Dear readers,
I hope that the past weekend and days have been pleasant for you. Right now is a super busy time for me because I'm getting my Master's Thesis draft done. Unfortunately this means that partying is not really in the picture. Last week I spent an average of 12 hours a day working on and writing my Master's Thesis paper. Just a little word of warning for you getting ready to do your Master's: it's really quite a bit of work at the end. Also quite a few organisational details need to be addressed.
Anyhow, my past blogs have dealt with studying in Sweden from an American Perspective. You guys can now find out information of what it's like studying, partying, living and eating here. Great! So where does all of this leave us at the end? Do I recommend coming to Sweden, and what's the take-home message from my last series of blogs?
Let me begin with the overall experience that I've had in Sweden so far. In general, I've had some really nice and interesting times here in Sweden during the past 9 months of living and studying here. I've met some very interesting people, seen many new things (including the city of Uppsala and Stockholm and some other parts of Sweden) and of course attended some very fun and academically challenging classes here at SLU.
My final verdict. I think it's great to come to Sweden for one exchange year. At the same time, I've met some students here that have been here for several years. They all really seem to like it. I like it here in Uppsala, but it's just too rural for me. I wouldn't live here for more than one year. Also, I prefer a place that has more relaxed rules about alcohol and partying. I can understand that the Swedish government doesn't want people drinking (especially in Northern Sweden where the winters are completely dark) and alcohol is a HUGE source of tax revenue, but when it comes to having just a couple of beers to relax I don't like the government control of the Swedish liquor stores, the Systembolaget. It's a little too much government and too many rules for me.
On the other hand, I think the educational system here in Sweden is great. Everyone has the chance to attend university without any larger worries about finances as education is free and the cost of attending university can be subsidised by the government.
Uppsala is a really nice place during Spring when it actually gets warm here. The winters are beautiful but too cold for me! :-) I prefer a more temperate climate with shorter winters. I don't mind the cold very much, just if the cold is between -10°C and -20°C for more than one month (which it is here) it gets too much for me.
I've had a great time here and it's been a wonderful opportunity to study here, but I really look forward to moving on with life and to a warmer place where I speak the language and that is more populous.
Before writing this blog I've discussed with some other exchange students the experiences they have had in Sweden and their views on their entire study period. There seems to be a general consensus among the people that I've talked to. I've talked to around 20 or so exchange students during the past few weeks. The general consensus is that everyone is very happy that they came here, but most are ready to leave and move on to other places.
For you that are planning to study in Sweden, don't be biased by this opinion. I still think it's a great opportunity to study abroad in Sweden, and you should seize that opportunity. See for yourself where your new experiences and studies take you!
Get out and see the world! Come to Sweden to study! You won't regret it and who knows, I know some people that have moved here from Germany and have stayed here for over ten years. So see for yourself!
Julian
Monday, May 23, 2011
Monday, May 09, 2011
An addition to my last blog about Swedish food....
Dear readers,
I hope that all of you had a great and relaxing weekend. I spent most of this weekend outside in the sun, the weather was absolutely amazing here this weekend. Really great sun and warm temperatures. During these days I'm really beginning to notice how far north I truly am. The sun sets around 20:30 and it's light until shortly before midnight. Not totally light that is, there is still some sunlight in the sky facing towards the north. It starts getting light around 03:00 again and the sun comes up around 05:00. Really cool!
In my last blog I wrote about Swedish food. I want to add a website link to last week's blog on food. This web site is a Swedish online version of a weekly periodical called "Land". In my personal opinion it's sort of an exceedingly boring Swedish old-people's magazine. My on campus corridor receives this periodical every week. My house mates seem to enjoy reading it and looking at the images, but as it is in Swedish and the articles seem utterly pointless and about the most petty and uninteresting stuff I could ever think of, I refrain from reading the whole thing. The only part of "Land" that I look at is the recipe section. The food looks pretty good and it's interesting to look at some typical Swedish dishes.
Here's the link to the website. It's all in Swedish, but I think you'll be able to look through it. All you have to do is click on a link that will take you to a recipe page. Here it is:
http://www.mixr.se/mat-dryck
Enjoy looking though the typical Swedish recipes and should you have any questions please feel free to ask me this question as a comment to this blog post. My last blog which discussed Swedish food was a little abstract in my opinion. With this website you'll be able to more "tangibly" see what Swedish food is about.
Take care and have a great week!
Julian
I hope that all of you had a great and relaxing weekend. I spent most of this weekend outside in the sun, the weather was absolutely amazing here this weekend. Really great sun and warm temperatures. During these days I'm really beginning to notice how far north I truly am. The sun sets around 20:30 and it's light until shortly before midnight. Not totally light that is, there is still some sunlight in the sky facing towards the north. It starts getting light around 03:00 again and the sun comes up around 05:00. Really cool!
In my last blog I wrote about Swedish food. I want to add a website link to last week's blog on food. This web site is a Swedish online version of a weekly periodical called "Land". In my personal opinion it's sort of an exceedingly boring Swedish old-people's magazine. My on campus corridor receives this periodical every week. My house mates seem to enjoy reading it and looking at the images, but as it is in Swedish and the articles seem utterly pointless and about the most petty and uninteresting stuff I could ever think of, I refrain from reading the whole thing. The only part of "Land" that I look at is the recipe section. The food looks pretty good and it's interesting to look at some typical Swedish dishes.
