Category: Okategoriserade (Page 2 of 19)

Hello! This is Yasmin again coming back with another blog. This time I will share my complete experience in detail about going to Kiruna up north of Sweden for 2 days and 1 night! Some of you may have already seen some of my stories on our @studyatuu Instagram, and I got a lot of exciting responses and questions in detail about the trip. Of course, being a student we always have a tight budget to make sure that every trip we made should be affordable enough and worth every penny! That’s why I decided to share it in detail here in the blog to inspire you to go at least once in your life up to the north of the Arctic Circle!

Why Kiruna?

Kiruna has always been long known as one of the northest most populated cities in Sweden with a population of around 20 thousand inhabitants due to the biggest modern Iron Mine Industry, which means that it has a big tourist attraction potential especially in winter notably the infamous original ICE HOTEL that they build every winter season from blocks of ice. Other than that, tourists usually come here to do many winter activities like wolf sledding, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, and spending the night in the wilderness while wishing to see the Aurora Borealis at a higher chance. It is also close to Abisko National Park and near the border to Narvik, Norway on one train line.

What Tour Package to Book?

Luckily, I got this recommendation from a friend who showed me a poster of a Kiruna Open Trip tour organizer. Actually, there are a couple of tour organizers who posted their posters on many Uppsala University campus information walls you might stumble upon when entering your faculty building. It’s a pretty popular tour organizer among Uppsala students as I see a lot of people from Uppsala during my Trip. Overall the one that I picked has everything included during the stay in Kiruna. From transport from/to Kiruna station or airport, the accommodation, full meals, winter boots with pants, and lots of winter activities to choose from. I booked a 2-day tour for 1600 SEK per person! (Student price, International student ID acceptable). If you manage to have a group of 5 people they will give you more discounts. The tour organizer basically has their own cabin property in the middle of the wilderness near the frozen river 10 km from the edge of Kiruna City Road only accessible by snowmobile. If you are not keen on a tour organizer, you can always check on TripAdvisor to customize your trip plan before reaching Kiruna.

Pro Tip to Plan your trip:

1. Do not come there unplanned. It is advisable that you do this activity around December – March when the snow piling up. The end of December to January is the coldest month when the rivers are completely frozen. December is way darker with so little sunlight.
2. However, if you really want to maximize your chance of seeing the Aurora at its peak (KP index above 4) you have to do Aurora forecast research a month in advance and pick a date based on the date. Hopefully, the tour organizer will have an opening slot around that time.
3. Check out transportation costs at 1-month max in advance the latest to get the optimal price. The earlier is better either Train or Plane. Plane is generally more expensive with tickets more than 1200 sek from Arlanda airport direct to Kiruna. Some airline sometimes has cheap options starting from 700 sek but the flight is not always available every day.
4. I recommend trying to experience via Train at least once for 14 hours worth of travel. The train is generally cheaper than a plane but if you are not fast enough, it may be sold out quickly and end up at the same price as plane tickets. Overnight trains are usually cheaper, don’t set high expectations for the landscape view since it’s mostly just forest and snow in Winter.
5. All factors considered, pick your dates and make sure that you have enough time to prepare and rest after the long trip. Since most students will do it in their winter break, expect things to sell out quickly around December/January.
6. Pack enough winter clothes preparations and a lot of snacks/ proper meals throughout your journey! Being in the cold for long naturally makes you hungrier fast. I recommend bringing 1 backpack for clothes, 1 sling bag for quick access stuff, and 1 additional folded bag for snacks/food.

Start the Train Journey

I went to Kiruna from 19-20 January. Since I used the overnight Train from Uppsala-Kiruna. I needed to start my travel on the 18th night from the Uppsala train station at 7 PM. It was from a Norwegian train company VY.se with their classic artic expedition locomotive train that has a sleeping compartment option. The train goes from Stockholm up to Narvik, Norway, and passes through some cities picking up passengers along the way. Here are some pictures of the train vibes. It has a restaurant and bistro that serves some delicacies such as reindeer stew! The train is super warm,it has a toilet for every carriage, WiFi, and a charging slot for every 2 seats~ I spent most of my time watching movies and sleeping.

The journey was planned to last 14-15 hours from Uppsala to Kiruna and It was supposed to be a direct train with no transfer. Unfortunately, due to the extreme weather up to -30 in the north, the locomotive train could not proceed past Umeå-Boden, therefore we needed to transfer to another light-speed train Norrtåg at around 6 AM at Boden. The good thing is, that everything was announced quickly hours before midnight via email and SMS. We also get ticket replacement bookings for the second train. Overall, the train journey was pleasant and filled with a lot of students from everywhere! Unfortunately, there were not many views to see during the night other than the city train stations, nor during the early morning with the constant snowy forest. I safely reach Kiruna at 10 AM.

Arrived, Getting Picked, to the City Edge!

When we arrived at the train station, I was greeted by our tour organizer, and proceeded to put our bags in the car. There I also met another tour participant who went on the same train as us and took the same car. Along the way, our tour guide explained a lot about Kiruna City in general and how it was a super beautiful sunny winter day after a month of also no sunlight in Kiruna. Amazing insights: Kiruna city is collapsing every time due to iron mining activity. A lot of structures in the now-old city began to crack down and left behind. The government decided to move the city alongside its residences into the new city center which officially opened in 2022. The train station was also a temporary one mainly to transport iron goods. Other than the Mining Industry, the people in Kiruna are heavily involved in the city tourism itself.

Once we arrived at the city edge where the city road basically ends. We saw four snowmobiles with carriages and a storage shaft. We were given the option to change our shoes into a way proper winter boots leaving our current boots inside the storage. They also provide winter pants for better isolation if you happen to not wear proper winter pants. It was available for many ranges of shoe sizes and it was super helpful. I took the winter boots only since I already wore my Ski pants.

Snowmobiling Our Way!

After changing, we put our backpacks in one of the snowmobile carriages which is driven by our tour guide. Anyone who knows how to drive and has a driving license may be asked to help drive the other three snowmobiles to our cabin location which is around 10 KM. Meanwhile, the rest of the people will be on the carriage. It was super lovely with the sunlight shining through the way. We went to the forest, frozen swamps, and frozen rivers. We also saw some Moose footprints and wild wolves! Being outside in -28 with the wind breezing as we snowmobile definitely froze our senses, especially the feet! That is why, we occasionally made some stops along the way to heat up ourselves, moving our toes, and taking turns driving.

