Studying at Uppsala University

A bit about Swedes

2011-09-20T14:06:00.003+02:00

Hello everyone!

I just read this great comment on an older post and I think these answers could help many of you out there... I must say, as usual, that Uppsala is a great city. Yes, it is not so big and it might seem calm from time to time but the student life is great here! There are so many events and things to do here. It is always nice to meet your friends for fika, meeting them at the nations for a couple of drinks, food, concerts, parties... You can find students associations or groups for almost everything here: practicing a language, dancing, acting, reading... The hard part is finding time to actually go to class!

I must say that, at least for me, the cultural shock was not so big. I believe it is important to know a few things about Sweden and Swedes in order to be prepare and reduce the shock as much as possible:

Swedes are EXTREMELY punctual! Their definition of meeting at 13:00 is meeting at 13:00 and arriving at 13:05 will be consider late. You can actually see teachers looking at their watch (or the room's clock) before the class so they can start exactly on time. Be prepare for any teacher to tell you that if you arrived 5 minutes late you'll have to reschedule the meeting.
Swedes are very helpful, nice and friendly. Still, it's not common for them to start talking to you on the streets or a line for no reason. Maybe they'll talk to you to practice your language (many of them speak another language besides English and Swedish) but they consider saying "hi" for no reason as an intrusion. Still, if you say "hi" to them it's fine because they think that's part of YOUR culture and they think it's nice. So... you'll be OK being yourself, but don't expect them to act as someone from your country. They'll be themselves...
It's OK to call teachers by their given name. Actually everyone uses just given names and that's OK.
They all have lunch at 12:00 and you won't be able to explain that's also possible to eat at 11:30 or 13:00.
They are really really friendly and eager to help.

In my opinion if you're planing to come here as an exchange student, a year would be better than only one semester. I think there are many things to do and there are great things whole year round. Drinking champagne and making boats for Valborg in Spring is great. Skating from Uppsala to Stockholm and playing with the snow during the winter is also great. So, it's really hard to pick. There are many international students here and we all enjoy Uppsala the whole year!

How's the weather here? Well, that's hard to say... 2 years ago was one of the coldest winters in Uppsala, and last winter was the coldest on record! So... From my experience, winter is COOOOOLD!!!!!!!!! Usually around -10 C with lots and lots of snow. Swedes say that usually there was not that much snow and that it hardly was colder than 0 C... I guess I'll have to see this winter to let you know more.

If any of you finally decides to come to Uppsala, let me know! :-)

Getting a cellphone in Sweden

2011-09-05T10:23:00.002+02:00

Hej! :-)

This post might be interesting for just a small group of students out there, but I still it is worth writing. Some of you might be thinking about getting a new cellphone once you are in Sweden or maybe you just want to have a post paid plan so you don't have to worry about actually having credit/money on your phone when you really really need to make a call. Maybe you're just one of those who likes using a Black Berry... For all of you I must say that you'll have to wait... and then wait a bit more... It turns out that when you want to sign up for a contract with any phone company you need to have at least 6 months in Sweden (maybe 8... I think the employees really don't know and it's just an automated check). Anyway, it's not like you'll show them your plane ticket, it's more like they will ask for your personnummer and the system will say you can't sign a contract... Then my advice is for you to get your personnummer as soon as you can so you can start thinking about a contract next year. You'll probably get better prices and you can even get your dream phone a lot cheaper!

And one more things about cellphones! If you try to buy one with a contract, ask about unlocking the phone! Maybe this is super common now (it was not so common to me), but after some time with the company you can actually unlock you phone and use it in your own country after you leave.

Have a great week all of you!

A new year just started

2011-09-04T09:32:00.002+02:00

Hej everyone!

I'm happy to see a lot of new students in Uppsala this year! As you might guess, I'm not taking any courses but you can still see me around Polacksbacken working as a teaching assistant for the Artificial Intelligence and the Constraint Programming course. I'm doing more things than just that... I'm also writing things... Figuring out what to do next... and FINALLY I'm taking a Swedish course! and Chinese... Maybe it's a bit late to start formally learning Swedish but I like to think that never is too late. Am I rambling today? Well, let's go back to the original point... I'm glad to see many new students in Uppsala. I think every year new people bring with them culture, experiences, ideas and smiles.

I'm also really happy to see here a couple of Chinese friends that I met in Shanghai. They remind me of all the great times I had there and how much I miss it! Don't worry, when I was there I was missing Uppsala as well. For me that's the hardest part about moving: you get to experience great things but at the same time you always end up missing the good things about that other place were you used to live. I believe I enjoy Chinese food a bit more right now and it brings back a lot of happy memories. So, to all of you who are here now and those who would like to come I'm warning you! After you come here you'll miss Uppsala for the rest of your life! You'll miss the friends, the nations, the outdoor activities, learning and many many other things depending on what you like.

