ANR:
Name:
E-mail:
Exchange semester:
Academic year:
Host University:
Country:
576761
Milan Veldkamp
m.veldkamp@tilburguniversity.edu
Spring, 2015
2014/2015
Södertörn University
Sweden
I GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL
I lived in Björnkulla, near Flemingsberg, Huddinge. Huddinge is a commuter town on the
outskirts of the urban area of Stockholm. The university is located right next to the train
station, about a 15min walk from Björnkulla. All buildings of the university are located around
a square, which makes it easy to find the lecture rooms. There are gyms at the shopping
centre, about 10min by foot from the University campus, as well as above Flemingsberg train
station. There is a cheap café at the university where you can eat a good meal for about
€6,50, which is quite cheap for Swedish standards. The Supermarket near the university is
cheap and has everything you need. Everything in the area is centered around Stockholm,
which is why most facilities are located closer to the city itself. In Södermalm, near Stockholm
Södra train station, a bar called “Hellströms” is located, where you can eat for 40sek on
Wednesday and 25sek on Friday (nowadays +-€4,30 and €2,70, respectively) and a beer
costs only 28sek (€3) which Is really cheap for Swedish standards. Be careful ordering drinks
in Stockholm city centre, as you might end up paying more than reasonable prices.
Södertörn University has about 13.000 students, roughly the same as Tilburg
University, while the group of exchange students varies between roughly 120 in last Fall
semester and 80 in the Spring semester (as are my estimates, I am not sure about these
numbers). Each faculty has it’s own department on the lower floors, but generally you don’t
have to go there much, as teachers are often willing to answer questions during the breaks or
after class. Södertörn has both Bachelor and Master programmes, but most Exchange
students don’t encounter the regular students often as most people take courses that are
available only for Exchange students.
II PRACTICAL INFORMATION
Information before you left
The first e-mail was sent to me by the 23rd of September, roughly 4 months before
arrival, while the deadline for the forms was on the 15th of October. When I submitted my
forms, I wasn't sure if the application succeeded. I emailed the international office and they
confirmed the receival of the forms.
Visa procedure and arrival
As Sweden is part of the European Union, a visa is not required. When staying in Sweden
for less than a year, you don’t have to register at Skatteverket (Tax Office) either. When
subscribing for Södertörn, one can apply for a mentor from I*ESN, which I did. Some mentors
pick their mentees up from the airport, My mentor, unfortunately, wasn’t able to do so. During
the first weekend, I*ESN has a stand at Arlanda Airport, but I arrived one day early, which
meant I had to find my own way, which wasn’t hard as public transport in Stockholm is well
organized and everyone speaks English, which means you can always ask for help at any
desk in Central Station.
The University organizes various introduction activities, such as a trip to IKEA on the first
Sunday, where you can buy all you need for your accommodation. The keys of your
accommodation are obtained at your arrival in Flemingsberg, at the international office, which
can be found on the map that is distributed through e-mail before arrival. I*ESN does most of
the social activities, including a welcome party at the school pub. I found all facilities I needed
through Google Maps. All the documents you need for your stay are prepared by the
international office, which is well organized and answers all the questions you might have.
Orientation/Introduction activities
Orientation activities are organized by I*ESN, except for the introductory classes and the
IKEA trip. The introductory classes provide students with information about the
accommodations, the Kurswebb (online log-in system which provides information about
schedules, grades and allows you to print at the university). The students you will encounter
are mainly I*ESN members and other international students. The only contact you will have
with Swedish students who aren’t members of I*ESN are generally classmates in nonexchange classes. As mentioned before, I had a mentor, but I figured out everything I needed
on my own. However, my mentor became a good friend of mine, which is why I recommend
subscribing for a mentor.
Housing
There are several options for housing, including big single rooms (+-25m2), small single
rooms (17.5m2) and Shared rooms, in which 2 students will live together. These options can
be selected on the online forms which will be sent to you about 4 months before arrival. I paid
roughly €360 per month for my 17.5m2 small single room. The place was well cleaned, the
accommodation was located near the university on somewhat of a campus, where most
people lived (Björnkulla). Several rooms are located at Riksten and Lappis as well, but both
are further away and mostly isolated from the other Exchange students, which is why I
recommend Björnkulla. The location can also be selected on the online form, which has to be
done before the end of October for the Spring semester. Keys are provided by the
international office, together with the documents. One of the documents is a map that shows
you where you live and how you get there, which, together with the instructions provided on
the spot by the international office, will get you where you need to go. The accomodations are
well kept, although the common kitchens are often not very well cleaned, but no worse than
regular student housing.