Arrived at the Cabin!

Once we arrived at 12 PM, we put our stuff in our cabin which is a traditional Sami hut with bunk beds and a seating area that is heated with a traditional wood-burning oven. Not long after that, we were asked to go to the main dining cabin for Moose Stew as lunch (they also provide a vegetarian option). There are multiple cabins with different purposes and also a dedicated cabin for compost toilet 🙂 A wild experience. (Pro tip: always bring tissue / wet tissue/hand sanitizer, will be handy!)

Basic Survival Lessons!

We were taught how to sew, axe, and chop the wood into smaller pieces and did some tag team to sew the big logs to provide our own cabin heat and also for the sauna! We were also taught on how to operate the oven and the sauna with safety precautions. After that, we went to the frozen riverside to also learn how to actually earn water by digging up the frozen lake and gathering the cold water with jugs that we transported to the cabin area again. It is said to be one of the cleanliest rivers on earth since no civilization along the river could tarnish it other than us. You could actually see the very clear river base since it wasn’t deep at all. Everyone got a chance to try to dip their hand in the frozen river in the water gathering sessions. It made my hand and finger numb from the cold for good minutes. We tried to finish all the preparations before running out of sunlight at around 3 PM. After that, we were asked to also book our sauna time (1 hour each per travel group) starting from 6 PM until 11 PM. There were 2 sauna pods, one by the river and one by the forest. I booked my Sauna time at 6 PM before our BBQ dinner at 7 PM. It was actually hard to heat up the Sauna to the maximum heat since we needed to keep the wood burning in the sauna oven and gain enough water vapors.

Dinner and Catching Aurora!

We were looking forward to our BBQ dinner in a special hut. It was sausages, corn, eggplant, rice, beans, marshmallow, and accompanied with marshmallow. Unfortunately, everything was frozen!!! It was still -16 inside the cabin and it was kinda unpleasant that all the food became a bit hard, the water and juices became fully frozen, and the sauces in the containers were all frozen. We decided to bring some leftovers to our sleeping cabin and heat up since the cold was too much to handle. After that, it was pretty much free time for everyone while taking turns getting on the sauna. Some brave souls even did an ice bath before the sauna. We spend the rest of the night waiting for the Aurora by sitting on the riverside. It was -30 constantly and we only lasted for 30 minutes outside, so we went back and forth to check out. All the people and the tour crew communicate via Whatsapp group so it’s super convenient to know schedules and notifications if someone is seeing the Aurora alongside the pictures. We waited until 11 PM according to the forecast. Unfortunately, Mother Nature was not on our side that night, it was hard to see it with naked eye. The Aurora was not that strong and you need a long exposure camera to really catch some greens out of it.

Rest and Start Early!

The cabin was still cold, but it was manageable with the duvet and layered clothes. (A sleeping bag is actually quiet handy if you cannot resist the cold). Since we were only there for one night, we tried to squeeze in as many activities as possible from early morning. The cabin provided us with a breakfast box containing bread, ham, butter, and some fruits for us to adjust ourselves. We walked through the riverside during sunrise and discovered that the river was slowly unfrozen in some parts, other people did Cross-country skiing, Air shooting, Sledding, and Ice Fishing. We had a good time taking pictures of the beautiful scenery around the cabin and wore special shoes to walk through frozen rivers. We found many moose trails but didn’t encounter one.

Going back to the city, Cancelled Train!

Around 2 PM we rode the snowmobile back to the city again. I tried the passenger seat this time. It was colder overall since we were heading back with the sun starting to set down. When we arrived back at the storage shaft, everyone scrambled inside the small shaft like sardines due to extreme freezing haha..We waited for our transport while changing the winter boots into our own shoes and returning them. Then we were picked up by car to the city train station not long after. Our Train back was supposed to be at 6 PM but we were told in the morning that it was canceled due to the extreme weather down to -30 and would be changed by bus replacement from Kiruna-Uppsala which was crazy to think about. 

Surprisingly when we arrived by the train station, at 4 PM we got an announcement that the whole bus replacement was canceled due to not sufficient bus to carry all passengers from Kiruna that day. Our whole train transport was rescheduled to the next day morning. Fortunately not with busses. As compensation, we got a one-night hotel+breakfast buffet and 200kr dinner compensation from the company and everything was set down to the ticket replacement. I could not complain about the compensation given and was too tired to change the mode of transport either way, so most of the people traveling back that day also had the same experience as mine. I had to look for taxi from the train station to the hotel since it was quite far. Managed to share it with fellow tourists together. Once arrived, I took a good rest in the hotel and explored the new Kiruna city center a bit to shop for some souvenirs and snacks for the trip home tomorrow.

Finally Heading Back!

As another compensation, the train operator provided us with Bus transportation from the hotel to the train station around 9.45 to catch the train at 10.40. It was like a field trip with a bunch of tourists you did not know before so it was definitely a unique experience since we all suffered together from the cancellations together haha.. Unfortunately with the train going back to Uppsala, we needed to change 3 times from Kiruna – Umeå (6 hours) – Sundsvall (4 hours) – Uppsala (3 hours). It was a bit challenging to sleep with the constant changes and we were running out of proper meals and snacks. But after a long fiasco, I finally reached Uppsala around 12 AM! Thankfully the city bus was still available to my housing

I definitely recommend this trip once in your lifetime to really submerge yourself in the winter wilderness! If you have extra time, you should also discover Abisko National Park one station from Kiruna, and definitely try another Aurora hunting together with friends will make it even more memorable.

Clothing Tips:

• 3 layers of clothes plus a hooded winter puff/ windbreaker jacket is basically enough. (Longjohn, Heattech Wool shirt, Sweater) Focus on the material.
• 3 layers of socks minimum and bring some extra in case your feet sweat a lot and frozen inside the winter boots
• Baklava underneath the Scarf is highly recommended to prevent frozen lips
• 2 Pair of gloves, (Smartphone touchable gloves, covered with thick mitten glove)
• Beanie hat and goggles since you will be outside for a long time

Hello! To go along with my Instagram post I am going to tell you a bit about my experience with finding private housing in Uppsala using Uppsala Bostadsförmedling

note: this is just my experience using it and perhaps it is different than yours

What is Uppsala bostadsförmedling?
It is essentially a nation wide housing queue that attempts to make housing an easy and accessible process for everyone living in Uppsala municipality. 