I won't finish the post without saying that the weather is still pretty nice, but it is autumn already. Don't be fool by what you learned in your own country: it is autumn and it will be winter pretty soon!

As I always say, feel free to ask any questions about the University, the city or whatever I can help with!

Sweden through my eyes

2011-04-09T21:34:00.003+02:00

I've been reading a lot of posts and articles about Sweden lately, specially about the new university fees. I most say that a small comment on any of those posts won't express all my feelings. Well, probably this post won't express all my feelings either but I would like to try. I'm really disappointed to hear so many irrational complains on this subject. I really thought that potential master students were grownups, but now I doubt it.

First of all, it's Swedes right to apply tuition fees, after all, they do pay for maintenance of the university buildings, libraries, teachers, employees, etc etc etc, so, if they decided to put a value to it and charge something for what they offer they are free to do it. After all, I don't think anyone reading this post think that they are going to work for free (or at least work at a university for free). Swedes pay taxes and the government uses those taxes to pay for the universities so I think it's fair to charge those who haven't pay taxes a tuition fee.

Second, maybe the tuition is a bit high, maybe the living expenses are high as well. Maybe some people love the snow and some just hate the winter. It doesn't mean the price is not right. We've all heard about supply and demand. From where I come from, the best universities were free and the bad ones were really expensive. Why? Well, the best ones were public universities (and free in consequence) but they are really hard to get in, so... everyone who wants to study and doesn't get into a publish school have to pay. What I mean by this is that the price might not have a direct relation with the quality of the school. I do think that Uppsala University is a great University and I would have thought that people applied here not just because of the free tuition but because of the quality. Studying takes time and effort so I want the best education I can get, not just a cheap one.

Third, I don't think the fees has anything to do with excluding international students at all. What I do know, and I know it because I've seen it, is that some students just pretend to have money to survive while their are studying and as soon after they arrive they put all their effort into getting a job even at the expenses of their courses. They don't go to class, they don't do the assignments, they don't take the exams. Their only intention was to get into Sweden (or maybe just Europe) somehow and have a legal status to get a job, but they couldn't care less about their master program. This is just wrong! This is not good for Sweden, it's not good for the image of the immigrants, it's not good for other serious students that were not offered a sit... But they might think twice about it after paying the fees.

Forth, Swedes are extremely friendly and have an speak EXCELLENT English! I've been in many many countries. I've been in Venezuela, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, France, Morocco, China... (I think you get the point) and Sweden is the only non English speaking country I've been were actually everyone speaks English and they do it really well too. I mean, even in the US I've seen people pretending not to understand tourists (in English) just because they are mean and racist. This is the only country were you can really go around with no problems while not speaking the language. And after all these I still have to hear people complaining that you can't get a job if you don't speak Swedish! For God's sake! English is NOT the official language! I would like to see anyone getting a job in Spain without speaking Spanish! It would have to be a super big company and you would have to be a super star and still, since most people don't speak English I don't think how you could work. The fact that a university offers programs taught in English doesn't mean that you can get a job by speaking just English.

Sweden is a lovely country, night life is fine, food is fine, everything is fine. Yes, you have to adapt a bit. You'll fine Swedish food! You won't fine Spanish food everywhere like in Spain, you won't find Chinese food on every corner like in China, you'll find Swedish food like the one you can eat in Ikea. You won't find Italian night life or French night life, it will be Swedish stile and if you're open to it you'll have a GREAT time!

So please! Stop complaining as if Swedes owe you free education! Apply to the universities you like and enjoy it! If you don't like Swedish universities just don't come. I'm sure there is enough people who disagree so don't worry, they won't close the universities any time soon.

Uppsala Ice Festival 2011!!

2011-02-18T21:16:00.000+01:00

From February 12-20 2011, Uppsala celebrated its very first Ice Festival. During this week you could see many ice sculptures around the city, but the biggest collection was located in the City Park.

During the festival week, the Svandammen pond was lit up and open to the public for ice skating to music, which apparently is an old tradition from the 1890s.

I think the festival really brought light and happiness to the city. It is one of those things that takes the dark winter days and makes them a little happier. There were lots of people taking pictures of the sculptures and you could even see the artists finishing some of them. Every time I decided to enjoy the sculptures the day started with a typical Swedish tradition: fika. Either at the nations or at any of the many coffee shops in the city it is always a good plan to meet for fika and talk for a while.