Although the international office told us there was no option for internet in Riksten and
Björnkulla, we found out that through contacting Bredbandsbolaget.se you can apply for
internet, which costs around €33 per month and does not include wireless, but there is a
cable connection in every apartment. The internet is decent and quite fast, so I recommend
this over sharing Wifi with Swedish students, what is adviced by the international office.
Sharing internet with the Swedish students requires a lot of luck, as I had no Swedish
students in my building and only a few people arranged internet connection through this
method.
Before your departure you have to arrange for a check on your accomodation, to see if
everything is clean enough. If you just clean the place it's no problem to pass this test and
aranging your departure is easy and quick.
The company I have rented an apartment of (Huge) is highly unprofessional and
disorganized. They sent the wrong invoices 4 times, they sent an e-mail to ask for payment of
the month before I was there and these are only a few examples. The accomodations are
good but the company is unprofessional. However, this can work in your favor as they can
forget to charge you for certain things and make mistakes in the invoices that can work in
your favor. If Huge makes big mistakes I suggest to contact Fabrizio, the accommodation
officer of the international office, as he is also the one who sent us the emails about the
mistakes Huge has made and can often fix things faster than the company.
Living Costs
I financed my exchange from my savings, as I still payed my share of my apartment
in Tilburg. I received €80 per month from DUO as a public transport card reimbursement,
together with the Study support and the Erasmus grant it was nowhere near enough to live
on. Supermarkets are expensive, alcoholic drinks have to be bought in the Systembolaget
(state monopoly shop) and are extremely expensive, although like almost every student I
bought mine in Estonia, Latvia or Russia, as you can arrange cheap weekend cruises to
these countries, while bars on the boat are cheaper than in Stockholm and you can take
drinks back from both the boat and the destination.
Housing costed me about 360 euros per month. The amount I spent on food has
never been stable as I have been traveling every month, eating out every once in a while and
my pattern in cooking changed every week. In general, fresh products are expensive, but if
you cook meals like pasta with tuna (from cans, very cheap) and tomato, you can save large
amounts of money. Books are available in the store at the university but I only bought one,
the rest were available as E-books through the university library or available as day-loans.
Transport costs around 55 euros per month for an SL card, which takes you to every place
near Stockholm by train, bus, subway and even boat. Traveling can be more expensive, as
ESN offers trips such as Lapland and the Sea Battle, a cruise to Estonia or Latvia.
Academic Calendar
I arrived one day before the official arrival day as the flight was cheaper. I slept in a
hostel in Gamla Stan (old town), Stockholm. After one night I went to the University and
moved into my accomodation. The monday I had my first classes. There are a lot of
mandatory classes in the first week as they tell you about all the things you need to know,
such as log-in system and credentials, phone numbers of important organizations and such.
My classes started one week after, with only one class a week. My classes ended in May,
which is really early. This was due to the fact that my course consisted of one big research I
had to do on my own. There was no break, but I had about 5 days without classes in the
beginning of May. However, I travelled 6 times in 5 months, of which 3 times I was gone for 5
days or more, during school weeks. Although I had to do compensational exercises, it proved
no problem to complete my courses.
I had no examination periods, I only had to hand in my essays during the last week of
each period, which last about 4 weeks each. In each of these periods you only follow one
course so it's easy enough having to focus only on one thing at a time.
There are several interesting events for students during the spring semester. Valborg,
a national holiday widely celebrated by students all over Sweden, is celebrated in Stockholm
with a big bonfire. This bonfire is located in Skansen, an open-air museum which is quite
expensive, but it's free for students on this day. Another interesting day is the Summer festival
at the university, which is small but really nice with all kinds of games and a party at the
student bar. Please note that due to strict laws, the student pub still isn't really cheap (about
2,70 euros for a beer, cheap for Sweden but not really cheap for “student union members
only” compared to Dutch standards). Please note you have to be a member of the Student
Union, which is cheap and required to get a student transport card. Furthermore, you get a
discount on coffee at almost every train station with this Student union card.
The International Office
The international office is well organized and contacts you well before your arrival.
Nicholas Malmdahl does most of the communication while Fabrizio (X) handles everything
regarding accomodation. You can always contact him for small problems as well as big ones.
The accomodations are owned by Huge and Willhelm, but Fabrizio acts as a mediator in most
cases. The international office is well organized, but their opening hours are a bit confusing as
different offices are opened on different days and only for a few hours. This is compensated
by the fact that the international office can answer almost all questions by e-mail and they
reply quite fast.