Once you join the housing queue (which costs 305sek per year) you are able to put your name on waiting lists for different housing options. The longer you are in the queues, the more points you will acquire and therefore you will be in higher priority for housing. 

How to join?
It’s very easy. You just need to sign up on the website using your email address (you can also use your person number if you have one- or add it to your profile once you are here and have one)

You can pay using any type of bank account even if it’s international

NOTE: Make sure to sign up as a student! This gives you access to student only housing and also means that if you sign a contract your housing queue position is unaffected

What next?
You can search for different housing options within Uppsala, such as the amount of rooms, size in m2, price of rent. From then you can ‘express interest’ and join the specific waitlist for that housing option. 

Often there are many people joining the wait lists and some people maybe have been in the queue a lot longer than you but don’t give up hope! Just keep applying to everything you can and eventually you will get lucky. 

My tip would be to apply for as many places as you can, even if it isn’t your dream home. Once you have a place you can continue to apply to more places and move once you get here but it’s better to have somewhere to live than no where to live

Types of contracts:

1: Permanent Contracts 

2: Short term contracts

A permanent contract essentially means that the house is your house, and will be until you decide to move out. In most cases you will not be asked to leave by the rental agency at any point and you can do what you want with the house. If you want to cancel your contract/move out you need to give three months notice. 

A short term contract is a month to month contract where the rental agency is allowed to cancel the contract with only one months notice. This is normally due to planned renovations in the area. This contract also means that you, as the renter, only have to give one months notice if you want to move out. 

My personal experience:
I joined the housing queue in November, before I even knew whether I would be accepted into Uppsala just so I could accumulate as many queue points as possible. I also moved to Uppsala with my best friend and we both joined the queue at the same time. 

As soon as I got my acceptance from Uppsala we started seriously looking at the houses and thought about when we wanted to move (as I am from the UK I needed to get a visa, and the visa states the earliest I was allowed to move to Sweden was the 1st of August). 

It was around about the end of April that I started applying for houses with a move in date in july/august. 

It wasn’t until the first week of June that we secured the number one spot on a waitlist for an apartment. This apartment required an in person viewing but obviously as I was not yet in Sweden, I contacted StudentBoet to ask them if they could attend on my behalf. They agreed and went to the viewing and filmed the apartment for me free of charge. (Note; not all houses require in person viewings, only a few). 

We then confirmed that we wanted the house via Uppsala Bostadsförmedling and we were then put in touch with Rikshem (a rental agency) who we eventually signed our contract with. This apartment was a short term contract. 

We had to sign our contract in person but luckily we were visiting Sweden at the end of June and were able to take the short train ride to Uppsala to sign the contract. (Note: Many places will allow you to digitally sign your contract)

Our contract started on the 1st of July, so we did have to pay a month of rent before we officially moved to Uppsala on August 1st. We did this because  we didn’t want to wait too long and not have anywhere to live so decided it was for the best.

That is essentially my housing story but it differs for each person so do as much research as you can!

I hope this was somewhat helpful. If you have any questions you can ask me, but also Google was my best friend and I found out all the information I needed by googling or contacting the companies directly. There are a lot of resources online which are helpful. I recommend using youtube, reddit and even tiktok to find tips and tricks that perhaps official sources don’t make clear!

For a few years now, going to museums has been one of my favourite things to do. Whenever I’m travelling, I feel it’s the best way to get to know the city or country I’m visiting. This goes for both art and history museums. It’s a great thing to do whenever you are tired of walking outside, if the weather is not that good, or if you want to spend some time enjoying your own company or having interesting conversations with others. Whenever I’m back home, I like going to museums because they feel like a little vacation to me. It’s as if day-to-day life was halted for a few hours when I can treat myself to a little break. After living here for a semester, Uppsala already feels like home to me, which means it’s time to think about where to go for a little in-city vacation.

Sweden has many incredible museums, most of them in Stockholm. Over the last semester, I’ve visited the National Museum (Nationalmuseet) and the Vasa Museum (Vasamuseet), which is probably one of the most impressive historical museums I’ve ever visited. However, visiting museums in Stockholm involves two extra costs: transportation and TICKETS. Yes, all the museums I’ve visited in Stockholm had quite pricy entrance tickets, even for youth and students :’(

But if you are a museum enthusiast like me living in Uppsala or thinking about moving here, don’t get your hopes down just yet! Over the last months, I’ve discovered some fascinating museums in Uppsala. In this text, I want to talk a bit more about two of them, both of which are free: the Bror Hjorths Hus and the Uppsala Konstmuseum. They are both free, close to the city centre and have really interesting art from Sweden and other neighbouring countries.

1. BROR HJORTHS HUS

Where? Norbyvägen 26, Uppsala
When? Thursday-Sunday from 12h to 16h
How much? FREE ENTRANCE

Bror Hjorth was a famous Swedish artist known mostly for his sculptures but also for producing many paintings. Although he was born in the Northern part of the Upland region, Bror Hjorth settled in Uppsala, where he built his atelier and lived the last years of his life. His work can be found all around Sweden, in some of its most important museums, but also in public monuments, buildings, and churches, among other sites. After his death in 1968, his house and atelier were converted into a museum, opened in 1978, which was later expanded to include another area for temporary exhibits.

Out of the two museums I’m talking about in this post, this was for sure my favourite! Bror Hjorth has a very unique style, mixing techniques, materials, colours or the lack thereof. I specifically liked the human figure sculptures and the large colourful panels he made for various churches around Sweden. Although I’m not the biggest fan of religious art, I think his simple but distinctive representations of people, using very vibrant colours, made for a much-needed relief in the middle of the cold grey and white Swedish winter.