Of course, I wasn’t going to be the only one without taking pictures so I hope you enjoy them!

For more information you can visit the Ice Festival website: www.isfestivalen.se/

Going to the movies in Uppsala

2011-01-20T13:13:00.004+01:00

Well, as you might now by now I'm back in Uppsala! Don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't like living in Shanghai (because it is an awesome city), but I did miss the peaceful atmosphere that you can find in Uppsala, and the snow!!!!!!

I want to start saying that Uppsala is covered with snow this time of the year and it is lovely. I find very relaxing the idea of walking on the streets breathing the cold air and looking at the trees and ceilings covered with snow. So, last night my boyfriend and I decided to go and watch Harry Potter 7 (which btw is a lot better that the previous one) and walk around a little bit. The walk was as I remembered it from last year. The cinema was nice, small and cozy as we watched the movie in the smallest room (about 60 seats). The thing that amused me the most was the price: 2 tickets, 2 sodas and a big ball of popcorns = 299 SEK. Yes, it might seem pretty normal to everyone, it was actually pretty normal for me, until I went to China and got used to the idea that it was a lot of money!

I hope that all of you get to come to Uppsala (if that is what you want of course) and enjoy walking around the river in the city center as much as I do :-)

Uppsala University Nations

2010-12-03T06:09:00.002+01:00

Until last year, being a member of any of the student nations was mandatory so, there was no way you didn't visit them at least once! Now this is optional, which means there are a lot of students who doesn't join and doesn't enjoy this great part of the student life in Sweden. Taking part on the different activities organized by the nations is a great and cheap way of having a lot of fun! You'll make a lot of friends and specially it is a good way to meet more Swedish students that otherwise might be hard to meet in the international masters (I'm saying it's hard, not impossible)

I just want to leave you here a list with the links to the nations' websites. I REALLY encourage you to check them out and join any of them once you're in Uppsala! You can choose one based on your interests, hobbies, scholarships, housing needs... (yes, some of them even offer housing!) and don't worry, it's not a life-time commitment! After you join any of them you can take part in others nations activities and you can even change your membership from one nation to another.

In case you were wondering... I'm a member of SNerikes nation! :-)

Writing from Shanghai!

2010-11-24T12:06:00.007+01:00

Hello everyone! Even when this blog is about studying and living in Uppsala, I’m going to write from Shanghai today. I’m currently studying in Tongji University and I will be back to Uppsala next semester. I’m part of a double degree program in Computer Science and, as part of the program, I’m taking some courses in Tongji University. I have to say that I love Shanghai! It’s an amazing city! And more importantly I think Tongji University is a great place to study.

For those of you who might be interested on this program I will say that it is a great opportunity. Uppsala University is, as you probably already know, a renowned University very strong in CS research. On the other hand, Tongji is also an excellent University with tight industry relations. I’m currently taking a Data Warehouse course taught by the DW eBay team. You can see google camp posters everywhere, IBM recruitment posters, contests, etc. You will work with the latest technology.

The hardest part about studying in Tongji is the cultural differences. You might have to double check everything, talk many times to your classmates and the teachers, and be sure you know what to do. On the beginning it might seem like everything is the same as in your home country until you start having misunderstandings. Hopefully you’ll solve them very quickly and I’m sure everyone will try to help you because if I’m sure about something is that all Chinese students and teachers that I have met are nice and friendly and they will try to help you as much as they can.

I’m sorry for being away for so long! I hope you don’t forget about me and about the blog!

Getting your Personnummer

2010-04-26T19:37:00.004+02:00

As you'll soon discover, once you arrive to Sweden you'll need to get your own personnumer. You'll need this number in order to open a bank account and to be able to work here. It's very easy to get and it will take you like an hour of your life and 1-3 weeks of wait after that until you receive it at your home address (here in Uppsala). Remember to take your passport with you when you go there!

You can get it at the Swedish tax offices called Skatteverket and you can find one at this address:

View Larger Map

A little bit about this period

2010-04-18T15:21:00.003+02:00

You might already know that courses in Uppsala University are mostly taught only during one period (half semester). All courses range from 5 to 15 credits and if you plan to finish your degree on time, you should take 60 credits per year. Nevertheless, do not believe that the workload of each course is 100% based on the credits: many students (including myself) complain about this problem. There are courses of 7.5 or 10 credits that are actually OK, but many 5-credit courses seem to require a lot of work, sometimes even more than a 7.5-credit course.

