Justine's Exchange to Malmö University | Sweden
What is your name?
Which year & semester did you
go on Exchange?
2019, Semester Two (their winter)
Which Exchange Partner University
did you attend?
Malmö University
What degree are you studying at
Murdoch University?
Bachelor of Arts, Double Major in International Aid and
Development and Global Politics and Policy
What were the key factors for
choosing your Exchange University?
- I wanted to travel to Europe first and foremost reason
- I wanted to see snow and have a cold Christmas!!!
- I had a friend who had lived with me in Australia, who is from Sweden, so I wanted to travel Sweden with her and meet her family and friends 😊\
- Knowing that English is the second language (and most Swedes speak excellent English even if they say otherwise)
- It was also important to know that the university was able to honour my EQUAL plan that I have with Murdoch as I did not want to end up in another country and unable to cope due to my disability. Malmo University was amazing in this and in equality in general.
Please tell us about your Exchange
University...
The education system is very different. Full time study was
only two units compared to here which is four. Each unit is run individually, so the first unit was 5/6
weeks, then an exam. Generally, the next unit starts the following week after the
first exam and is the same length. The bonus of this method is that you are
able to solely focus on one unit at a time, complete all the readings and
assignments without jumping between units. There are also 2 re-sits (first attempt
and then 2 after if you fail). This was such a bizarre concept to me!! I didn’t
re-sit any assignments or the exam as it is conducted after the unit has been finalized
so you have moved on to the next unit and it can complicate the study or so I
was told by other students, but the option is there so some of the pressure is
removed. Each unit is different and structured according to the lead academic,
however, each unit had 3 lecturers which is beneficial as you are taught the
topic from different perspectives. Class time also depends on the lead academic
as my first unit was two day a week and one seminar/workshop per lecturer on
the final week of their teaching. The second unit was every day and then a
seminar/workshop. There are course readings, depending again on the lecturers
as to how many there are, however as many students are non-native English
speakers the discussions can revolve around understanding the English first and
then the overall text.
Please tell us about the city you
lived in...
Malmo is not a city I would call pretty. It is an ex-industrial
city and you can still see the history in the buildings and the port that is
being slowly redeveloped. It is, however, a city worth exploring. The central
district is quite small and able to be walked in half an hour, if you are just site
seeing, or you can catch the train to the next shopping district of Hyllie (also
in walking distance) or continue to Copenhagen, Denmark. That’s what I loved most
about Malmo was the accessibility to the shops, university, Copenhagen or just
a coffee shop for fika. You can walk, ride your bike (most common mode of transport
for students), catch the bus (stops out the front of Ronnen/celsisus garden
student housing) or the train to Lund, Gothenburg, Stockholm or Denmark. (the
app for tickets for the bus and train is in English, has student discount and
make life a breeze)
I didn’t eat out too much in Malmo as I found it cheaper to
cook and then freeze meals and save my cash for travelling, however a coffee
and a cinnamon bun was a weekly must!!! I
did use google translate when I first went shopping only to understand what I
was buying (I have a nut intolerance so had to check), however, it is easy to figure
out.
The locals are quite a diverse mix as it is generally the
place that migrants begin their journey into Sweden with many not moving on from
Malmo. On induction day we were informed by the university that Malmo City is
as diverse in cultures and languages as New York City!!!!!! So, whatever you
are craving food wise you are guaranteed to find it 😊
What were the best parts of your Exchange experience?
The people!! The travel!! The snow!! The adventures!! There
are soo many happy memories and 1000’s of photos to go with. From meeting my
floormates for the first time, to cruising down the Neva River in Russia drinking
cheap champagne, to seeing snow falling for the first time. To finding a hidden
bar with my best friends (both I met in Australia and we organised to meet in
Gothenburg as a catch-up) to the amazing apple pie in Poland. Getting lost
(almost everywhere), finding hole in the wall coffee shops and cosy fika with
friends old and new. Celebrating Christmas and New Years in different
countries. It was allllllll amazing!!!!!!!!!!
Was there anything you struggled
with while on your Exchange? Did you get homesick? Did you experience culture
shock? How did you deal with these challenges?
