Mobility specification

Country:Sweden

Institution:University of Gothenburg

City:Gothenburg

Program:Erasmus+ for study

Activity type:Study

Academic year:2023/2024

MU faculty/department:Faculty of Arts / Department of European Ethnology

Study level abroad:Bachelor

🎓Hit the books! How do you rate the university experience?

Can you enroll in a course where you can learn the local language?yes

Does the university offer enough courses in English?they have tons

Are your credits converted?no

Was there anything in the teaching methods that surprised you?The Swedish semester is divided into "quarters", at the end of which an exam is taken (so ,,4x exam"). The quarters are filled with individual subjects, the difficulty of which is determined by a percentage. If a subject has a difficulty of 100%, the student should not add another subject to it because it is expected to take up all the study time.
In this way, I had one course enrolled in the first quarter, another in the second quarter (both at 100%), and two courses with 50% difficulty in the last two quarters running concurrently. And even though at first I couldn't get used to taking an exam every month and a half, in the end it suited me quite well, because I was able to schedule my time better, the stress was quite short-lived, and the end of the semester was really relaxing. Specifically at my faculty, Humanisten, most of the courses ended with either a presentation or a term paper. Of the five courses I took, none ended with a test.
But what surprised me the most was the informality of my studies - Swedes are very open, I addressed all my teachers by their first names :D.

Does the university offer international students' programs and activities outside of lectures and seminars to help them integrate more quickly?Yes! Lots of get-to-know-you events and activities at the beginning of the semester, various trips, parties, get-togethers... The programmes were arranged by the management, university-wide societies, but also by faculty societies or the volunteer Erasmus Student Network Göteborg in cooperation with other Swedish branches.

In which areas does the university offer support for students with special needs and strive to be inclusive?Psychological counseling
Barrier-free access to classrooms and dormitories
Special aids and technologies (e.g., text-to-speech software, hearing aids)
Special examination conditions (e.g., extended time, quiet rooms)
Crisis intervention
Support for LGBTQ+ students (e.g., safe spaces, counseling services)

💸Did you have to rob the bank?

Try to take a guess at what your monthly expenditures were:16000 CZK/month

Did you stay in dorms?yes

What about unexpected expenses? Did anything surprise you?An unexpected expense for me was the purchase of a wifi router, because even though I lived in the dorms, every student had to get their own internet. The only other unexpected expense was an emergency room visit with conjunctivitis, but this was then covered by the Swedish insurance that the visiting university had arranged for me.

Do you have any tips on how to save money?I saved the most money by moving into a dorm where I shared a kitchen. Dorms with private kitchen cost up to 150 Euro/month more.
Then I definitely benefited from downloading the Mecenat app, which offers students really great discounts in many areas - transport, shops, cafes and restaurants...
It helped me a lot to choose the cheapest food chain (Willy's). There were regularly pretty big discounts on groceries. I did a lot of my cooking in the dorms, which also saved me money - although some of the prices in Sweden and the Czech Republic are comparable, the restaurants in particular are much more expensive.
But because Sweden is so sustainable, you can save money in such simple ways as bringing your own cup to cafes - you can pay up to 30 CZK less for a coffee!

🗺 Learn the ropes in a new city

How well did you manage to communicate in English?perfectly

How does public transport work in the city?runs like clockwork

And what about transport outside the city?runs like clockwork

Where to find connections? How to buy a ticket?The easiest way is to download the Västtrafik app, which covers public transport not only in Gothenburg, but in the entire Västra Götaland region. The app can be switched to English and shows all the services, which public transport platforms they leave from, what delays they have, or if a service has been cancelled for unusual reasons. The app also makes it easy to buy a one-time ticket or coupon, which you can then present at tram checks or when boarding a bus.

Did you deal with any health issues during your stay?yes

How do you rate the availability of healthcare?neutral

🤠Help create the perfect bucket list

What is a must-see in the city?A "must see" is definitely the Gothenburg archipelago, the botanical garden and Slottskögen forest park, the historic city centre, the harbours for which Gothenburg is famous, but also the typically Swedish lakes and nature reserves that fall under the city administration.
Well, the last tip is not a "must see" but a "must try", and that is Swedish fika. <3

What are the must-visit trip destinations?Anywhere in the countryside. Whether it's the woods or somewhere along the west coast. But other Swedish cities such as Lund, Stockholm, Malmö or Lidköping are also worth a visit... All can be reached by direct bus and train connections. And if you want to go on a bigger adventure, it's also relatively easy to get across the Arctic Circle to Swedish Lapland, take a trip to Norway or take a ferry to Denmark.

Share your best experience:My favourite memory is the trip to Kiruna in March. There, I had the opportunity to spend three nights with my friends in a camp where we had to make our own fire, try fishing in a frozen lake, but we also had a sauna or drove a snowmobile. Then we spent a couple of nights in the village of Jukkasjärvi, where we visited the Sami culture museum and the famous Icehotel. Even in mid-March there was almost 2 metres of snow and at night when we went to the lake to watch the Northern Lights it was -25 degrees - just a true Swedish experience. :D

💅A nugget of wisdom to make the life easier

Did you need to handle a visa?no

How did you get to the place?Car

Is there anything to watch out for before the trip?The airport is located outside the city, but it is easy to get to by bus, which leaves every 20 to 30 minutes. So just a one-way ticket costs almost 500 CZK. :')
The administration was pretty easy and straightforward - the only thing to watch out for is to plan your exam time well, especially if you're going for the spring semester. In Sweden the semester lasts almost 5 months, so it starts in mid-January. It's a good idea to have all your exams done by then.

Can you pay by card?everywhere

What not to forget when packing?Lots of warm clothes - thermal underwear, waterproof clothes, shoes with non-slip soles. Gothenburg is often cold and windy and it rains a lot, so especially in the winter, most of the city turns into a nice iceberg (which doesn't mean I haven't experienced some nice, warm, sunny days too!) Up until the end of February, it was easily -15 degrees during the day and it doesn't get too warm in the dorms either, so warm sweatshirts and socks come in handy. :D

🥳Summary

Whew, what a ride! 😮‍💨 Thanks so much for taking the time to complete our survey and for sharing your unique experience. Just one last thing. 🙏 How would you summarize your trip in one or two sentences?The trip to Sweden was a highlight of my undergraduate studies and continues to inspire me both in my personal and academic life. As well as helping me to truly become independent, boosting my confidence and giving me friends from all over the world, it also created a huge addiction to cardamom snails.