This period I’m taking User Interface Programming II (5) and Machine Learning (7.5). It’s less than 15 credits but I already took extra credits the previous semester. You might be interested on following on twitter how much I’m actually working on each course. As a spoiler, I’ll probably be working more on the UIP2 course than in ML. Why? Well, it’s a project-based course without final exam, which means that the whole evaluation is made on one single project that has to be developed during the course. Be careful with project-based courses: they are usually very good and very interesting, but in order to make the most of them you have to work A LOT every week. In fact, when I tool UIP1 I have to say that I learned way too many things about developing graphical interfaces and I met very nice people, but I spent most of the period working only on this course. My advice: combine those courses with regular courses so you can get a better balance and some free time.

If you want to know more about the courses just follow these links: User Interface Programming 2 and Machine Learning.

Follow me on twitter!

2010-04-13T12:57:00.000+02:00

I believe that the hardest information to find on the Internet about Sweden and Uppsala University is about the little things that students do on regular basis. I wanted to invite you all to follow me on twitter and get a better idea not only about what I think of my days but about what I do. You’ll see if I have lectures, if I’m working on my assignments or just enjoying some free time!

I hope you like it!

I also want to thank all my readers! I’m incredibly happy that you all have found this blog useful and I’ll keep writing based on your suggestions.

The cost of living in Sweden

2010-04-12T21:18:00.001+02:00

When thinking about studying in Sweden, a very common question is: how much money do I need? Well, I have to say that, at least from my experience, living here it’s quite expensive. Still, since I think this is a very personal opinion, I believe it would be better to share some numbers with you. I took some numbers from the website http://www.studyinsweden.se but mostly I’m putting my comments.

Food: SEK 2000. I believe this is possible, but in my opinion it will actually be more expensive. Having lunch at Rullan, an on-campus restaurant in MIC, costs around SEK 80 and a regular meal at Burger King costs SEK 60. Of course cooking your own food is cheaper, but still you’ll find that 1 litter of milk costs SEK 10.90, 1 box of All Bran cereal costs 31.90 and 1 litter of juice costs around SEK 10. In my opinion the cost of food is at least SEK 3000.

Accomodation: SEK 3200. One thing that’s really nice about Sweden is that you’ll find a nice place to live for very little money. You can pay in less than SEK 3000 for a 19m2 room in Flogsta, with your own bathroom and shared kitchen. All services are included (Internet, water and electricity) and you don’t have to pay for July and August. If you’re renting an unfurnished room, don’t forget to check IKEA.se to get a pretty good idea about furniture prices. Still, you can find used furniture for half the price!

Local travel: SEK 500. This number is actually the maximum amount you’ll have to pay. If you buy a bike, like most of the students and Uppsala inhabitants, you will only have to pay for it and forget about public transportation. If you want to use the buses you’ll have to pay SEK 30 to the driver for a ticket that lasts 90 minutes. If you buy the ticket using your mobile phone (text message) you’ll only have to pay SEK 20. You can also buy a rechargeable card. You’ll have to pay a SEK 90 deposit (that you get back when you return the card) and you’ll pay only SEK 16 for each trip. All those tickets include all the busses you take on a 90 minutes period. Finally, you can buy a monthly card that will cost you SEK 500 each month and you can use the buses as much as you want!

Student Union Fee: SEK 400 – 600 each semester. There is no way around it. You can pick the cheapest one if you want and you’ll still be able to visit all nations.

Cinema: SEK 110 – 130. You can find cheaper tickets during the weekdays using the student discount.

Books: SEK 500 – 1000. Buying used books it’s always cheaper and not all courses require you to buy a book.

Train trip from Arlanda Airport: SEK 130. The bus costs SEK 100 but the trip is a little bit longer.

Everything else depends on you. I would like to add that here alcoholic drinks are pretty expensive too. If you’re interested in some other expenses in particular just let me know about it!

A little bit of everything

2010-02-21T00:06:00.003+01:00

This post doesn't really have a specific topic: it's more like a summary of the latest weeks. First I have to say that I haven't have the time to write much since this period has been kind of crazy: a lot of programming and a lot of reading!

In case you were wondering, there are many courses that are project based. In my particular case I'm taking User-Interface Programing, but there are many other courses like this one, where you need to develop a group project during the whole period (or even 2 periods). The idea behind those courses is really good and you can learn a lot. At the same time they require hard work every week, group communication, researching and again: more work. This courses will also give you the opportunity to work with people with different backgrounds and make excellent friends.