The biggest struggle I had was the weather!!! I was (I
thought) prepared for the darker days and the cold. I didn’t realise how much
sunshine we actually have here in Perth, even in winter, until there wasn’t
any. A floormate from Turkey found out that in November we had a maximum of
22/23 hours of sunlight…… for the whole month!!!!!!!! I did struggle with that…
I just wanted a day of sunshine to feel it on my skin and to warm my bones…... and
I wasn’t the only one! When there isn’t daylight till 9am and it sets at 3:30/4pm,
I can completely understand why Swedes celebrate mid-summer!!!! The best way I
found to overcome this is to not remain locked in doors, even if its raining…
go outside. Put on some wet weather gear and go for a ride or a walk and
catchup with some other students for fika or a study group, and travel!! The
more you remain indoors the worse it feels!! I didn’t get homesick as this
wasn’t the first time I had travelled, and I stayed in touch with family via
facetime, but I did enjoy chatting with my floormates and learning about them,
their family and the differences and similarities between cultures. We
(floormates) organised multiple group dinners, movie nights, card games and
drinkies to remain sane.
Please tell us about where you
lived while on Exchange. How did you find your accommodation? What was the
accommodation like? What advice would you give someone else about accommodation
in your host city?
The property is an old converted hospital that has 5 floors
dedicated to all international students studying at Malmö, called Ronnen
international student housing. You will always find someone to talk to from
another nation or if feeling homesick someone from Australia or New Zealand is
always around (we are a minority but you can’t mistake the accent J) the rooms were all
different sizes some quite large, but even the “small” rooms, like I had, still
had enough room for a bed, desk, book shelf and I could still comfortably do
yoga or have friends over without feeling cramped. You have you own bathroom
which is a HUGE blessing considering each floor as 25+ people living there, but
you do share the kitchen…. This depending on your cleanliness can either be
awesome (i.e. don’t care) or a bit of a frustration (if you need it/like it organised
and clean) it’s usually not too bad but there is always a floor party happening
somewhere soooo depending on if it was your floor that week depends on how bad
it can get J It
also helps that just across the road is a massive supermarket.
How did you fund your Exchange
experience? OS Help Loan? Scholarships? Personal savings?
All of the above and then some
birthday/Christmas money from family for extra adventures ;) can’t hurt to ask
right :-)
Did you undertake an Internship, or
did you volunteer while on your Exchange? If yes please provide details about
where, what you did and what you gained from this experience.
Whilst, I didn’t do an internship or any “official”
volunteering, I was one of only three native English speakers in my unit. So, I
offered up some of my time to help many of my classmates in proofreading
assignment and explaining concepts and terms. As a uni student I am well aware
how “academic speak” differs greatly from everyday conversational language,
this is no different to students who are competent English speakers but it is
their 2/3/4 language… and sometimes a dictionary can complicate or simply
become tiresome when trying to read academic literature.
I highly recommend doing this as it’s just a
fun way to interact with other students but also learn about them, their
culture and language and laugh at the idiosyncrasies of the English language. Also,
a great way to enjoy fika!!!!!!!
Did you do any travel while you
were on exchange? Tell us more!
I travelled as much as I could!!! With Europe
so close it seemed crazy not too!! When studying in Europe you join the ESN (Erasmus
student network) through this and the uni I was able to join two tours at
student discounted prices! The first was to mother Russia J
this trip was with 400 other uni students from around the Nordic region and was
utterly incredible! We took a cruise ship from Stockholm and travelled to
Helsinki, Finland and did a day tour in and around this beautiful city… they
LOVE to brag about being the happiest place on earth J
we then travelled onto St. Petersburg, Russia (visa free and the main reason
why I went!!). With multiple tour busses arranged through TimeTravels (the tour
company) we overtook the city. From all the main touristy hotspots to the night
life and river cruises. It was days blurred together of laughter, picture
taking, selfies and complete awe at the incredible architecture and amazement
at a whole generation who are surviving without Spotify!!! On our return trip
we stopped off for a day trip at Tallinn, Estonia. Definite bucket list place!
My next ESN journey was to see Santa, snow, reindeers, huskies, swimming in the Arctic Ocean, northern lights and plenty of
sauna! We travelled to Lapland, Finland. As much as I loved Russia, this truly
was my ultimate goal/journey/experience and was completely breathtaking! The
stillness after a snowstorm, the crunch of the snow underfoot, the absolute coldness
that’s creeps in when it’s 25 below is just something that MUST be
experienced!!!
I personally travelled to Lapland, Sweden
because I couldn’t get enough of the snow!!! To Berlin, Germany and saw the
Berlin Wall and walked through the Holocaust memorial…it was beyond emotional.
I travelled to Poland just after New Year’s Day and made the quick trip over
“the” bridge to Copenhagen, Denmark many times over (New Year’s was insane due
to the freedom of fireworks!!), and of course travelled around Sweden.
What advice would you give someone
who is considering / about to embark on Exchange?
Do it!!! Don’t think about the what if’s… the
experience is life changing… just go!!!!
- Justine studied abroad at Malmo University in Sweden.
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