Exchange students arrive for spring term

On a chilly January day outside A-huset the spring term Exchange students gather for a tour of the campus.  As light rain changes over to sleet, then snow, no-one complains about the weather– quite the opposite,  “I love snow!” says Amy Mylius, a Humanities student from Melbourne, Australia.

Students stand in groups chatting amiably with one another. For most, it appears that the contrasts between their own country and that of Sweden, the cultural differences and the environment, are exciting. 

The challenge is part of the experience.

“I wanted to experience a different culture but one that would not be too overwhelming,” says Amy.  The differences are the point, including the weather.  “That’s why I came to the other side of the world” she says.

“I’m looking forward to new friends and a new culture,” says Quang Kieu from Belgium.  This is Quang’s first time in Sweden and he says he is also hoping to “have fun”.  Quang is studying Economics and says that he was drawn to Stockholm University for its “courses in English.”

With over 200 courses in English on offer, Stockholm University is an ideal place for those students looking to improve and expand their English skills. There are about 250 new exchange students this semester. The majority come from the EU. Germany and France are the biggest exchange student groups followed by the UK, Spain, Italy, China and the United States.

A Scandinavian Languages major from Helsinki, Jenny French is nonchalant about the falling snow and grey skies.  “I’m used to it,” she says. Jenny has come to the University to write her thesis.  “I’m writing on the different ways the word 'ännu' is used in Sweden and Finland.” ('Ännu' means something like 'yet' in English).

“I wanted to get out of my comfort zone, to expand my horizons,” Joanna Tsen says.  On exchange from Australian National University in Canberra that is only one of the reasons she left the sunny capital city of Australia for Sweden. The other is her Swedish boyfriend.  Joanna has two majors in Humanities, Latin America and Social Anthropology.  She is prepared for the short winter days here in Sweden.  “I’ll be visiting the solarium,” she says.

Text and interviews: Sarah Hollister