For all those non EU/EEA citizens how are planning on coming to Uppsala, read this article about future University's fees.

http://www.thelocal.se/25092/20100219/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=136

Visiting Stockholm

2010-01-18T21:21:00.006+01:00

Less than an hour from Uppsala is the amazing city of Stockholm! I’ve been studying so much that I waited and waited until the winter break came and I finally went there! I honestly have to say I didn’t know what I was missing. Stockholm is actually a very beautiful city and it looked really amazing all covered with snow.

The train tickets are very cheap and you can come back to Uppsala the same day. You can walk around the city, visit some of its many museums and you can even take a boat trip.

If you are interested in taking a tour, I recommend you to look for the Hop On Hop Off tours. Just like in most cities around Europe they have many tours and even they have a boat route around the islands. The bus tour is a very good option during the cold days since you get to see the city, go off the bus in the places you like and then get in the bus again and hide from the cold weather.

Stockholm also has many outdoor theaters which I’m dying to enjoy during the spring!

Buying books in Uppsala

2009-11-11T17:58:00.006+01:00

Studying in Uppsala requires a lot of reading. I was used to the fact that going to the classes and reading a little bit was more than enough, but here in Uppsala doesn’t always work that way. You are going to see yourself many times in the situation were you need to read almost the whole book to actually understand the class and that requires owning the book.

Buying used books is always cheaper but they are hard to find since not everyone sells their books. Also, not everyone actually gives you a good deal and many people try to sell their books in almost the full price. Anyway, books are as expensive here as in any other place (at least from what I’ve seen). If you are looking for a place to buy your books you can go to Studentbokhandeln. The books there have an acceptable price, sometimes even cheaper than amazon.com and you will get a 10% student discount.

View Studentbokhandeln AB in a larger map

I know there is actually at least another book store here in Uppsala, but here I’ve always find the books I’m looking for.

Constraint Technology

2009-10-31T13:26:00.001+01:00

This course is about presenting a set of techniques and tools for solving combinatorial problems. For example, a Sudoku puzzle is a combinatorial problem where you need to place distinct digits from 1 to 9 in each row, column and 3x3 squares. Other examples include scheduling, planning, molecular biology, finance, linguistics, and so on.

This course combines theoretical foundations with hands-on experience in modeling and solving combinatorial problems.

You can find this course interesting if you like apply logic, reasoning and optimization. It’s not like any of those backgrounds are necessary for taking the course but it is that kind of course. If you are also interested in research you’ll really enjoy it. On the other hand, if you are more industry-oriented you can also find it useful but you need to give it a try. There are many examples during the course about how this is being used in industry and there is a guest lecture from a company working with CT that will try to attract you to work there.

In order to pass the course you will need to do 2 assignments with a partner and one final project by yourself. There is also a final exam. The assignments can take time if you are playing with them and testing different concepts. I think that really helps to understand better the theory. For the final exam is important that you manage all the concepts in the class. There are not so many concepts and everything is related, but you need to be sure you know how things work. If you go to class, do the assignments and solve some old exams you’ll be fine. But you really need to understand the class! If you feel like nothing makes sense and you don’t start understanding by the time you are working on the second assignment then the exam is going to be really hard!

Notice that it is just my personal opinion mixed with some comments I heard in order to give you an idea. If you like it, don’t let anyone tell you it’s too hard!

Walking around Uppsala

2009-09-13T10:56:00.002+02:00

When I decided to come and study in Uppsala University I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into. I have a friend how came few years ago as an exchange student and he’s truly fascinated about this place, so I said to myself: “It has to be a wonderful place”. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to walk a little bit around Uppsala I can understand why. It’s a beautiful city, full of flowers and people walking on the streets. The atmosphere is very refreshing and everywhere you look at you can see young people from around the world. If you pay attention you can hear people talking in a lot of different languages.

There are a lot of pretty places to visit. Sadly I haven’t had the chance to visit them all, but I recommend you to walk close the river, visit the cathedral, and the castle. Anyway, here are some pretty pictures about Uppsala and I hope I can share more with you very soon J

Something worth highlighting is that Swedes are very friendly: almost everyone speaks perfect English and in any case they will ALWAYS try to help you. They might seem timid and reserved, but you just need to give it a try and talk to them.

Flogsta Scream!

2009-09-11T21:08:00.001+02:00

I really don’t know why but every day at 10 pm you can hear a lot of people scream from their windows! Most people get scared the first time they hear it, but for me it was quite different: I immediately remember a Gilmore Girls episode when Rory is spending her first night in Yale and the boys are making wolfs sounds. It’s a really funny joining and screaming as much as you can!

Welcome to Uppsala University!!!