In addition to getting to see Bror Hjorth’s own work and visit his house and atelier, the museum also hosts temporary exhibitions. When I went there, it was the opening of a photography exhibit. It showed very Swedish themes set in very different parts of the country and under drastically different weather conditions. It was interesting to see the difference in aesthetics between a cold winter night up North in Kiruna and a hot summer day in the suburbs of Stockholm. The additional exhibition was also free and I’d say it’s always a good idea to keep an eye out for when they are opening a new exhibit. You might be lucky enough to get some cookies, candy, and drinks for free 😉

Uppsala Konstmuseum

Where? Drottning Christinas väg 1E, Uppsala (inside the Castle)
When? Tue-Wed 11-17h; Thu 11-20h; Fri-Sun 11-17h
How much? FREE ENTRANCE

The second museum I visited in Uppsala was the Uppsala Konstmuseum (Uppsala Art Museum). It is located in a very privileged position: inside Uppsala Slottet (the Castle), one of the landmarks of the city. Sitting atop the highest hill in the city, going to this museum also ensures you’ll get some amazing views of the city centre and the countryside surrounding it. Visiting the Castle itself and enjoying the views would already be enough to convince anyone to take the walk there, but the fact that it also hosts the Art Museum makes it an even better plan for in-city tourism.

The museum is located in one of the corners of the Castle and beside the exhibits, it also has a Bar and Café, as well as a museum shop. I got to see pieces of the museum’s permanent collection, including mostly Swedish and Finnish artists. All pieces were curious in their own way, whether beautiful, intriguing, or disturbing, all of them got you thinking about something, which is after all the purpose of art. Unfortunately, when I visited it in January, one of the floors was closed, so I didn’t get to visit all of the permanent exhibits. However, I also heard that the curators are constantly rotating the pieces shown, so each visit is likely to be a unique experience.

The museum seems to be mostly focused on modern and contemporary art, with the temporary exhibits being located on the top floor. When I was there, there was one exhibit by Swedish painter Ingvil Stille which was super interesting. She combines very organic shapes relating to sunlight and shadows with deeply moving portraits, mostly of her family members. According to the program, she is not a lesser-known artist and that is the reason why she was recognized by the Upland’s Art Association as the Artist of the Year in 2023, leading to her work being presented in the Konstmuseum. I think it was a very well-deserved award, as I was very touched by her work and I was glad to see it in such a beautiful museum.

Finally, the remainder of the last floor included other modern and contemporary art pieces. It mixed videos, interactive pieces, as well as paintings in a very captivating way. Furthermore, it was from this floor that you have the best view of the areas around the Castle (see the picture of the Cathedral earlier ^^). Some pieces on this floor were more on the… provocative side of contemporary art, so to speak. Some of them included nudity and other themes which may be sensitive or triggering to some people. Everything is indicated before you enter specific rooms, but I’d advise people who are commonly affected by these themes to be aware of that.

To conclude, I highly recommend visiting both museums! They are unique and special in their own ways and can be a great program for a weekend day, either on your own or with company. Moreover, it’s always good to recognize and support free museums. Visiting them and showing that the community is interested in and engaged with these spaces helps politicians see that free cultural activities are essential for its citizens. As a final message: Support your local museums, support your local artists!

Fika, a term deeply embedded in Swedish culture, goes beyond being just a coffee break; fika gives this rather reserved culture a chance to open up with each other and talk. Originating as a time for relaxation with coffee and snacks, Fika has evolved into a meaningful tradition fostering connections in both academic and professional settings.

The important part isn’t the coffee or even the sweet treat, it’s the valuable time spent connecting with others.

To Swedes, fika is something of a ritual. It does typically involve coffee and a sweet pastry, but just as important is the decision to take a deliberate break from your day with others. It’s a chance to relax and enjoy social connection with family, friends, or colleagues. Fika provides a reliable avenue for creating connections, whether it’s getting to know a new acquaintance, bonding with friends, or networking with colleagues. The Fika break becomes an ideal moment to initiate conversations and build relationships, creating a conducive environment for meaningful connections.

During lectures is very common my friends and I take a break and go for some fika. Both students and teachers embrace Fika breaks between lectures, offering a chance to stretch one’s legs, grab a cup of coffee, and engage in casual interactions. Initially perceived as a potential distraction, Fika breaks have been a good way for refreshing the mind, connecting with peers, and even seeking clarification on academic matters.

What constitutes Fika? Typically, it involves coffee and some type of pastry. However, Fika is an inclusive practice; whether you opt for tea, hot chocolate, or even a glass of water, the emphasis lies in coming together. Regardless of your choice—pastries, fruits, nuts, or nothing at all—the essence of Fika is about connecting in a way that suits you, breaking barriers and making connections while embracing diverse preferences.

Now, let me share some tips and classic fika pastries for you to try:

Princess cake (prinsesstårta):
This globe-shaped layer cake is a well-balanced affair, consisting of a light-as-air sponge cake base topped with vanilla pastry cream and lashings of fluffy whipped cream. This deliciousness is enrobed in green marzipan, often with a pink marzipan rose as the crowning glory.

Kladdkaka (Sticky chocolate cake):
Kladdkaka, which translates to “sticky cake”, is a delicious chocolate cake with a rich flavor balanced perfectly with whipped cream and/or fresh berries.

Semla:
My favorite of the season! A small, wheat flour bun, flavored with cardamom and filled with almond paste and whipped cream, an icon in Sweden.

Kanelbulle (cinnamon bun):
Last but not least, the cinnamon bun (‘kanelbulle’) has a definite place in the fika hall of fame. You won’t have to look hard for it in Sweden, this classic is served up in most cafés and bakeries.

As you embark on your Swedish academic journey, embrace Fika as more than just a break; consider it a gateway to meaningful connections. From networking opportunities to fostering friendships, Fika acts as a bridge bringing people together. So, whether you’re sipping coffee, tea, or enjoying a snack of your choice, remember that Fika is your invitation to connect, share, and create lasting memories.

The next time someone says, “Let’s go for a Fika,” you’ll know exactly what to do…

The way you feel when you’re packing your bags the week before leaving for a whole new country is so overwhelming. You’re excited yet so nervous, jumping between telling your mother not to cry when she misses you to being on the verge of tears yourself because you’re going away for such a long time.

In my case, I was leaving for two whole years. It sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?

But here I am now, and I’ve only just managed to blink twice and somehow most of my time in Uppsala is over. I have barely five months left before I graduate (if my thesis gets done on time, and I’m hopeful that it will be), and judging by how the past year and a half have gone by, five months is nothing.

I think about it really often nowadays – the fact that I am leaving. I think about it as I wake up in my room in Flogsta, as I cook in the kitchen I’ve shared with so many other students over the past semesters, as I travel in buses and look out the window at a landscape I have now come to think of as a normal part of my life, as I marvel at the way the snow sparkles under street lights at night. I think about leaving often because while it is so sad, I want to make the most of every living, breathing moment I get here because coming to Uppsala and being a student here was by far one of the most novel, transformative, and beautiful experiences of my whole life, so far.

