My Exchange at Uppsala University – Law
The 360 International exchange programme has always been one of my focuses since the start of uni life. The opportunity finally arrived when I was permitted to go on exchange as I was entering the last part of my degree.
The Visa application process for Sweden was a little troublesome because one is required to travel to the Swedish Embassy in Canberra to have their passport checked and processed. Otherwise all went mostly smoothly despite the tight timeframe.
Sweden is a clean, tidy, advanced and beautiful country. Its capital city, Stockholm is a a brilliant example of an old, classic city integrated into a modern metropolis. There was almost no language barrier for every Swedish person I met. Irrespective of age they spoke perfect English. But it was always fun to learn Swedish and their local culture. Swedish railroads are simple to use albeit a little expensive. However, there are many reports and talks of organised crime down south, so one must not be so careless.
Uppsala is a medium-sized, yet absolutely stunning city. A river that runs through the town centre and the magnificent Uppsala Cathedral create perfect locations for photos or just pure admiration of beauty. The west side of the river had amazing architecture that was simply enjoyable just to walk through. The town centre has everything one needs for groceries, shopping, restaurants etc. On certain nights the city can really come to life going very late. Around 2 – 3 AM the streets would still be filled with people and MAX (a proud Swedish fast-food chain) would be as busy as daytime. One is able to find everything needed around town centre, if not a bus that goes directly to IKEA for furniture. Around IKEA were multiple outlets for shoes and sportwears. Transport around the city is easy with extensive bus routes and an easy to use ticket/card system (which is also characteristic of all of Sweden). Overall my experience of Uppsala was a memorable one, a place I would definitely want to visit again in my life.
My accommodation at Klostergatan 16 was mediocre at best. The location was perfect, right in the centre of town and close to most university buildings. The Uppsala Housing Office was also a little difficult to deal with. Although I had prior knowledge that there was going to be construction near my building, I did not expect my window to be completely blocked by scaffolding with workers walking right outside my window, drilling and hammering away at 7 AM. The Housing Office could offer little help and any request for changes were hard to get a response. So be very careful when selecting your housing.
Uppsala University prepared a grand welcoming orientation for the international students. Everyone was welcomed to their absolutely stunning Main Building with a Grand Auditorium. Stalls were set up for each of the student nations which really showed off the student culture of the university.
The Law courses were set up in a way where I only took two courses in total during the time of exchange and only one course at a given time. For the first half of the semester I had Historical Trials and the second half Introduction to Swedish Law. Sounds easy? Not quite. The workload for the individual courses can be quite a lot. For Historical Trials, I had to do reading after reading for my own weekly presentation and the presentation of others to be able to fully engage with the course material. Seminars where students take the initiative of discussions were the main ways the courses were run. It was a completely new experience for me and at first, it was a little stressful. Nevertheless I thoroughly enjoyed my time studying there, perhaps thanks to the immense amount of resources available at the wonderful Catalina Library and amazing study spaces that blew my mind.
Sweden and other Scandinavian countries are famous for their high cost of living. Yes, it did get quite expensive especially the medical costs if one would be sick or injured without an EU citizenship. But generally, price of groceries were on par with or maybe even cheaper than NZ while the restaurants are on average slightly more expensive than NZ.
I took a lot of opportunities of breaks or days with no classes to travel. Cheap airlines like the famous(or infamous) Ryan Air meant that flying to a lot of cities around Europe was cheaper than taking a train to another Swedish city. Flights could be as cheap as 40 NZD for a return flight with minimal luggage (a backpack). Utilising this opportunity, I went to Poland, Lithuania, UK, and Austria during my exchange. It was refreshing to see all the different cultures, architectures, languages, and people around parts of Europe and probably was my favourite part of the exchange. One of the regrets I had was no seeing more of Sweden by using the weekends more.
Overall my exchange to Sweden was an experience I will never forget. I met many new friends all around the world, especially from Europe. It was incredibly enjoyable to chat with them about their experiences in Sweden, and at home and to share my own stories from Auckland. I really have a new perspective as the world suddenly felt much, much smaller as I began to communicate with the people. Places that I had never imagined I would visit were reached and suddenly the globe felt smaller, perhaps more accessible. I believe these experiences have also helped with my career path as I would strive for that international career.
Q&A
What were some of the highlights of the academic experience at your host university?
Uppsala University has a very different style of teaching compared to UoA. For both of my courses, seminars (instead of lectures) played a greater role. Students are much more involved and engaged with the learning when most of the teaching is done through small group discussions. Furthermore, the discussion most of the time is initiated by students ourselves, while the course director would only interrupt occasionally, or to answer questions. Weekly presentations on topics are also common. Of course this means much more self-learning needed to be done, which equals more workload than at Auckland. But I have enjoyed my time studying at Uppsala as I feel I have learnt valuable lessons despite my short time there.
Would you recommend any particular activity/activities unique to your host country or university?
Uppsala University hosts over 10 different student nations which all have their own buildings, restaurants, pubs, libraries and even student housing. The nations offer all kinds of activities daily and provide cheap food and drinks for students. They also host ‘gasque’ which are traditional Swedish dinners where everyone dresses up and enjoys a grandiose dinner with unique student nation songs.
What are your top 3 tips for future students attending your host university or going on exchange to your host country?
- Prepare a payment method that you can use in Sweden without overseas surcharges. Various apps such as Revolut or Wise may or may not do the job. For the long term, I would recommend setting up a local Swedish Account as soon as possible. This would also require a Personal Number for long-term stays or a Coordination Number for the half-year stays.
- Be mentally prepared for the dark winters (if one is to stay over the winter) when the sun would start setting around 2PM. Vitamin D pills are definitely recommended. These can be found at the pharmacies (apotek).
- Non-slip shoes are needed in winter because the ground will get really really slippery.
How much did you budget for your exchange? Was this enough? Were there any lessons learned that would help future students budget for their own exchange?
I initially budgeted around 10k NZD for one semester. 5K was to be paid as rent, and I imagined living off the remaining 5K. It would be just enough I think for a modest stay if one would not go on so many trips to other countries.
What are your most significant takeaways from your experience abroad?
I met many new friends all around the world, especially from Europe. It was incredibly enjoyable to chat with them about their experiences in Sweden, and at home and to share my own stories from Auckland. I have a new perspective as the world suddenly felt much, much smaller as I began to communicate with the people. Places that I had never imagined I would visit were reached and suddenly the globe felt smaller, perhaps more accessible. I believe these experiences has also help with my career path as I would strive for that international career.
Do you want to share anything about travels you did outside your host city/country?
There are a lot of cheap flights from Arlanda Stockholm to Eastern European countries like Poland and the Baltic states. A cheap flight booked at the right time may only cost 20-40 NZD for a return flight.
I went to Gdansk in Poland then took the train to Warsaw then to Krakow from 26th to 30th September. Poland is a beautiful country with much cheaper food prices and a lot of history to discover.
The trip to Kaunas and Vilnius in Lithuania was short and sweet. People were very kind and the prices were also cheap. Food was excellent with beautiful buildings in the old town. Vilnius is a city I would definitely pay another visit to for it still has so much to offer than the short day I spent there could enjoy.
Vienna is an extremely stunning and grandious city. It justifies its place as the imperial capital for almost a thousand years. However the people are less kind than other European countries I have been to but apart from that still really enjoyed my time there.
Final Comments
The exchange programme offers us students time and space to really enjoy ourselves, indulge in something new and perhaps even find what we want to do in the future. It is also a time that should be spent in ways we want as long as we enjoy it and can be looked back full of memories.