Postcard to Monash from Sweden
Hej! (that's Swedish for hi)
Sweden is the perfect exchange destination. It's a country where you don't hear English on every corner but you can still study in English, and it offers a genuinely different experience to life in Australia.
I'm now in my fourth year of an arts/commerce double degree at Monash and decided to come to Uppsala University to pursue marketing and politics units not available at home and to learn a new language.
Studying in Sweden is the ideal base from which to discover the rest of Europe . Twenty kronor ($5) gets you a return ferry trip to Finland, and activities such as ice skating on frozen lakes, attending the Nobel Prize ceremony and watching a sunrise at 3 am are all possible here.
Uppsala also provides many social opportunities, with 13 'Student Nations' representing students from different regions of Sweden. These are like Australia 's student societies but on a much bigger scale.
Each Student Nation has its own building in Uppsala and runs its own restaurant, café, nightclub, bar, library, pub, disco, hall, cinema, gasque (ball), accommodation and special interest clubs, such as sports teams, choirs and photography clubs. These are in addition to the services provided by the student union, so it's almost impossible not to get involved in something.
Students walk or cycle home together (as very few people have cars), they live in suburbs almost exclusively filled with students and visit places run by students -- it's very much a student-orientated place.
I planned to stay for a semester, but within two months of arriving I extended my stay to a full year -- a ringing endorsement of my sheer satisfaction with an Uppsala exchange.
The home of Volvos certainly is a safe, clean and fun country!
Lots of students think about doing an exchange but never pursue it. Monash Abroad provides a superb opportunity for you to broaden your horizons. Use it before it's too late -- you might just have the best time of your life.
-- Justin Chiew
See also
|
