Positives and Negatives about Living on Campus Versus Living in/close to Downtown Uppsala

Dear readers,

I hope that all of you had a pleasant, fun and relaxing weekend. I certainly did. There is one dilemma I go through every weekend:

...to go out to the city to party, to stay home and find a party on campus or to do nothing (and watch a movie or just chill) that is the question...

Well, when contemplating this, I go back and forth in my mind. A part of me wants to go out to the city to hang out with friends and party and go to one of the student nations. The other part wants to stay home with the 5 wonderful female and very cool other male roommate that I live with. Also I am ever reminded of the subarctic conditions that exist outdoors :-p. (Well, it's really not that bad, but it's not the Caribbean either).

With this on my mind, I will list the positives and negatives of living on SLU campus, which is in Ultuna. Ultuna is approximately 5 Km away from the city and takes around 20 minutes to reach the city by bike.


Pros

• Close to classes! Really nice to wake up just 30 minutes before classes start in the morning and get to the classroom in enough time. Also no morning commute to classes (which saves alot of stress and dealing with other people on the bus that you really don't want to deal with shortly after waking up :-D). Last thought: no commute during the Swedish winter (HUUUUGEEE PLUS!!!)
• Really nice to be close to the library, professors, the fitness center and the Uppsala Akademic Rowing Club (Friskis & Svettis, which I will talk about more in my next post) and the student union (where parties and dinners are sometimes held)
• The student apartments at Gälbo are REALLY REALLY NICE!!!! They are about 22 square meters large, have a spacious bathroom and great communal kitchens
• Often friendly and pleasant people to live with and also a quiet atmosphere with a good study environment
• Clean, modern, well renovated, bright, well ventilated rooms
• Upon arrival the room is reserved and furnished already, so no delays or worries!

Cons

• It really sucks to get into the city and to come back home (to Ultuna) from the city. It takes around 20 minutes by bike to get into the city by bike and around 30 by bus!
• There's not very much happening on the weekends. There are some house parties, but you need to know the people that are throwing the party. Basically it can get a little boring at times
• If you're a city person like myself and you enjoy randomly and spontaneously strolling around the city, IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!! You can see fields, the river and forests. Pretty at times, but it doesn't always do it for me. 
• The store is pretty far away (ca. 15 minutes by bike to stores in Gottsunda, ICA, Lidl or Willys)

There may be more pros and cons. These are the most apparent ones I can think of. City apartments (from what I've seen and heard) are cheaper (not always), older, more crowded and generally dirtier than the ones on campus. I'm sure there are really nice city apartments around. It's just a question of finding them.

My final judgement on living on campus or not:

I'm very happy to live on campus in the Gälbo apartments. It's really convenient to get up later and still make it to classes on time. Buying food at Gottsunda is a bit of a chore, but considering the fact that I only go to the store once to maximum twice a week, it's not that bad. I like my roommates and most importantly: I DON'T HAVE TO DEAL WITH LATE BUSSES OR THE MORNING COMMUTE IN -10°C WEATHER!!!

I advise exchange students to live on campus. It's convenient, good value (some may say "good bang for the buck") and has a very pleasant living and study environment. I think it is a great solution to live on campus for one exchange year or semester. However, if I would stay longer I would get my own apartment, as I prefer my personal space and privacy.

...and I did make it to the city this weekend... :-)