Here's the link to the website. It's all in Swedish, but I think you'll be able to look through it. All you have to do is click on a link that will take you to a recipe page. Here it is:
http://www.mixr.se/mat-dryck
Enjoy looking though the typical Swedish recipes and should you have any questions please feel free to ask me this question as a comment to this blog post. My last blog which discussed Swedish food was a little abstract in my opinion. With this website you'll be able to more "tangibly" see what Swedish food is about.
Take care and have a great week!
Julian
Friday, May 06, 2011
Studying in Sweden- An American Perspective: FOOD!!!!
Dear readers,
I haven't posted anything in a while. I hope that Easter break was as good for you guys as it was for me. I hung out with friends and partied and of course also thought about my future. Soon I will be done with my Master's degree and will have to decide what to do for the next months and years to come. Such decisions take lots of time and thinking.
Finally the time has come for me to write my last blog on what it's like to study in Sweden from an American perspective. This time I will write about Swedish food.
Well, there are two ways of looking at Swedish food. If you're a food connoisseur and a real lover of Italian, Japanese, French and Spanish food, in other words really gourmet style food, then Swedish food is not very satisfying. If however, you prefer simple and filling foods, you've come to the right place.
Swedish food tends to be very basic in my opinion. Lots of meat and lots of potatoes, bread, crackers, cheese, milk, rather heavy things. There are many different types of breads and milk products you can find in a Swedish supermarket. Many Swedes eat bread and cheese for breakfast including a variety of cold cuts. A good food many people eat in Sweden is fish. Many Swedes eat dishes made with salmon and other types of fish such as cod, flounder and halibut. So there ARE some very good things to choose from.
An interesting Swedish dairy product is "Filmjölk". Basically it's a type of rotten milk. I know this sounds really weird, but it's actually quite good. Filmjölk is actually fermented with a type of Lactobacillus or bacteria naturally found in raw milk products. Give it a try when you're here with your breakfast cereal! It's very healthy and I promise you, you won't get sick! ;-)
Another thing very common here in Sweden is hamburgers and a deal of (pretty healthy) fast foods. So it's sort of like home! :-D
Despite my opinion on Swedish food not being the best in the world, Swedish pastries ARE among the best in the world! You will find a great variety of cakes, cookies, sweets and candies here in Sweden, and they're all very tasty and professionally made if bought from an up-scale pastry store.
I personally prefer to cook here and not go out very much. Going out is sort of expensive and I consider myself a pretty good cook. I certainly satisfy myself when I make my own dishes. Don't expect to cook with gas stoves here, as all stoves are electrical here.
My overall opinion: Swedish food is ok, meaning average. It's not the best in the world and other countries have much better track records when it comes to variety and tastiness of food (for example France or Spain), but I promise you, you will get by without any problems. And if you ever get too sick of Swedish food, there are always the world-class pastries or the occasional ethnic restaurant in Stockholm to lighten up your days!
That's all for now folks! Take care and look for my next blog on Sunday!
Julian
I haven't posted anything in a while. I hope that Easter break was as good for you guys as it was for me. I hung out with friends and partied and of course also thought about my future. Soon I will be done with my Master's degree and will have to decide what to do for the next months and years to come. Such decisions take lots of time and thinking.
Finally the time has come for me to write my last blog on what it's like to study in Sweden from an American perspective. This time I will write about Swedish food.
Well, there are two ways of looking at Swedish food. If you're a food connoisseur and a real lover of Italian, Japanese, French and Spanish food, in other words really gourmet style food, then Swedish food is not very satisfying. If however, you prefer simple and filling foods, you've come to the right place.
Swedish food tends to be very basic in my opinion. Lots of meat and lots of potatoes, bread, crackers, cheese, milk, rather heavy things. There are many different types of breads and milk products you can find in a Swedish supermarket. Many Swedes eat bread and cheese for breakfast including a variety of cold cuts. A good food many people eat in Sweden is fish. Many Swedes eat dishes made with salmon and other types of fish such as cod, flounder and halibut. So there ARE some very good things to choose from.
An interesting Swedish dairy product is "Filmjölk". Basically it's a type of rotten milk. I know this sounds really weird, but it's actually quite good. Filmjölk is actually fermented with a type of Lactobacillus or bacteria naturally found in raw milk products. Give it a try when you're here with your breakfast cereal! It's very healthy and I promise you, you won't get sick! ;-)
Another thing very common here in Sweden is hamburgers and a deal of (pretty healthy) fast foods. So it's sort of like home! :-D
Despite my opinion on Swedish food not being the best in the world, Swedish pastries ARE among the best in the world! You will find a great variety of cakes, cookies, sweets and candies here in Sweden, and they're all very tasty and professionally made if bought from an up-scale pastry store.
I personally prefer to cook here and not go out very much. Going out is sort of expensive and I consider myself a pretty good cook. I certainly satisfy myself when I make my own dishes. Don't expect to cook with gas stoves here, as all stoves are electrical here.
My overall opinion: Swedish food is ok, meaning average. It's not the best in the world and other countries have much better track records when it comes to variety and tastiness of food (for example France or Spain), but I promise you, you will get by without any problems. And if you ever get too sick of Swedish food, there are always the world-class pastries or the occasional ethnic restaurant in Stockholm to lighten up your days!
That's all for now folks! Take care and look for my next blog on Sunday!
Julian
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