“Stockholm was an easy choice”
“Extremely cold! But also very green and beautiful. There's a lot of forest everywhere”, Manuel Castellano responded when asked about his first impression of Sweden.
The Spanish exchange student was one of around 400 international students welcomed during Stockholm University’s Arrival Service Weekend 23-24 August. With a temperature of around fifteen degrees Celsius, the sun peaking through the clouds every now and then and a gentle wind rustling the trees, most Swedes would probably describe the weekend weather as fairly normal for late August.
“It was nearly 40 degrees in Cordoba when I left yesterday”, Manuel explained. “I actually like the weather in Sweden right now. It reminds me of December in Spain. I’m a bit worried about what the Swedish winter will be like, though.”
Completely different from home
Fellow exchange student Carmen Campos, also from Spain, was excited about the colder climate and about Swedish culture in general.
“I went to Stockholm five or six years ago and I really wanted to return. It’s so beautiful here with all the nature and the colourful architecture. In Spain most of the buildings are white. In Fuengirola, Malaga, where I come from it just gets too hot with around 38 degrees these days.”
Both Manuel and Carmen are going to spend a year at Stockholm University, studying Chemistry and Biochemistry respectively.
“I chose Sweden as I wanted to experience something completely different from Spain”, Manuel revealed. “Some Spanish students go to Italy or Portugal for their exchange but these countries are quite similar to Spain. I really liked the idea of going to Sweden which I don’t know that much about.”
High expectations of Stockholm University
Another exchange student keen to get to know the Swedish culture was Vicente Hauke from Germany. Having arrived at Arlanda at noon he got on the shuttle bus to Studenthuset on the Frescati campus where he enjoyed some Swedish afternoon fika with a happy smile on his face.
“A friend of mine went to Stockholm University last year and had the best months of his life. So, yes, my expectations are pretty high. I’m going to study Physics and I’m also planning to learn some Swedish.”
“You really get the campus vibe”
Norwegian exchange students Siri Klaeth, Helene Kristiansen and Linn Hansael had chosen Sweden as their study destination as a way of going abroad and still not being too far away from home.
“I’ve been on an exchange in France before and this time I wanted to be closer to Norway”, Siri explained.
“And I wanted to come here as I live in a pretty small city in Norway”, Linn said. “Everything is a lot bigger here and you really get the campus vibe.”
She and Siri were going to study Political Science while Helene was going to study International Relations.
“An interesting subject, especially in these times with everything that’s going on in the world”, Helene reckoned. “Stockholm was an easy choice for me as I’ve been here before. I love the city and in the future I might do a master’s here.”
The three girls were very much looking forward to their exchange semester and already had a circle of friends in the Swedish capital. They were also planning to get involved in sporting and other student life activities.
Student ambassadors helped the newcomers
Getting involved in student activities and organisations is a good way to make friends in Sweden, according to the international student ambassadors and master’s students Helena Wu and Zephyr Mao, both from China.
“In China you can start chatting to people on campus but it doesn’t really work like that here. You need to attend activities to make friends”, Helena and Zephyr suggested.
Alongside staff from Stockholm University’s International Office they made sure that the Arrival Service went smoothly and that all the newcomers received the support they needed.
“It’s really fun to meet all the new students and to help them as much as we can”, Helena said. “We get to learn a lot about different cultures while we also get work experience.”
“As we’ve been there ourselves we have the student perspective and know what we would have liked to know back then”, Zephyr explained. “Now we try to tell the new students as much as we can.”
“Yes, we definitely overshare”, Helena laughed while Zephyr agreed.
“We're really here for them”
International Coordinator Pablo Camacho Sanhueza was happy to see that some new students, who seemed a bit tense and nervous as they got off the plane at Arlanda, quickly relaxed as they understood that the staff and student ambassadors were there for them.
“If I could give the newcomers some advice it would be to take the chance to talk to the student ambassadors”, Pablo said.
“Yes, it’s so important that they get to meet their peers”, his colleague Hanna Kritz agreed.
Overall, Hanna was very pleased with the Arrival Service Weekend.
“It’s been great and we’ve had more students attending than ever. At times it’s been a bit chaotic but all the students look so happy. One thing that strikes me, though, is that they're bringing more bags than previous years. The average student used to have two bags, now they have three. I’ve never seen so many bags here before.”
The Arrival Service is part of Stockholm University's Welcome Activities for international students.
Last updated: August 24, 2025
Source: Student Services