Studying abroad in Sweden next year

[redmoretrout]

So next year I moving from Canada to Sweden to study there for a year. I'm curious if any of you have other lived abroad for a time, I wanna hear about your experiences/culture shocks.

Oh and if there are any Swedes here, anything I should know? Some dos and don'ts Maybe.

 

[Zontar]

For general culture shock I've got to say you'll be surprised in a way you won't expect: it won't be the things that are different that will cause it, it'll be the contrast between what is different and what is the same. I've had it three times in my life, all of which where during extended stays in other places that where nothing like Quebec (where I hail from). Can't give any tips on how to get over the feeling other then simply go with the flow. From what I've been told it usually takes about 6 months to get past it, and after that you start to really acclimate to it.

Sorry if I can't be more help, but the foreign places I've spent a long period in is the US, Australia and British Columbia (which, from someone from Quebec, is basically a different country)

 

[Mutant1988]

I don't really know what to tell you, because I don't know what's "normal" for you.

Do you guys tip at restaurants? I can tell you that is not a thing here. Trying to tip someone in Sweden will just make them confused and embarrassed.

I'm a Swede, for the record. Where are you studying (City wise)?

 

[redmoretrout]

I don't really know what to tell you, because I don't know what's "normal" for you.

Do you guys tip at restaurants? I can tell you that is not a thing here. Trying to tip someone in Sweden will just make them confused and embarrassed.

I'm a Swede, for the record. Where are you studying (City wise)?

Really no tipping eh? You've already saved me from an awkward conversation, thanks.

I'll be studying at either Kalmar or Växjö, the university has two campuses and I actually don't know which one I'll be going to

 

[Pinkamena]

It's hard to tell when I haven't been to Canada. Got no idea what the culture is like over there, so cannot compare it to the swedish. Just know that it will never be as good as Norway and expect angry stares and dead silence if you ever mention it.

 

[Mutant1988]

I don't really know what to tell you, because I don't know what's "normal" for you.

Do you guys tip at restaurants? I can tell you that is not a thing here. Trying to tip someone in Sweden will just make them confused and embarrassed.

I'm a Swede, for the record. Where are you studying (City wise)?

Really no tipping eh? You've already saved me from an awkward conversation, thanks.

I'll be studying at either Kalmar or Växjö, the university has two campuses and I actually don't know which one I'll be going to

That's way, way south of where I live. I would warn you that people talk funny down there, but I suppose anyone speaking Swedish would sound funny to you already.

Well, I can't really think of many more obvious things.

Do Canada do the same thing as the US with taxes being added to groceries and such? If so, that's not a thing here. VAT is always included in the price on the tag (So no need to add percentages).

If you can think of any question, I'll try to answer it as best I can. Back when I went to the equivalent of high school (I think? Different names, different amount of grades - It's very confusing) we had two exchange students, one from the US and one from Thailand.

I do think we Swedes, generally speaking, are very welcoming of exchange students and fascinated by our mutual cultural differences, so I don't think you will have that hard of a time fitting in and making friends.

 

[Mutant1988]

It's hard to tell when I haven't been to Canada. Got no idea what the culture is like over there, so cannot compare it to the swedish. Just know that it will never be as good as Norway and expect angry stares and dead silence if you ever mention it.

Oh shush you. You Norwegians think you're so great just because you have gas (You know, natural gas? Like, that's a big part of your economy... Whatever).

Why don't you come over the border and buy groceries, hm? I've heard they are super expensive over there from people that went there to work.

But yeah, just to clarify:

Swedish people think Norwegians sound like people that can't speak proper Swedish.
Norwegian people think Swedish people sound like people that can't speak proper Norwegian.
No one can understand the Danish, but they understand both.

Edit - Sorry for the double post. Does this site seriously not allow users to delete posts?

 

[Albino Boo]

It's hard to tell when I haven't been to Canada. Got no idea what the culture is like over there, so cannot compare it to the swedish. Just know that it will never be as good as Norway and expect angry stares and dead silence if you ever mention it.

Oh shush you. You Norwegians think you're so great just because you have gas (You know, natural gas? Like, that's a big part of your economy... Whatever).

Why don't you come over the border and buy groceries, hm? I've heard they are super expensive over there from people that went there to work.

But yeah, just to clarify:

Swedish people think Norwegians sound like people that can't speak proper Swedish.
Norwegian people think Swedish people sound like they can't speak proper Norwegian.
No one can understand the Danish, but they understand both.

They also have better cross country skiers, biathletes and ski jumpers, call yourself nordic, ha. Falun is going to be embarrassing for you poor Swedes. I have to say the Swedes can afford to eat and get drunk, Norway is eye wateringly expensive.

 

[Nomad]

I don't really know what to tell you, because I don't know what's "normal" for you.

Do you guys tip at restaurants? I can tell you that is not a thing here. Trying to tip someone in Sweden will just make them confused and embarrassed.

I'm a Swede, for the record. Where are you studying (City wise)?

Really no tipping eh? You've already saved me from an awkward conversation, thanks.