2009-08-30T19:40:00.006+02:00

The first week in Uppsala University is the Welcome week! During that time you’ll get to know your classmates, some teachers and received a lot of useful information. Also, during this week we all had to select our courses. Everyone in the master program had an individual meeting with someone from the CS department. In my opinion this meeting is an excellent idea. I had the opportunity to talk about the subjects that I like and discuss whether or not it was a good idea for me to take them. You can ask questions about the course syllabus, difficulty, pre requirements and whatever you feel you need to know to make an inform decision. It also shows that teachers really care about what you are learning. It’s also good to know that it’s possible to take few basic courses so you can learn things that you didn’t had the chance to learn during your bachelor degree.

Another activity we had was a BBQ! While enjoying a nice weather, soft drinks and hot dogs I talked to all the other people in the master and tried to get to know them. I started to learn their names and I asked them questions about their home countries and hobbies. I also found out who are going to be my classmates and we made study plans. There were also some old students who kindly talked to us in a very informal situation and asked our questions about living in Uppsala and gave us their opinion about the teachers and courses.

And in case you were wondering, I got my UpUnet account by Thursday so I now can use Internet at home!!!

Where is the Internet? T-4 days

2009-08-20T17:57:00.003+02:00

After I arrive at Uppsala, getting Internet wasn’t as easy as I though. Reading my room’s description I found out it has Internet access provided by the University. The catch is that to actually use it you need a UpUnet login and password. Since I decided to be prepared, I for looked information about how to get Internet access there.
In the International Student Guide I read about a coffee place named Café Barista and that it had free wireless. Let’s put it this way: the wireless was pretty much the same as not having Internet. I’m not saying it’s always that way, maybe they had a particular problem that day but none of the people there who were trying to use the wireless could actually get a conection. I probably won’t waste my time carrying my laptop all the way there again. BUT I have to say that the drinks we ordered were actually quite good! So, you can still go there for a nice cup of coffee!

Another place you can have Internet access is the public library, located just in from of the Café Barista. I didn’t try it. It was late and the library was already closed. The Uppsala Student Union was another option. It’s on Ovre Slottsgatan 7 but it closes at 17.00… It was already too late to go there…

Still, I needed the Internet! My boyfriend and I started walking around town to see if there was any other option and we found Uppsala Online. We were very lucky since it had opened just a few days before. The people there were very nice and helpful. The Internet access cost us 20Kr an hour and they had free coffee!

Also, another option is using the computers in the Burger King. You can easily find it and an hour of Internet will cost you 19Kr. The problem is that the computers are limited: you can't use a pendrive, print or anything like that.

Good news is that almost all nations have wireless so, after you join one you won’t have this problem again!

Getting ready! T-14 days!!!

2009-08-10T21:16:00.004+02:00

It’s only 2 weeks before the classes start and I’m still in Barcelona, Spain. I’m arriving to Uppsala on the 18^th and I started packing today! I checked the weather and it seems to be getting colder and colder already. So I decided to pack the autumn – winter cloth leaving behind all the shorts and swim suits.

I talked to a very dear friend of mine who was an exchange student in Uppsala University few years ago and he gave me some tips:

· DO NOT forget exchanging money before you arrive to Uppsala.

· There are 2 main ways to go from the Arlanda Airport to Uppsala. The first one is by train. It costs around SEK 90 - 140 and it takes 20 min to arrive. The second one is by bus. It’s a little bit cheaper (SEK 120) but it takes 50 min to get to Uppsala. It’s worth noticing that both train and bus arrive to the same place in Uppsala. Going by taxi to Uppsala would cost you approximately SEK 445 (ask for the fixed price). The taxi can normally be paid with a credit card.

· To activate your student Internet connection you’ll need to go to the Student Office. It’s located in the city center and you can get there in the bus 2 stop Universitetet.

· If you buy a bicycle you should also have the Cykel Karta (bicycle’s route map). Also check the legal requirements for driving a bike: if you don’t the lights and security requirements you could get a ticket (penalty). ALWAYS lock your bicycle or you’ll have to buy more than one…

· Buy an Uppsala Kortet (Uppsala bus card). It works for all the green busses in Uppsala and this way travelling in bus will be cheaper. You’ll find them in a store called Pressbyran. Those stores are located in the bus station and in the town center.

Waiting... T-35 days and counting!

2009-07-20T17:44:00.002+02:00

Everything seems to be falling into place: now that I’ve been accepted into the Master Program in Computer Science and I finally found a place to live it’s just a matter of time before I arrive to Uppsala. Personally, It feels like I’ve been waiting forever and I can’t see the day the classes are starting! Of course I’ve been thinking about all the things I have to do before moving to Uppsala and all the things I’m going to have to do once I’m there.

