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Your testimonial, the quote version
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Your testimonial, the full version
My decision for Sweden was quite random, but turned out to be an experience that had and will have an impact on my whole life.
Sweden wasn't a big culture shock for me, since there are a lot of similarities to Germany (public transport, way of living, communication and so on). There are a few differences, but in my opinion they make life more easy. This starts with a more reliable public transport, goes over to card-first payments and ends in English being a spoken by basically everyone.
In my six months in Sweden, I only met one person, that didn't speak English, while all the Master courses are in English and day-to-day life can be easily managed with English. One of my core memories, is going up in an elevator in the building I was living in. An older lady joined and started speaking in Swedish with. I didn't understand anything so I asked "Engelska?" and within in a second she repeated everything in perfect English: something very unlikely to happen in Germany.
In Sweden, I got to know ESN and enjoyed their events so much, that as soon as I was back in Germany, I checked for an ESN section in my home city and a few weeks later I joined as a volunteer. And the last year was amazing, filled with so many new memories, getting to see your hometown from so many new perspectives and just getting to know so many different cultures. And of course, baking cinnamon rolls almost once a month and dreaming of going back to Sweden as soon as Abba plays at our Karaoke events.
Sweden wasn't a big culture shock for me, since there are a lot of similarities to Germany (public transport, way of living, communication and so on). There are a few differences, but in my opinion they make life more easy. This starts with a more reliable public transport, goes over to card-first payments and ends in English being a spoken by basically everyone.
In my six months in Sweden, I only met one person, that didn't speak English, while all the Master courses are in English and day-to-day life can be easily managed with English. One of my core memories, is going up in an elevator in the building I was living in. An older lady joined and started speaking in Swedish with. I didn't understand anything so I asked "Engelska?" and within in a second she repeated everything in perfect English: something very unlikely to happen in Germany.
In Sweden, I got to know ESN and enjoyed their events so much, that as soon as I was back in Germany, I checked for an ESN section in my home city and a few weeks later I joined as a volunteer. And the last year was amazing, filled with so many new memories, getting to see your hometown from so many new perspectives and just getting to know so many different cultures. And of course, baking cinnamon rolls almost once a month and dreaming of going back to Sweden as soon as Abba plays at our Karaoke events.
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about
Housing
Your topic-specific testimonial
Housing was the only negative side I experienced in my whole semester abroad. In Gothenborg every International student gets a place in the dorm, except for Erasmus students. Combined with the local students, that leads to a waiting list of 1-3 years, which is not feasable if you get the confirmation for your semester abroad 6-12 months in advance. There is a hostel near campus, which is a good option, but it's not well shared information. Being a sublet of a dorm is also difficult to strict guidelines by the dorm operators. So you are left with the private market and most of the websites are only in Swedish and difficult to navigate if your unfamiliar. That leaves only Facebook marketplace as an option, which is swarmed with scammers. You have to be really careful, but there are a few good options. Best way is to contact the students who have been there previously, if they can share their landlords' information.
Other than that, the whole semester abroad was immaculate.
Other than that, the whole semester abroad was immaculate.