You expect so much when you know you’re going to a new country to study, but the final experience is always so much more than what you could have imagined, and it is also so much more than the sum of its parts. For me, Uppsala was the first place where I felt truly independent. It was the closest I got to “running my own house” what with doing all my own chores, keeping a budget, buying all my own groceries, decorating my space the way I wanted to, and pretty much managing every aspect of my life. Coming from India, where our lives are way more family-centric, all of this was so new to me, and even though it didn’t take long to get used to it, I can feel it in my bones that it is going to be difficult to go back and undo this independence as I move back home after I graduate.

But, despite knowing that it will be difficult, I am so glad and grateful that Uppsala taught me to be independent because my entire perspective on new experiences has changed. I no longer feel even half the fear and anxiety I would feel because if I could radically change what my life looked like in a country with no support at the start, and be responsible for every move I made, I can do a lot more than I think, and I am way more capable that I believe.

I remember having a heartfelt conversation with a friend I made in my first year here, as she neared the end of her one-year exchange. She was from Japan, and Sweden gave her just as much of a culture shock as it gave me. We sat in the warmth of the late-setting sun, at the wobbly kitchen table of our Flogsta corridor. Her knees tucked under her chin, she spoke about how difficult it would be to go back and re-adjust to a place where she didn’t feel as much freedom. While I empathized with her, I didn’t feel the extent of her words, perhaps because I still had a year left to contend with the same idea. But now, the depth of her words is certainly felt in my body.

But just as I am grateful, so was she. Uppsala gave us freedom, responsibility, accessibility, courage, safety, and nothing can undermine the growth and learning we have encountered and embodied here. 

Even the way I approach relationships has changed. Being able to meet and get close to people from so many different countries has been such a rewarding experience. I think an experience like this does something to you; not only are you more open to people with vastly different histories, you are also left more capable of using this openness to create something really lovely. A lot of people I made friends with did not have English as their first language, and the way we built our ways of understanding each other and making space for each other is nothing short of beautiful. Our languages evolved together in our little circles, as inside jokes and shared memories transcended culture to create our own. Things like being patient, loving, sharing, and caring take precedence over first-level understanding of someone else’s tongue.

As a student of Philosophy (Aesthetics), I’ve seen how my personal research interests have evolved so much here, with my assignments and ideas for future research circling around love and empathy in politically helpful ways. I can clearly see how the relationships I’ve garnered in my time in Uppsala have inspired a lot of that, with my personal life and my academic life running parallel to one another in a way that feels so fulfilling.

All of this to say that I owe the person I am today to the time I was gifted in Uppsala. While I feel relieved that I still have one last semester here, I know it will go by so fast, and I intend the make the absolute most of it. But I am sure that if the past year and a half could change me so hugely, my last five months have a lot in store too and despite knowing I will miss this experience terribly; I can’t wait to see what I learn!

Hello! This is Yasmin from Indonesia. I am a Master of Entrepreneurship (1 year program) student at Uppsala University. This time I would like to share some interesting valuable insights about Uppsala’s open innovation ecosystem that supports future entrepreneurs or may inspire your future career after graduation or while your study! This information is gathered through my course experience and some personal research.

During my studies I learn so much about entrepreneurship from theory down to practical things. Things that you may expected from an Entrepreneurship program such as Identifying opportunities, create business plan, pitching ideas, etc. But the reality is, there’s so much more than what is teached in the class and it’s only possible by doing and put things into practice. Meaning, actually try to run a real business.

However, I personally not someone who aspire to become an entrepreneur (yet). But I always wanted to help more startups or any kind of corporation to succeed in the future by keep being innovative and have access to open innovation. The truth is, a business cannot run properly only by business/economy major related people. At some point, it needs diversification from other various disciplines to make it possible. Unfortunately, not everyone has an access to learn how to build a business to get confident in starting something. 

Which is why I feel like the least I can do is to share this knowledge about Uppsala entrepreneurial scene in order to bring more awareness to more variety of people who may get inspired to build or contribute to something in the future.

As we all know Sweden has a long history of innovation which is also supported by the government and the academic scene. One of them is via start-up investment and support programs in many ways. You may have heard about start-up companies and some inspiring stories of them from ground zero to success, having great vision and solving problems to make the world a better place with their innovation and solutions. You may think that it’s only for ‘business/ entrepreneur major oriented people’. Well, the truth is, everyone needs everyone from various backgrounds to chip in and contribute to make things work. It’s only right to at least be aware of how open innovation works (in this case in Uppsala), see where you may be able to contribute or support, and share with more people who may get inspired to step further in building their start-up.

A start-up does not always have to come up with a revolutionary innovation. Anything that solves a problem or creates a possible demand in the future is acceptable. Moreover, Uppsala’s start-up support ecosystem is well-integrated. They exist to help more businesses to grow and succeed. Some of them even specialize in sustainability matters. Here are some institutions in Uppsala that will accompany a start-up from ideation down to growth, funding stages, and so on. Some of them are fully run by universities or the government, some are also partially run and funded by the private sector and venture capital as illustrated in this picture:

Source: Presentation from ALMI

• UU Innovation https://www.uuinnovation.uu.se/

The closest institution you can access anytime as Uppsala student for free is UU Innovation. They are fully provided by the University to support any student in exploring possibilities of building their own business or innovation. They provide business coaching and networks for future early funding and free grants to test out ideas. If your idea of a product requires some specific machinery, tools, or further research to build your prototype, it’s the best place to ask for further access and recommendations. It could also help you to reach out some of Uppsala researchers who may be interested in your business ideas. They have gathering events like networking parties and business idea workshops to inspire more students in their entrepreneurial journey!

• Drivhuset https://uppsala.drivhuset.se/

Same purpose as UU Innovation focusing on early-stage startup from Ideation phase down to early pre seed-funding. You can book a business coaching or consultation for free as a student. They also have their own affordable open-office space near the central station. Drivhuset operates in a wider region of Uppsala meaning that you may encounter a broader network of people and resources outside Uppsala University and not just students. It’s a great way to understand how Uppsala and Sweden’s open innovation works for a beginner and get inspired to start your own business.

