Many things come across your mind, when you move for 6 months to another country. Here are some thoughts that came across mine, while spending my days at Stockholm:

1 – Weather.

Depending on the time of the year, your Swedish experience will be largely connected with weather. In fall semester, you’ll start with shiny September, and the days will slowly get darker. If you come for a spring semester (like I did), you will arrive to Stockholm in January, when it gets dark at 4pm. Temperatures staying below zero, and people without smiles. Fortunately, as the time goes, you’ll notice the days get longer. Best months are April to June. The sunshine will brighten people’s minds and suddenly  everyone’s happy. Girls drop the winter coats, and show in the streets at their full beauty. Amazing time!

2 – Manners.

These are ways of behaving in different situations of life, and they highly vary from country to country. What is to be noted about Stockholm? Be careful. People never hold the doors for you. Be cold. Swedes often avoid eye contact, intentionally. Keep calm. Swedish people often don’t show their discontent, when others would. Be prepared. People in Stockholm like to dress nicely, especially for events, and parties. Coming undone will only gain you disrespect in the eyes of others.

3 – Running.

If your favourite way to work-out is with sneakers on a road or path, then Stockholm is the place to be. In freezing winter days, or during sunny spring, Swedes love to go for a run. There are several good places to run in Stockholm. 1.From T-Centralen around City Hall to Kungsholmen, by the water. (2km) 2.Around Brunnsviken lake, north of the city center. (13km) 3.Djurgarden park. East of city center.

4 – City bikes.

Cheap way of transportation! Stockholm City Bikes is a project run by the City of Stockholm. You can rent a bicycle for up to 3 hours, between 6am and 9pm, from more than 40 bike stands in the city. Buy a season card for 200 SEK, and save money on getting around!

5 – Price of parties.

Before going out in Stockholm, check out the calendar. Prices vary by the day of the week. From Tuesday to Thursday, most clubs offer free entry, or large discounts. On the other hand, Fridays and Saturdays will be less friendly to your wallet. Prepare to pay between 150-200 SEK for the clubs at Stureplan.

6 – Guestlists.

In addition to the previous point, there is another way how to save money when going out. Swedes take pride being on guestlistsm, and, moreover, this will give you free entry to the club, usually before 23.00, or midnight. Going to Cafe Opera? Email onsdagar@cafeopera.se to get on a guestlist. And if you study at SSE, email handels@sturecompagniet.se before going to Sturecompagniet!

7 – Number of courses.

Now on a more serious topic. The education. Swedes seems to have quite a different approach to university education than my dear Czechs. While in Czech, you usually have 5-8 subjects per semester, in Stockholm, you are recommended to take 2-4 courses maximum. This increases student’s focus on the topic and adds deeper understanding, since you do not have to switch from class to class all the time. I find it interesting, and actually very helpful. What do you think?

8 – School is open 24-7.

And people actually study there at night! Once we were returning from a party around 3am, and we were passing by the school. Suddenly, the door opened, and a guy showed up, holding some lecture notes in his hands. Wicked!

9 – Level of lecturers.

This does vary a lot. Even at SSE, considered the ‘top school’ in Sweden, there’s both great and boring classes. However, in general, classes here are better than average. Most of the glory goes to the well prepared teachers. On the contrary, Swedish students didn’t seem to interact much with the lecturer, so it’s up to you, dear exchange students, to start the discussion!