I'll be studying at either Kalmar or Växjö, the university has two campuses and I actually don't know which one I'll be going to

I'm thinking a lot of the most relevant information for you pertains to the system of higher education in Sweden. It's rather strongly regulated, for one thing, although I don't know how that compares to Canada. Practically all universities are government agencies (including Linnaeus, which is where you're going to study), so there's a high degree of transparency and equivalency demanded from them. Only the parts of your courses that directly and clearly contribute to your grading are deemed mandatory. If you're not getting graded, it's voluntary. Furthermore, only learning outcomes and course content explicitly mentioned in the syllabus can be tested. After turning in your assignments, you have a right to receive your grade for it within 15 work days.

As for the transparency - practically everything that isn't harmful to someone's personal integrity is a public document. This means you can request to receive old tests for the course you're taking, for instance. This usually helps a lot, since most teachers tend to establish a certain collection of essay questions that they then rotate between different years. If you focus your studies towards being able to pass the corresponding test three years back or so, you're bound to pass the actual test you're going to take.

Unionization is also very high in Sweden - up until a few years ago, joining the students' union was even compulsory for students. It's voluntary now, but the students' unions are still significant power players in the system - so the first thing I'd do would probably be to join the union at your university. Partly because it provides you with an ironclad safety net, and partly because they're also really good places to meet a lot of interesting people. Most of the social gatherings and whatnot are organized by the students' unions.

 

[Muspelheim]

What are you studying? If you're interested, I could dig up some historical points worth visiting if that is of interest.

One thing I can think of is that while most people in Sweden speaks english, a lot of people tend to overestimate their english rather severely. More or less everyone can speak very basic english, but it tends to be rather dreadful english picked up entirely on old re-runs of Friends. If you are unsure, do ask them to repeat. I'd imagine most people would rather like the opportunity to practice.

Kalmar and Växjö are very small cities, particularly by international standards. They won't have anything near the flamboyancy or diversity of a proper world city, but they'll propably have all you need. Ask around for the local watering holes.

Reguarding booze; booze is expensive in Sweden, and besides bars, it's only sold in particular stores ("Systembolaget", can't miss it) and you must provide a proper ID that ensures you're 20 years old or older. All bars have an 18+ limit, and some have more. If you look young (or look like trouble/look vaguely dark), keep your ID handy.

Norway is lovely, but don't consider a trip over; it'll ruin you and your future children.

(I'll come up with more when I sober up)

EDIT: the X in Växjö is pronounced as a 'ch'.

And this is how much 'small town' you can expect.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Kaggensgatan%2C_Kalmar.jpg

Pictured; street in Kalmar. It's lovely, but don't expect a proper city, y'know.

 

[Queen Michael]

I know a guy who came to Sweden from Canada. Fun guy.

So anyway, here's some advice for your stay in my lovely country:

1. DO remeber that eople in general Speak Good English, but they tend to have some problems with the actual language. So don't expect people to be as good at English as they think they are. (Eve I overestimate my language skills.) Our listening comprehension is better than our speaking skills, though. We don't have the large vocabularies we think.

2. DON'T eat surströmming or caviar. Just don't.

3. DO try kexchoklad. It's our most beloved candy bar, and for good reason.

4. DON'T try speaking English to senior citizens unless you're sure they speak English.

5. DO be constantly friendly and pleasant if you're black or Arab, to show people you're not one of those blacks or arabs. (I'm not trying to be racist, but I am a cynic when it comes to racism in society.)

 

[Atrocious Joystick]

Hard to say what kind of problems you might run into or how you'll like it here. I've met people from Iraq or Syria who fit right in without any real problems and people from countries like the UK that just seem to hate it. I think it's just the same as moving to any new place, if you make friends, find stuff to do and have fun you'll probably like it if you don't you won't. Sadly a lot of that is just down to chance.

One thing you should be prepared for, especially if you come from a larger city, is that both Växjö and Kalmar (especially kalmar) are small cities in the middle of nowhere and I haven't really heard of them spoken of as major student cities. Of course there is stuff to do but if you compare it to the "student life" to cities like Lund or Uppsala that are almost centered on its students (Uppsala also being a bit larger) it might be a bit barren. You will probably of course still have fun but these cities are not metropolises (metropoli?), neither of course are Lund or Uppsala but they tend to offer more in the form of nightlife and extracurricular activities for their students.

You're from Canada so the weather shouldn't be a problem for you, what might get you is the dark during winter which can get really depressing. We are much more northern than our relatively lenient weather would actually hint at thanks to the gulf stream and winters can get pretty dark, then again the summers will be really damn bright as a sort of bonus. I'm guessing the same will happen in the northernmost parts of Canada but if you're from the more southern parts it might come as a shock. Maybe, I'm not sure on exactly where Sweden would end up if you superimposed it over Canada, but I'm guessing somewhere in the north.

In general I can't think of any real major taboos that you could break. Both cultures are (essentially, since you come from here) european and will be very similar, it's not like you're going to visit some isolated island tribe.

 

[Mutant1988]

1. DO remeber that eople in general Speak Good English, but they tend to have some problems with the actual language. So don't expect people to be as good at English as they think they are. (Eve I overestimate my language skills.) Our listening comprehension is better than our speaking skills, though. We don't have the large vocabularies we think.

