Mollie's Exchange to Uppsala University | Sweden
My semester in Sweden was the absolute BEST. I don’t remember a bad day. Since I’ve been home I haven’t been able to stop telling anyone who’ll listen about how much I love Sweden and the Swedes and the food and fika and ahhh… I should really reign it in.
The
first few weeks were filled with so much excitement. We went on city tours,
hikes, enjoyed copious amounts of the famous ‘fika’, had roof top parties and
visited each and every one of the 13 Student Nation pubs in order to decide
which one to join. The best thing I learnt about in these initial weeks has got
to be the Flogsta Scream. This is where the residents of Flogsta scream as loud
as they can out of their windows or off of the balcony every single night at
10pm. This was mildly concerning the first time I heard it but I soon came
around. I quite like the idea of getting all of that built up stress and
tension right out by giving a couple of ear-shattering and shameless shrieks. It
was also extremely punctual! Starting exactly at 22.00 and ending abruptly at
22.01.
One
other very unique thing about thE city are the Student Nation Gasques. These
are somewhat fancy student events which are a great excuse to suit up! They
begin with champagne, a three course meal intertwined with lots of singing, schnapps,
and then a big party! The awesome student culture was definitely one of my
favourite things about Uppsala.
I
was extremely fortunate to be able to take lots of little trips throughout the
semester. Some highlights were a four day hiking trip, sleeping in the Swedish
wilderness, a train ride down to Copenhagen to meet an old friend, or any of
the overnight cruises from Stockholm to Riga, Helsinki and Tallin. The
highlight of all my travels has got to be Christmas time. I spent it with good
friends in Lapland (that’s where Santa is from!!) and found out what the word
‘cold’ really meant. We fed reindeers, rode on snow mobiles, and went night
clubbing in -20°C temperatures. One weird thing for me was celebrating
Christmas the European way on the 24th??
Probably
the greatest thing that I have taken away from my exchange is my restored
passion for why I study what I do. One of the main reasons that I wanted to go
to Sweden was because they are considered world leaders on many environmental fronts,
and I wasn’t disappointed! My sustainability related classes were so engaging
and I genuinely looked forward to all of my classes. I became quite involved
with student groups like fossil free and attended a bunch of protests and
actions. I have always cared a lot about
these issues, but before exchange, my efforts were always focused on my own
individual actions. In these groups I began to feel a real sense of belonging
and really noticed that this is what had been missing from my life! These
experiences have pushed me to take on a more activist role in my own community at
home. Since returning a few months ago, I am now a WA State Leader for the
Australian Youth Climate Coalition, and loving it.
To anyone that is wanting to go on exchange I really couldn’t recommend it enough. You will make life-long memories and friends to go along with it. The only thing that you should be aware of is how hard it will be to leave the people and the place that you have grown so attached to! There is also the very real risk (confirmed by myself and many, many others), of meeting a special boy or girl while you’re over there which makes it even more heartbreaking to leave. So I’ll be back for you, Sweden! Jag älskar dig.
- Mollie studied abroad at Uppsala University in Sweden
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Murdoch University Study Abroad & Exchange - Outbound
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTACT US!
EMAIL: studyabroad@murdoch.edu.au
PHONE: +61 8 93607836
VISIT: Murdoch University, Student Centre, 90 South Street, Murdoch, WA, 6150
FIND US!
FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/murdochoutbound
INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/murdochoutbound
