chocolate balls, and many other options.

Eating out
It is unlikely that you will go to a restaurant or any place to eat really, and they will not have at least one vegetarian/vegan options. Moreover, of course we also like to have that not exactly health fast food once in a while, right? Well, Sweden’s favourite hamburger restaurant chain provide you if different options of veggie burgers that you can choose from, just beware with the barbecue option if you are not a fan of spicy food (lots of jalapeño on that one). The student nations also always offer veggie option on their pub, restaurants, brunch and any other events.

Invited for dinner
Have you ever had that uncomfortable feeling when you are invited to a friend’s/relative’s house for lunch, dinner or whatever occasion, and you are not sure they know you don’t eat meat and you are not sure you should bring that up? Usually, you don’t have to worry about that here. Many Swedes are vegetarian or vegan and it is totally okay with other people if you do not eat meat, they will not tease you or make any jokes, and most importantly the person inviting you will be the first to ask whether you have any ‘special’ diet or not. You will most certainly feel welcome to eat in all places.

So, if that is one of your worries it is okay, you will not starve in Sweden and in most cases, all the new food you will be able to eat will be better than you could ever imagine. Swedes do not kid when the topic is food and they will lure you to many events with food (we all love that).

/Mayra

I love books. Ergo, I love libraries.

So naturally, I didn’t stand a chance the very first time I went to study in one of the campus libraries. My fingers were itching to grab at every title I saw and carefully turn the pages of the most delicate books I could find. You know those kids who stare in wide-eyed wonder when they go to Disney World for the first time? Yeah, that was me in the Carolina Rediviva Bibliotek. I think I distracted my neighbors by doing absolutely nothing except sit and stare at all the book shelves and architecture of the main hall for the first ten minutes I was there. It was just so beautiful.

What’s fun about the layout of some of the libraries is that the desks are often scattered throughout and in between the shelves – so if you’re a diehard book fan like I am, don’t be surprised if an interesting title on a nearby shelf draws your attention away from your work. Uppsala has a whole slew of libraries, filled with books and magazines and journals and even postcards (yes, you read that correctly). In total there are eleven, not including all the mini libraries each student nation (13) has at its home base. I have yet to visit every single one, but it’s on the bucket list to do before I leave Uppsala.

Now, in order to have access to all these beautiful books, one of the first things to do once you’ve settled in Uppsala is to is march yourself to the help desk at the main library and sign up for a free library card. If you can, memorize the number so that you can still request books on days you accidentally forget it at home (like I do, almost every single time I go to the library).

Next, familiarize yourself with the online library search engine (which you can find by Googling ‘Uppsala University Library’) because it will become your best friend when you have assignments due. Most of the time you can request a book you need online using your library card number and a librarian will have it ready for you in a few hours, but be prepared to spend some quality time searching the shelves if not – that’s where finding these books can be tricky. Be sure to look at the library floor plans to understand how they are organized by topic and by category letter, which you will find when you look up the book online (there are a number of computers in each library available to search for books or to use for university-related purposes). Each library is different so don’t be afraid to ask a librarian for help. They’re very nice and always willing to explain the system to you.

Another thing to be aware of is that there might not always be online copies of the literature you need for class. Most of my required readings for my courses at my home university were available online, so this was definitely a bit of a surprise. A lot of the history books I need here are only available in physical copy – of which there often only exists one or two in total. Thus, when you’re in a class with (at least) fifteen other students all vying to get their hands on the same mandatory book for the seminar that week, it can feel a bit like the Hunger Games as you race to get it done before someone snatches up the book for the whole week.

The best solution in instances like those is to overcome any shyness you may have, reach out to all your classmates, and create a Facebook group with them in it. This way, you can divvy up the readings amongst each other if you’d like, as well as coordinate sharing the books and resources. It’s a great way to stay on top of huge reading loads, and an easy way to make friends in class!

Credits: Cecilia Larsson Lantz/Imagebank.sweden.se

One of the coolest things about these libraries is that there are people of almost all ages using it. It’s not unusual to find yourself sitting across from a professor or an older Masters’ or PhD student at a desk as they do their research. I personally find this kind of neat, as you get to see your professors in the same boat as you are: spending lots of time at the library as they work to hit a deadline. It definitely makes them more relatable (well that, and the fact that you typically refer to them by their first name here in Sweden).

Lastly, for your own sanity, many of you may be relieved to know that most of the libraries are in buildings with cafeterias and/or bakeries that can provide you with coffee and delicious cinnamon buns to help motivate you on a work day. Furthermore, there are microwaves everywhere in case you prefer to bring a lunch from home, with many tables just outside of the library-zones for you to eat at.

One thing to know, however, that the university’s libraries actually have limited hours. I found this a bit unfortunate, as they typically close between 6-8pm and I have yet to discover one that remains open later. Nonetheless, there are a great number of books in English and lots of variety in the libraries, which are each dedicated to different areas of study (i.e. law, economics, humanities, etc), making them an excellent resource. The atmosphere is very pleasant, the architecture is lovely, and the rooms have plenty of windows to allow sunlight in so that you don’t end up with too much of a Vitamin D deficiency.

So whether you are someone who love books as much as I do or you just need somewhere to do research and stay on top of your workload, I highly recommend exploring the libraries. They’re a great asset to the University!

If you’re interested to know more about the libraries from a historical perspective, check it out!

/Gabrielle