Most likely though, their accents won't bother you nearly as much as it does us other natives that can speak proper English.

Yes, I'm a snob when it comes to English. Sue me.

2. DON'T eat surströmming or caviar. Just don't.

Never eat Surströmming. Ever. It's not food, it's a human rights violation and a war crime.

As for caviar - We call an orange salty awful thing in tubes caviar, as well as the real thing. Make sure that you do not mistake the two.

3. DO try kexchoklad. It's our most beloved candy bar, and for good reason.

Just try chocolate, period. It's probably better here than it is over there. But then again, I don't know if Canada has as many substitutes for stuff like the US (Notably Cocoa fat and cheese). Anything from Marabou or Cloetta is magnificent. Kex chocklad (Chocolate layered with wafers) is no exception. It is a really good snack for keeping your blood sugar level up to survive long lectures (Along with fruit, if you like that).

4. DON'T try speaking English to senior citizens unless you're sure they speak English.

5. DO be constantly friendly and pleasant if you're black or Arab, to show people you're not one of those blacks or arabs. (I'm not trying to be racist, but I am a cynic when it comes to racism in society.)

Prejudice is a pretty severe issue over here now and it's worse down south. I wouldn't really say you need to be friendly and pleasant, but it might be worth dropping hints that you are from Canada as opposed to somewhere in Africa, Asia or the Middle East.

It all really depends on how you look, sad to say. A very vocal minority is keen to blame everything wrong ever on immigrants (Or rather, refugees).

It's really just a lot of people unable to appreciate how great we have it compared to the rest of the world that think it's fair to dump their issues on people that have fled from much worse conditions and only want to live without fear.

There are issues with integration and there are scum bags even among refugees, but that's not universal and those people can't grasp this. So just be vary of that.

 

[Queen Michael]

Never eat Surströmming. Ever. It's not food, it's a human rights violation and a war crime.

Indeed it is. Even when no actual war is going on. Not kidding about this.

Kex chocklad (Chocolate layered with wafers) is no exception.

Sorry to nag, but it's spelled "kexchoklad."

 

[Hartland]

Don't know how much of an Canadian thing it is but it is an USA thing so maybe it's an American thing? Oh well. TAKE OF YOUR SHOES when you enter someone's home! Shoes are for outdoors use and have no place beyond the hallway.

 

[Mutant1988]

Kex chocklad (Chocolate layered with wafers) is no exception.

Sorry to nag, but it's spelled "kexchoklad."

Yeah, I know. Stupid typo, because I do know the difference.

Hell, Swedish and English were the only subjects I ever had good grades in. Therein lies the issue really - English: Always a space (Only exception I've seen is really specific terms and titles). Swedish: Almost always no space (Because it changes the context of the word).

Don't know how much of an Canadian thing it is but it is an USA thing so maybe it's an American thing? Oh well. TAKE OF YOUR SHOES when you enter someone's home! Shoes are for outdoors use and have no place beyond the hallway.

Oh yes, shoes are off indoors.

 

[Dimitriov]

Kex chocklad (Chocolate layered with wafers) is no exception.

Sorry to nag, but it's spelled "kexchoklad."

Yeah, I know. Stupid type, because I do know the difference. Hell, Swedish and English were the only subjects I ever had good grades in.

Don't know how much of an Canadian thing it is but it is an USA thing so maybe it's an American thing? Oh well. TAKE OF YOUR SHOES when you enter someone's home! Shoes are for outdoors use and have no place beyond the hallway.

Oh yes, shoes are off indoors.

As a Canadian I have to say I am pretty sure that we all take our shoes off too. At least everyone I know does. After all Canada's a big country with a lot of mud and snow and it would be crazy to track that all inside. I always assumed the shoes inside thing was just from places like California or Nevada where people live in big sunny cities anyway. I doubt people in say Minnesota come inside wearing their boots during this half of the year.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Might I recommend http://satwcomic.com/ ?

Silly webcomic, but oddly informative about Northern Europe.

 

[Queen Michael]

Don't know how much of an Canadian thing it is but it is an USA thing so maybe it's an American thing? Oh well. TAKE OF YOUR SHOES when you enter someone's home! Shoes are for outdoors use and have no place beyond the hallway.

Oh yes, shoes are off indoors.

Yeppers. We even have a song about it: "Ta av dig skorna" by Povel Ramel.

 

[Mutant1988]

Might I recommend http://satwcomic.com/ ?

Silly webcomic, but oddly informative about Northern Europe.

Where's Finland? I like those guys... Well, the guys I know that are from there.

Edit - Oh there he is. And pretty faithful too (Finland is scary... Look up the Finnish Winter War).

Did you know it's mandatory for them to learn Swedish in school? And that there's entire communities over there that's primarily Swedish speaking? Then again, I suppose the same is true over here. Though we Swedes aren't required to learn Finnish. Thank god, because it's an incredibly difficult language.

A friend sent me a example once of how a single sentence, depending on context, could mean nine different things. Same words, same spelling, only different context.