First of all, paying the student apartment is not everything: I need to go and pick up the keys… That means the day I arrive I’ll have tons of luggage with me and no place to go. Well, I’m adding “finding a hotel in Uppsala” to me to-do list. Also, once I get the keys I’ll have to buy some furniture. I’ll better look for an IKEA store and check a little bit what are they selling. It’s not rocket science thinking about going to IKEA since they are a low cost home products retailer founded in 1943 in Sweden. I’m not saying this is the best option, but right now is the only one I know.

What about bicycles? Every time I talk to someone who has been in Sweden the bicycles subject arise! Are all the students using bicycles for real? Even when it’s raining? Where can I buy a bicycle? I guess I’ll have to see all that for myself… In the meanwhile I’ll use the bus.

How to get a roof over your head in Uppsala?

2009-06-06T12:44:00.004+02:00

As you should know by now, Uppsala University doesn’t provide any kind of university housing as is common in some other countries. Unlike exchange students, as an international student you don’t receive any guaranteed housing. Finding somewhere to live in Uppsala can take time. It’s your responsibility to find somewhere to stay. So what can you do?

First, I would like to point out that it will take a lot of work on your behalf to secure housing. It is definitely not impossible but it is tiring. An important to know that in most of the cases you will end up signing a contract with a housing company – that is you are leasing directly from the housing provider. However, there is also a large sub-let housing market. To sub-lease housing means that you will be leasing it from a private person instead of a company. For example, I may have a contract with Heimstaden and I might decide to go to China and study for 6 months. Instead of cancelling my contract I can decide to lease my room privately to someone for that 6 month period, and then continue living in the room when I come back. So that is sub-leasing! The advantages with sub-leasing are that there is no waiting list and that rooms are almost always furnished. This disadvantage is that you have a restricted amount of time that you may live in that apartment/room, and if you haven’t signed a contract it is easy for the person to change the rental period/rent – not that this happens very often but it is a risk that you don’t have when renting directly from a housing provider. Notice that the demand for housing is greatest during the beginning of the semester, so if you have a place to live but would like to move then doing it during October-November or March-June will be easier.

You should follow this list step by step. Hopefully you will have secure some kind of accommodation before reaching to the end. If not, the last few items are about temporary housing like hostels.

Contact your contact person at the department and ask for help finding housing. It is possible that they have contacts on the housing market, or indeed have their own solution to the problem.
Check theHeimstadenwebsite. This housing company doesn’t have a waiting list for its rooms, which is advantageous for students who do not have hundreds of days in a housing queue. Check it regularly because new rooms become available often. The rooms are mostly corridor rooms in a student area called “Flogsta”. This area is very nice. It has an ICA market very close and few restaurants. They also have few rooms with their own kitchen inside. Their site is available in English. The button for English is in the top right. The room’s description is in Swedish, but you can always use Google translator or any other tool you like. Again, don’t be picky! You can apply for all the available rooms because you’ll get one only if you are fast and lucky enough.
Register at Studentstaden. This company is the largest provider of student housing in Uppsala. You should visit their website now and register so you start collecting “queue days”. The more queue days you have the better. They have a good English website and one can register in English as well. You can find the link down in the bottom right hand corner where it says "In English".
Check all the nations’ websites. I am not sure if you have heard of the so called “student nations” in Uppsala. You can find out more about nations in our “having fun” section. Each nation has its own housing for its members. Because the nations operate independently, there is no central place where you can apply for housing. You will need to visit the website of each of the 13 nations and find info about their housing. A list of the nations (with links) can be found here. There are four nations that do not require you to be a member in order to apply for a room and some of these have queues that you can sign up for before the semester begins. These are GH, Kalmar and Norrlands nations that also have queues, and Gotlands nation that you can apply for a room without being a member, but they do not have a queue. For all of these you will have to become a member once you have gotten a room, or better said in order to get a room.
The Student Union has possibly the largest sub-let housing database in Uppsala. It is called bostadsjouren. While the database is in Swedish there is a guidewhich will help you understand everything. When you find a room that you are interested in you need to contact that person yourself using the contact details you can find there.
Blocket is a popular Swedish site where people buy and sell things, including housing. This site is entirely in Swedish. Clicking on this link should help you to find the right page http://www.blocket.se/li?ca=10_s&cg=3020&st=u&w=1&m=113If it is not correct then follow these steps: openwww.blocket.se click on “Uppsala”. Where it says “alla kategorier” click and scroll down until you find “lägenheter”. Finally, click the button which says “uthyres”. Then click “sök”.
You can look for rooms atStudentlya Click on the English version, go to the drop down menu and choose Uppsala. The whole page is in English and you can find all sorts of housing announcements.
You may also write at tostig.tapper@uppsalahem.seand anna.lindholm-eriksson@uppsalahem.se, who are in charge of the accommodation at Döbelnsgatan 2C (a place which is closest to the campus), and ask them if you can secure an accommodation before your arrival in August '09. Try to write a full email, not just “Hi, can you give me a room? Thanks”
You can even try the local newspaper. The website iswww.unt.se Look in the left menu until you see “bostad”, then you can click on that and use their search function.
Try looking at the notice boards that exist at the various departments and at the Student Union. The words in Swedish that you are looking for are “rum uthyres” which means room “for rent”
Uppsala Nya Tidning (in Swedish) might have ads about rooms for rent.
In case you want to buy a place to live you can checkHemnet’s website.
Uppsala City Councilinformation on student accomodation (in Swedish, but with links and phone numbers). Under "Övrigt" (Other) you find a document with links to other small cities within commuting distance ("Närliggande kommuner"). For instance in Tierp (37 min. by train) and Heby (29 min. by train) you can find student apartments, but also regular apartments for 4000-6000 SEK/month that are large enough to share with 2 or 3 students. This may be a good solution while queueing for a student apartment in Uppsala.
Hotels can be found through the city of Uppsala. Please note that hotels normally arevery expensive in Uppsala. Klangs gränd extended stay has some reasonable options for longer stays, though.
Hotel Uppsala offers rooms for a monthly rate of approx SEK 6500.
If you still do not have a room and you will soon be travelling to Uppsala – I recommend that you check the Student Union’s website for information about extended stay accommodation, a comprehensive list of youth hostels and bed & breakfasts in Uppsala. You can check this HOSTEL at Kvarntorget 3, 754 20 Uppsala Tel: +46 (0)18-24 20 08 Mail:kvarntorget@uppsalvandrarhem.seThe price of a bed in a mixed dorm is 180kr per night. You have to pay 80kr for the towel and sheets if you don't have your own. You can find more hotels and hostels in the following link:http://www.uppsalastudentkar.nu/en/housinggudie/extendedstayYou need to book the bed at least 24h in advance.