What makes them unique is, that they have a program called “Team-Up” for start-ups to showcase their business to the people and do some kind of talent matchmaking. It’s like a job fair but for start-ups! If you already have a business and looking for a talent, you can also reach them. Moreover, they have a regular monthly event called “Breakfast Club” where everyone can mingle, network, and listen to one inspiring entrepreneur sharing their stories.

• ALMI https://www.almi.se/

Once you are looking to scale your business further, ALMI is one place to go. It is 100 percent owned by the Swedish state. They provide business development consultation, financing, and access to bigger funding of venture capital and a broader network across Sweden and the Nordics. This applies to businesses in the start-up phase as well as established companies with high growth potential and a scalable business concept that seeks improvement.

My Experience on Team Up Event by Drivhuset, November 2023

I attended Drivhuset Team-Up 2023 event last November and there were a lot of start-ups from digital services, medical tech, blockchain, and even non-digital startups that work on sustainable products and services. It’s a good way to understand more about the company and look for any job opportunities in an early start-up if that interests you.

Some insights that I got from the event: Some start-ups do not openly post their opening in popular job posting (such as Linked In, Glassdoor, The Hub, etc). The reason being is that many of them are looking for talent based in Uppsala and close to the network itself as most of them are founded in Uppsala and prefer hybrid/ offline work arrangements. Since many of them are early-stage startups that recently got funded and are ready to scale their business further, they are still around less than 10 employees on average. I could ask questions and chat directly with the start-up founders, exchange ideas and contact in this event which is a super valuable experience. 

The most popular job openings are software engineers as many of the start-ups are still in the product enhancement phase on their platform or mobile application. Another popular opening is digital marketing and business development whether it’s for internship, part-time, or even full-time. But don’t be bummed if you don’t find a suitable role, sometimes you can also propose a new role suitable for your preferred job role for internship perhaps as everything is usually in an open discussion manner. Some interesting start-ups are also looking for Master thesis student to help their business research in exchange for master’s thesis topics and credit. These types of openings are usually for high-innovation tech startups that looking for more researchers in various fields of expertise like medicine, mechanical engineering, machine learning, and more! What is more astonishing is that some start-ups even looking for a potential C-level manager and co-founder in exchange for future shares and stock options for those who are interested.

Summary:

The opportunities are endless needless to say. I was just as surprised that Uppsala has this kind of supportive ecosystem which we can benefit as students by being involved and getting to know more about it in a very accessible way. You don’t necessarily have the ambition to be a start-up founder yourself to get involved. But I think it’s the best way to understand how open innovation works in Uppsala and Sweden in general and see if you can contribute and learn more from them outside your class while you study in Uppsala.

Here are things to be remembered:

I hope this blog inspires you to explore more about the entrepreneurial scene in Uppsala and Sweden in general! Cheers

//Yasmin

Before arriving in Sweden, I was aware of the differences in the educational and grading systems. During the introductory seminars, current international students shared their journeys of adapting to the Swedish system. I was surprised by the number of international students who faced challenges and even failed in their initial periods. Frankly, I was nervous that I might encounter a similar situation.

Grading scale at Uppsala University

In Mexico, many of us grow up with this fear of failure, leading young students to mainly focus on memorization rather than truly understanding concepts. Progressing from one grade to another often involves memorizing concepts that tend to fade over time. Let me be clear—I am grateful for the education I received. Mexico has great universities and amazing teachers who inspired me with their passion and love for science. However, my experiences in Sweden have unveiled a contrasting approach: here, the emphasis is on genuine learning, placing the focus on individuals to take responsibility for their learning journey rather than solely on the grade received in an exam. Each faculty at Uppsala University decides on their own grading scale. My programme in Uppsala has the grading system is G 3 (passed), 4, 5, or U (fail). Most of the time, achieving a 3 requires getting 50% or more of the points correct in the exam. For a 4, it’s between 70-85, and for a 5, it’s 86-100. Receiving a ‘U’ allows a chance for a retake without the need to retake the entire course or pay extra fees. The concept of retakes might be negatively viewed in Mexico, often accompanied by additional fees and limitations on achieving a grade higher than 70, which is the passing grade in Mexico.

My first exams

My first exams were last October, and I have now received all the grades from them. But before I share how it went, let me describe how the exams were. I took three courses during my initial period as a new Uppsala master student. They were demanding, and I soon realized the necessity of investing considerable time in studying for them. I started studying a month in advance. While exams in Mexico are usually one or two hours long, realizing that exams here spanned five hours left me in a panic. The exam halls are approximately 30 minutes away from the city center by bus, so I had to wake up very early and catch the bus to get there. The exam halls are spacious rooms filled with computers, creating an intimidating atmosphere, and you often take the exam alongside students from different programs. There’s a bathroom available, and you can access it as many times as needed. Additionally, you’re allowed to bring your own food, water, coffee, or any other necessary items. Your phone and belongings remain outside in lockers. Initially, I doubted my ability to remain focused and seated for the full five hours, but the state of stress and adrenaline made time fly by.

Is passing enough?

I passed all my exams, but upon receiving my grades, I experienced mixed feelings. Back home, achieving a good grade is the result of one’s effort, but here, despite pushing myself hard, I barely passed or managed to get a 4 (75-85). It felt like settling for just passing. When I shared my feelings with my Swedish classmates, they all tried to explain that in Sweden, passing is more than sufficient. It took the reassurance of the tenth person to finally calm me down. I needed that reminder of how challenging it is to be an international student—learning in a different language, in a different system, far from home, and in my case, studying completely new topics from what I pursued during my bachelor’s degree. I needed to remind myself to be kind to myself and to prioritize genuine understanding and finding my path for future work.

Enjoy learning!

Consequently, I’ve decided to stop comparing myself with others, to adjust my goals, and focus on a different type of learning—a journey where I embrace the process and enjoy learning, rather than pressuring myself for an elusive perfect score (a ‘5’). I’m now concentrating on relishing the experience of pursuing my master’s at a remarkable university in the beautiful city of Uppsala.

My advice for you is to remember that you’re doing fine. Focus on your goals, take deep breaths, and appreciate the process while prioritizing your mental health. A grade doesn’t define your worth or capability.

Around the end of November, winter weather truly starts to kick in around Uppsala. The nights are long, the days are short, it gets colder, more icy, and more snowy. Sounds like a perfect recipe for the “winter blues” to hit you, right? Not on Sweden’s watch!