Exchange promotion
I have been taking part in every social activity organized by I*ESN, events such as an
international dinner where students are invited to cook food that is typical of your home
country. At these kinds of events and also at other gatherings, I discussed cultural
differences, habits and other aspects with other students. I also tried to explain to people what
living in the Netherlands as an exchange student would be like, based on what I know about
Tilburg and I*ESN. At the end of the semester I even left Sweden a week early to show two
other students around in the Netherlands and Tilburg especially. As Sweden and the
Netherlands are culturally close to each other, people were interested in how the two cultures
are different from each other and in this way I tried to give people an idea of what they are to
expect when going to the Netherlands and what the country, and especially Tilburg, has to
offer. I tried to convince people that studying in Tilburg is a great experience and I think I did
succeed, as quite some people showed their interest.
Social Activities
The student union organizes parties in the Student pub, often in combination with
I*ESN, whose members also make up the majority of Swedish students the exchange
students come in contact with. There are some parties that are organized only for exchange
students and some that are organized for both Swedish students and exchange students.
I*ESN is the organization that takes care of the exchange students, they organize parties,
trips and arrange for student mentors. I think all the exchange students made a lot of friends
among the other exchange students rather than among Swedes. However, almost every
exchange student had a mentor who is a Swedish student.
During my Exchange, I have travelled to Helsinki, to Lapland (near Ivalo, Finland),
Estonia, Latvia, Malta (we found a cheap flight from Stockholm) and Russia. Of these trips,
only Lapland and Tallinn, Estonia, were organized by I*ESN, the other trips I planned myself.
Cruises to Estonia, Latvia and Helsinki are cheap and easy to organize via VikingLine or
TallinkSilja. If you keep an eye on Ryanair.com you can always find cheap flights as we did to
Malta. There was a trip organized by I*ESN to Russia, but it was scheduled during exams, so
we organized a trip by our own, through a travel agency.
Culture and Language
Traveling from the Netherlands to Sweden, you won't experience any culture shock
as the differences are only minor. The Netherlands are more alike Scandinavia than I
previously expected. Swedes are somewhat colder than Dutchmen as they refuse to look
anyone in the eye in the train, sit further apart at bus stations and to me it seems to take
longer to get to know more of a Swede than of a Dutchman. Furthermore, there is no culture
regarding alcohol, drinking a glass of beer during dinner is not really common, but alcohol
abuse seems to be more widespread. The system of State monopoly is an example of this.
The general level of English in Sweden is astonishing, on my first day in Stockholm I
met carpenters who spoke better English than half of my fellow students in Tilburg and 60year-olds who start a conversation so casually that it seems they do nothing else all day. This
makes communication very easy (as long as you can speak English as well, which I assume,
as for going on an exchange to Sweden a B2 is required). Eventually I stopped apologizing
for the fact that I don't speak Swedish and just start in English, which, I must admit, is a bit
impolite, but I just got so used to speaking English to anyone that it just felt like living in a
country where English is the mother tongue. The one time I had a severe language problem
in Sweden was, astonishingly, in a hospital, where a doctor was not able to speak English
and needed a student to translate everything I said into Swedish. This, however, was a very
rare occasion.
Exchange students have a very varying level of English, but in general it proves
unproblematic to communicate with others. At the university, communication is unproblematic
even if you don't speak one word in Swedish.
People are very friendly to tourists, Swedes are typically polite and individualistic. The
downside is, I think, the “coldness” of people towards others on the streets, they can be quite
unreachable and prefer to ignore anyone and anything happening on their way. While the
Dutch are also quite individualistic, Swedes are much more so. The good sides are that they
are tolerant and won't mind people who look however they like or having tattoo's on visible
places. This is something I didn't know and really liked about Sweden. I think I learnt a lot
about Swedish culture, mainly thanks to my Mentor, I*ESN and my Swedish friends.
The most apparent difference between cultures was when I travelled to Russia. In
Sweden, people are always friendly and helpful to tourists, while in Russia, people shove you
aside if you stand in their way in the supermarket, refuse even relatively small bank notes
because they don't want to give change and waiters can be quite unhelpful and even a bit
annoyed if you order something, what seems unthinkable in Sweden.
I haven't followed any language courses as I wasn't intending to learn Swedish and I
had no need to improve my English as I already scored a C2 in CEFR before I left Tilburg.
Personal Development
I learned how to place my own perspective into a bigger picture and try to take other
perspectives into account. The multitude of views and backgrounds creates a very fertile
environment for development and exchange of perspectives. I also learnt a lot about my own
capabilities and vulnerabilities. For example, during my Erasmus time I always took initiative,
organized trips and led groups to wherever we needed to go. I think I developed a personal
trait that I had before I arrived but never noticed this well. This is why I think my exchange has
a positive effect on my possibilities during my career, as I think placing yourself in a different
environment shows different sides of your personality and allows you to develop different
traits from your everyday routine.
