Excerpt From A Viking Diary
Posted in Been There Did It, Confessions, Now I Know, Outing & Event, Sustainable on January 29th, 2008The following is an KuKu entry for a university site, at a master studies in Sweden portal, at www.masterofscience.se, except the last sentence..
From the equator to the land of Vikings, from sweating walk to freezing biking, from fishballs to meatballs, yet, the best of all, the language could still be English.
That pretty much will be a warm up to what life as a student here is ought to expect.
The first instance when Sweden came to my mind, it was merely IKEA, Ericsson, and The Cardigans. Not much to shout about, yet! Until I received an email from the course coordinator, and I can still recall the first responding with Miss Brita – “is there any Malaysian in the course as well?†Well, when I think back it sounded pretty childish but what are the odds of seeing a Malaysian riding a bike with Swedish snow hitting his spectacles on an Uppsala biking lane? 4 months in, haven’t been lucky in finding someone else that speaks the Malaysian language.
Preliminary First Impression
As many already know, accommodation is an issue here. I read about this, heard about this, but was still pretty cool about it. Got an arrangement with 1 of the student nation and took it for granted, without any backups. Please take note of this and make sure you have a room before coming here, else you would be just like me – It turned out I was almost going to sleep in the streets on the first day, till I met a good Swedish man, probably in his 60’s.
My 1st night, is under a roof.. much more than just a roof..
He offered me a room for the next couple of weeks and was very courteous and friendly, showing me places to get around, to do groceries, and fed me some good Swedish food. Consider myself lucky to come across him but then I realize, most of the Swedes are that courteous! When you open up and approach them you will see how friendly and warm they are, probably the cold weather make it pretty cold at first, but eventually it warms up, and melts a little..
Primary First Impression – Shocked a bit
Uppsala is a lovely peaceful and calm city – perfect for education, and just nice for a decent social life. People go around with lots of “hej†and “hej hejâ€s (which is the Swede version of of Hi!), and you can do that with almost everyone on street and get a “hej!†back, just for the fun of it but it comes to the point that it’s a warm and friendly place to be. English is very widely spoken, and many international student like us can get going without much problem, but as always, when staying in an foreign country, it would not be complete without getting some grasp on the local language – Get signed up with SFI as soon as there is a chance to be in a queue to learn the language, as the university Swedish course is offered to the exchange students.
The cost of living could be higher here, food could be almost 3 or 4 times the equivalent back in Malaysia, and it’s wise to fix your own food most of the time. Grocery is a joy sometimes even though the variety of green vegetable is not as diversified as tropical places, you’ll learn to make the most and play around with your recipes, take a few hint from the Swedes as well!
Class Culture – A Real Good Shock
My personal favorite lecture of the semester, speaking bout gimmicks, having a guitar, with a self composed song to convey the message of “exponential growth” in consumption.. that tune is still running in my head..
Way classes are conducted are so different then the one I has few years back. There are just so much interaction going on and professors and lecturers could easily hook up a conversation. It’s not always about lectures and classes, there’s for certain a solid quality with the education but you could feel more of an more all-rounded development rather than just pumping in information. Found communication among classmates and lecturer an integral and interesting way of conducting classes, seminars and workshop, where there’s always room for questions and interactions.
It’s an globalized feeling when students from every continent gives their thoughts and sharing to everyone in the class. Personally, I liked the seminar where we read and criticise constructively on our classmate’s essay paper. It makes us feel involved and be critical towards other’s work, while appreciating it and learning how to give, accept, stand by and listen to other’s opinion.
As this programme is being offered the first time round, it is amazing that the coordinators could work out something that suits students from such diversified background in terms of education and nationality. With some feedback and suggestions on the evaluation, truly believe that this course will be a well sought after course, well-equipping students for further challenges.
Food in lecture is not something prohibited here, meaning, u will never be starving for undesired reasons.
Into “Green Transportation� Try it here!
The number of bikes is massive! I’ll put it under the must have list of every student here. Best method to move around to places and classes and get some share of your exercising. If you are lucky you could get a second hand bike which cost much cheaper than the brand new ones, and also “reduces†(not eliminates) your chances of being stolen.
It would be good to invest in a reliable and solid lock, just to have more peace of mind – and this is basically the only worry to have! And it would be great convenience to have a basket along with the bike, helps a lot in carrying it from grocery especially when you don’t want to spill your milk in your beg pack. And biking on snow gives a crunchy feeling that reminds you to be aware of the slipperiness.
Couple of times caught myself really slipping of the surface, yet the experience to bike on snow itself conquers the thought of falling off. But seriously, it could get pretty tricky especially the first few rides, take it slow or you might end up as a snowman rolling of the slopes, or a snowwoman.
Haven’t Been to a Party?
Not being much a party person, it is only natural to feel pretty uncertain on parties. The student nations have parties going on throughout the week, and as not many especially from the East side have this in their blood, it could require some getting used to it. But it’s always in this kind of functions, where you see stuffs that you will never see in the classroom. Serious, strict classmate turns all funny and happy. Singing, laughing, and hanging out to chat and dancing, getting rid of some stress. Sometimes when lucky, you could even see them peeing by the road side!
Another Swede thing is that when you are invited to a party, bring your own drink! It’s the Swede style of doing it and very practical, as drinks could be pretty costly, and you know the best what you would want to drink. And if you are into some movements on the floor, enrol on a dance class; the instructors in my Salsa class are pure professionals. Not only learning, but learning in a fun way where you always end up looking forward for the next class right after the previous one ends.
The first semester is coming to an end, and Christmas is just around the corner. Snow flakes are huge and I’ll be looking forward to make my first sexy snowwoman, the most voluptuous one.. I just hope u are not 1 of those tat scrolled down to this sentence after reading the 1st paragraph, boy, so typical.. pls dun tell me who u are..
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