As you probably know, the Swedes really enjoy exercising. The gyms are always full, and there are always people running, cycling or Nordic walking, which is something I was introduced to when I moved here. The Swedes are also known for their love of being outdoors: hiking, camping, cross-country skiing, they do it all with a little help from Allemansrätten. But most of these activities require some sort of specific equipment which can be very pricey sometimes. So what do you do if you just moved here, if you didn’t bring your gear or actually never owned it, and if you don’t feel like spending the money to try something out just once? That’s where my favourite Swedish institution so far comes in: Fritidsbanken. Literally “Free Time/Leisure Bank”

Fritidsbanken is a project that started in 2013 in Värmland (the region in Western Sweden, not the Student Nation). Its purpose is to serve as a library for sports and outdoor equipment. You just go there, find whatever gear you are looking for, give them your name and a (Swedish) phone number, and you get to take anything home on a 14-day loan. The best part? It is all completely free! Fritidsbanken is financed and supported by the Swedish Sports Confederation and other Swedish institutions. They also rely on equipment donations, which help them make sure that access to all their goods is free for all.

My friends and I went there searching for ice skates, but I was legitimately impressed with the amount of things they had when I walked in there. From skis to hiking backpacks, badminton rackets to footballs, ski boots, helmets, goggles, they have a variety of sizes and styles. I wear size 44 shoes, which I think is the most common shoe size for men here in Sweden, and they still had at least 6 pairs of skates I could choose from.

After trying out the skates and finding a pair that fit me, I just had to check out. But before that, I had an internal debate about whether I should take anything else. Maybe a helmet, since I had only skated 4 times before in my life and never really learned how to. Maybe some Ice Hockey or Bandy equipment in case I felt like trying out some typically Swedish winter sports. I ended up settling on taking only the skates, but all other options were available and I might try them out in the future.

One important thing to be aware of, though, is their opening hours. There are two units of Fritidsbanken in or close to Uppsala. One of them (the one I went to) is the Industristaden unit, located in the industrial zone south of the city centre, and the other one is a bit further away in Gottsunda. Both of them have the same opening hours: from Monday to Thursday between 2 and 7 pm. So if, like me, you plan on grabbing your gear for a little weekend adventure, you better plan ahead!

After you’ve chosen all you want to take, you just have to check out. It’s a very simple procedure: you just go to the “cashier”, show them what you’re taking, they ask for your name and phone number (has to be Swedish), enter it into their system and you get a text with a link to all the information relating to your loan. I even heard from a friend that if you need the skates you’re taking to be sharpened, for example, they can do it for you there for free as well. You get to keep the equipment for up to 14 days and just have to bring everything back in the same conditions you got it.

On Saturday, I met my friends to go put our skates and skills to the test. It was a really cold and windy afternoon, there was some snow laying on the ground and the sun had shined all morning but was starting to hide behind the clouds. It was a perfect early winter day to go enjoy another facility Uppsala has to offer: a free ice skating rink!

At Studenternas, right next to the football stadium, is the ice rink where Bandy matches are held. Next to it, there is a free skating area that is open to whoever wants to use it to play sports, practice their figure skating, or, as was my case, try to learn how not to fall every other minute. It is a very nice environment, full of families, friend groups, couples, and people enjoying their own company. Everybody respects each other’s space to the best of their abilities and it is a really fun activity to get you out of the house and into the cold winter air for a few hours. Don’t forget to dress warm and do a good layering job, though, because staying outdoors for long when it is cold might be dangerous. Wear a good scarf, a beanie, thick socks, and good gloves as well.

To me, Fritidsbanken is something that sums up a lot of the good things I like in Sweden. It’s a community-based institution whose main goal is to get people to go out, exercise and enjoy themselves and the company of friends. This sense of togetherness and the idea of staying active during the dark and cold winter months are crucial for students that just moved here. Having the chance to do all of this, and especially for free, is another example of why student life in Uppsala is among the best I have ever seen. Not even some snow, ice, and darkness can avoid it. In fact, they only add to the whole experience 😉

One of the most important parts of academic culture in Sweden is the amount of trust and responsibility put on the student to study by themselves. On one hand, that comes with a lot of advantages since, as a student, you’re able to figure out a schedule that works for you, and study in the way that best suits your strengths, habits, and patterns. You’re viewed as an independent, responsible individual (something that I think also contributes to the lack of hierarchy in Sweden’s academic institutions). On the other hand, if you come from a vastly different academic culture (like I do!), it can be difficult to hold yourself accountable and do the work that is actually expected of you without the pressure of a professor telling you to do it!

Now that I am in the second year of my Master’s and am faced with a lot of “free” months where I have no classes because I’m entrusted with steadily working on my thesis, I’m in the process of figuring out how to work productively and smartly. Here are some tips from me (and also my thesis supervisor) that worked for me, and may work for you too!

Build a schedule that feels familiar

The most difficult part of navigating free time is not having a schedule to hold yourself to. I’ve had countless conversations with so many friends and corridor mates about how having long free periods makes it tough to keep track of time since nobody expects you to be anywhere or do anything. Combating this means making a fixed schedule for yourself. Draw up a chart and stick it to your wall, schedule study time and put it in your calendar the way you would do for classes. What’s important is that you make it look and feel similar to what your classes for your courses would look like. For instance, if you have three classes a week, schedule three study sessions, and then three additional pre-class prep sessions.

Prep sessions could involve skimming through literature, looking for readings, narrowing down to questions you want your research to acknowledge and answer. The main study sessions on the other hand would involve properly diving into the literature, getting to the meat of how to answer the questions you set aside, actually doing the work you prepared to do.

Set realistic goals

When dealing with mountains of readings and literature review, it’s easy to both feel overwhelmed, and also overestimate how much work you’re actually capable of doing, and doing well. There’s a limit to how much information we can retain and properly make use of, and so it is of the utmost importance to recognise our human-ness and set realistic goals.

I was one of those people who would promise myself to read one or two papers a day, but then when I would actually sit down to do the work, I would realise very soon that I had bitten off more than I could chew. This was not only because the papers were hard to read (because sometimes they would be manageable), but because it is incredibly time-consuming to properly understand, analyse, and take notes from a paper.