I learnt enough to write a full report on what people learnt me on my exchange, but I
won't, so here's a good example: because of different lifestyles and cultures, I learnt how to
see things in a different perspective. While friends from South America and Southern Europe
often spoke admirably of my discipline, they showed me the good side of the other strategy.
They taught me to slow down every once in a while and not to put too much pressure on
myself: you don't have to worry about things you can't control, if something doesn't go
according to plan you can still have a good time and sometimes not having any plans can be
the best plan.
If I could do it over, I would have taken extra classes in Swedish on top of the courses
I did, as I learnt nothing about the language and the pressure of 30 ECTS was really low, 45
would still be quite easy compared what I did in the Netherlands.
My worst experience was having to leave behind people I called my friends for 5
months and will probably not see for a long time. My best experience is probably my trip to
Lapland, where I have seen and done things I never expected to see or do, such as seeing
the Northern Lights, riding on a husky sled across plains covered in snow and even swimming
in the arctic ocean.
I will never forget what great friendships can be created in only 5 months abroad.
When you leave it feels like you've known these people for years. Despite the fact that it's
what you sign up for, you know you will have to leave sooner or later, it still feels sad...
The most important lesson is probably that I need to be more careful with how to
approach people. I can be very direct, for me communication is about the message and not
about the way it's brought about. This can be seen as very rude and it can even insult people.
To avoid insulting people, I should think about how I say something to the person I am
speaking with: can this person handle this kind of communication or should I try and adapt to
a different style?
III ACADEMIC INFORMATION
Academic level at a host university
All courses were in English. I had no courses in Swedish, nor about Swedish.
Swedish classes were optional and chosen by most students. I took courses about Media and
Culture, Environmental studies and Political Science as I tried to broaden my view and try
other fields. I would recommend only the course “Nordic Politics in Comparative Perspective”
as it provides information about Swedish politics as well as about all the other Nordic
countries. This course adds up to your knowledge about the country.
The level of English was quite high, but the pressure was a bit low and the level of the
courses, although with some variation, was somewhat below what I am used to in Tilburg.
The workload was low, although as my advisor told me before I left, social activities and
traveling takes up plenty of time. My courses were mainly theoretical (on purpose, I chose
theoretical courses) and consisted of a mixture of Seminars and Lectures. The staff was really
helpful and quite close to the students, which is also what I am used to in Tilburg.
I feel like I could have acchieved more regarding academic achievements, but I do
feel like I learned a lot and I felt no different the semester before this one (which I did in
Tilburg), so this probably signifies that I have to find a different approach for myself.
Exams
The exams I had were take-home exams and essays, so I haven’t been in any of the
examination rooms, nor did I have to subscribe for the exams through the internet, for
which they have a system which is explained in the first week.
Other
During the first week, the students receive an introductory folder and even an
instruction about how to use the library system and how to find books. Even if you forget, the
employees can always help you out with it, which makes the library easy to figure out. There
are computers on several floors of the library and most of the time it's easy to obtain one. If
not, there's plenty of spaces to work at with a laptop.
Description of Courses
Example:
Course name:
Prereq.
Exam
-1234 finance
None
Written
Major at TiU
Approved as
(Common/elective/extra)
Finance
Elective
-1070T Nordic Politics
(BA) .
None
Essay .
Political Science .
Extra
-1023US Environment
and Development .
None .
Take-home exam . - .
Extra
-1055MV & SH-42276
Media Culture and
Society 1&2 (BA) .
Take-home exam and Essay . - .
Extra
None .
These courses had almost no relevance to my field of studies as this was not my objective
during my exchange. Environment and Development was a bit harder than the others but also
a bit less well organized and useful as it is a combination of different fields, but feels like it
lacks a sense of direction. Media, Culture and Society 1 is a regular course, on which MCS2
is based. In MCS2, one has to write their own research, on a subject one can chose. This is
different from most courses and can be a bit hard if you're not used to it, but every student
has a tutor who can help you out with any problems, which makes it more doable.
Tips for the future students:
I would recommend an exchange period as it teaches you a lot about yourself as well
as about the world. I can't say if I'd recommend this university as I have no material to
compare it with (this was my first exchange). I really liked it here but I have no reason to
believe other Universities would be better or worse. Stockholm is a great place to stay as it is
an international city, it's beautiful, alive and offers opportunities to travel to Riga, Tallinn and
Helsinki for a very fair price. If you go on an exchange, make sure you have the financial
reserves, especially when your destination is one of the Nordic countries. All I prepared was
what was on the checklist and everything I for myself thought of as important and I haven't
forgotten anything important. Sweden is a country that is easy to adapt to for people from The
Netherlands, people are very friendly and everyone speaks English!