Taking the TOEFL test

2008-12-27T21:50:00.001+01:00

One important requirement that appears every college application is the proof of proficiency in English and Uppsala University is not an exception to the rule. The most renowned English tests are TOEFL and IELTS and usually you can take any of those and send your results as part of your application package.

I personally decided to take the TOEFL iBT test. Why? Well, I felt a lot more confident with it. I have friends that had already taken. I also took a TOEFL course for the computer base version when I was in college. As everyone who planes to study in a foreign language I felt confident with my knowledge of English. I felt I didn’t have problems reading any kind of books, manuals, jokes, etc. I felt I could understand movies and most songs. I knew I could write emails and chat with my friends. I also felt confident with my ability to talk and have a conversation in English. But was I really ready to take the TOEFL? I didn’t feel so sure about that. Even when the minimum score required by Uppsala University wasn’t as high as the required by other universities I didn’t want to risk my seat at the Master of Computer Science just because I was too lazy to practice a little bit.

Since I was going to do my best, the first thing I did was buying a book. I check the TOEFL website for recommended books and decided to buy "The Official Guide to the New TOEFL iBT with CD-ROM (Official Guide to the New Toefl Ibt)". The book turned out to be pretty good. I did all the exercises and I can say I gained a lot of confident. I can also say that I improved a lot my scores in the practice tests. In my opinion it’s not like you are going to learn English with this book, or any other book for that matter, but the book will help you to get to know the structure of the test and to develop your own answering strategy.

The other important thing about the test is the essay, horrible essay. Like I said before, I’m used to write some emails and stuff like that, but I almost never had to write something as formal as an essay. In the book I found some guidelines. I also found recommendations on the TOEFL website and some other sites but I needed more than just that. I’m very lucky because my boyfriend speaks English perfectly so all I needed was to make a pretty face and ask him for help (hopefully you can find a friend or teacher who can help you too!). When I had the time I took my laptop, picked a topic and wrote an essay. By the way, I’m not saying you have to think the essay topic; you just need to pick one from the list of essay topics available in the TOEFL site. I still think my boyfriend took too much pleasure into crossing everything out of my essay but it was worthy! As you might have guessed I also practiced for the speaking section with him.

Now I can officially say that I have a score of 109 and I got 28 in the writing section!!!! This is my first step in getting into Uppsala University and so far everything is good! I wish you all get a seat on your dream university.