My entire studying game changed when I went from setting myself one or two papers a day to half a paper. It takes a lot of stress off your shoulders when you know that you need to only do half a paper. Less stress means that you aren’t rushing yourself, and your brain is less cloudy to actually read the paper. You can certainly do more than half a paper if you get into the flow of it, but even reaching the half-paper mark will make you feel accomplished, and you’ll have the energy to come back and finish it the next day, knowing that there’s not much left!

Writing less, consistently is better than writing more, sporadically

This point is kind of like an extension to the last point, talking about writing instead of reading, but it is important nonetheless.

When I had trouble finding motivation to write and did not know where or how to start, I voiced my concerns to my supervisor who gave me this advice! He said that it is much better to aim to write a hundred imperfect words a day than setting a bigger goal of a thousand perfect words a week. Setting a small daily goal keeps you consistent, and pushes away the possibility of procrastinating until the last couple days of the week. Returning to your work on a daily basis also ensures that you’re actively thinking about it and about ways to improve it, and by the end of the week you can actually end up with a thousand decent words that are ready for editing!

Realise that normal is the norm!

Some more words of wisdom from my supervisor – strive to be normal!

We all tell ourselves that bad days aren’t the norm, but we also need to realise that good days aren’t the norm either. So, just as we wouldn’t get used to the idea of not studying at all, we shouldn’t get used to the idea of studying extremely productively and successfully every day just because we had a couple of good days in a row.

Aim to have a really normal day, and rely more on discipline than on sporadic feelings of motivation. That way, you won’t feel upset when you don’t have the best study session ever, and you will also know that having a bad study session doesn’t mean that you are stuck in that state. You will just bumble along steadily and calmly, and will end up doing much more work consistently.

Separate your spaces

Having separate spaces for different parts of your life is incredibly important to align your mindset with the task you have set yourself to do. If you study in the same space that you also use for relaxation, it can be difficult to shift mindsets and be prepared to focus when it is time to work. Inversely, it can also take much longer to relax even when you put your books and devices away because your mind now associates that space with working and not resting.

Study in cafes, dining rooms, or one of the many wonderful libraries Uppsala University has to offer (I love the library at Engelska Parken, and also Carolina Rediviva).

If you don’t want to go outside because it’s too cold for your liking or you want to save money and time, you can also demarcate spaces within your room! My laptop recently broke which means that I cannot move it from my desk, so I cannot go to the libraries with it anymore. To work around this little setback, I’ve made my desk my designated work/study space, and even when I want to take a short break, I get up and shift to my bed, or the couch, or head to the balcony for some fresh air!

Take breaks!

While this means that you take breaks in between study sessions, this also means longer breaks! If you’ve been given a month without classes, you have to strike a nice balance between working and studying, and actually doing things that bring you joy, help you relax, and recharge you. Take the weekend off and spend time with your friends, grab a bus ticket and visit one of the many small towns and cities around Uppsala, sign up for events at the nations, or you could even work at the nations to meet more people and surround yourself in a different atmosphere! If you can, take a flight or a train to other cities in Sweden, or to the countries around Sweden!

There’s a whole lot of things to do in and around Uppsala, and Sweden as a whole, and since you’re a student here now, you should do as much as you can to make the most of this experience of being in a new city and new country!

I hope these little tips and tricks help you stay on top of your academic work in ways that are more efficient and productive, and leave you with less stress and worry. While stress and anxiety can be common parts of being a student (especially a student in a foreign country), it’s best to do what we can to improve our experience so that we’re left with more space and energy to enjoy the nicer parts of student life!

What are some things you like to do to stay motivated, disciplined, and productive?

Socializing when you’ve moved to a new country can be really daunting. From my experience, I have found joining the student union, Rindi, to be very helpful for socializing, interacting, and getting to know the great people and students through fun activities here at Campus Gotland. Due to Campus Gotland being a tight-knit community, whether you are studying, participating in guilds, or want to enjoy a cup of tea or coffee with friends, it is very easy to find yourself spending a lot of time in the Rindi Castle. The café guild holds pop-up cafes which are popular due to the affordable and delicious goodies that are offered.

I am a member of the Sound Guild in which I have been very active. I had my first DJ set a few weeks ago which went well. So, it has been very interesting learning to mix different genres of music and set up sound systems.

Rindi can help build a sense of community and belonging on campus. You are able to meet so many other students who share similar interests or hobbies and you are able to learn about different cultures and understand others perspectives outside of academia. The guilds or clubs that I’ve mentioned before and below are some of the communities that one can be a part of at Rindi. They also have study sections that are categorized by what you study such as LeGo(Leadership and Engineering), Envis(Environmental and Earth Sciences), and VisEkon(Economics) which provide opportunities for students to develop leadership skills and take on leadership roles. You can gain valuable experience in organizing events, managing budgets, and working with others. Or just by participating in events organized is a way to be active within the community.

So apart from the study sections, Rindi has its own board. As a student union, Rindi appoints board members who often advocate for student rights and express students’ concerns, both on campus and in the wider community.

In summary, joining a student union can provide a range of benefits that can enhance your university experience. From community building to leadership opportunities to advocacy, there are many reasons to consider joining a student union at Uppsala University, Campus Gotland.

Some of the clubs (guilds) that you can take part in at Campus Gotland

Café Guild: Where you can bake and host student cafés. Which are held weekly on Sundays and Wednesdays at Rindi.

Kitchen Guild: Where you can cook alongside others with similar passions with students. They plan on providing lunches quite soon!

The Sound Guild: Is where you have the opportunity to learn how to DJ and set up sound systems.

Rindi CineClub: Provides the opportunity to help organize film screenings for students here at Campus Gotland which as a Rindi member you have access to discounted prices.

Rindi Sports Club: Is a community where you can play tennis, paddleboarding, football, basketball, and badminton on a weekly basis.

Castle Guild: They help with repairs and requests from other sections and clubs. If you need anything made you can ask them and they will do their best to craft it for you.

Bar Guild: They run the student bar every Friday. They have the chance to practice their bartending skills while serving drinks to students.

Fire Guild: Do you like playing with fire? At the Fire Guild, you learn to use Fire poi’s and staff and from to time, you perform what you’ve practiced for students at school events.

Apart from all the different activities that go on, I would recommend going out of your comfort zone to socialize and initiate the conversation because I can assure you that everyone is more or less too shy to start the conversation.