Summer in Sweden

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Summer in Sweden is precious for obvious reasons: it is short, it is beautiful and it is the only time of the year with a decent amount of sunlight! As I mentioned in my last post, I decided to stay in Norrköping and enjoy the Swedish summer. So far, it has been a blast. My friends and I decided to spend some days in a traditional red wooden house further up North before everyone leaves for home. We had a great time going on hikes, barbequing and going for a swim. 🙂 I’m already looking forward to meeting them again in fall. If you like nature as much as I do, I definitely recommend going on trips during the summer break. If you manage to head up North, you might even be able to experience midnight sun.

While I’m enjoying my free time in Sweden, I guess some of you are caught up in preparing for their studies in fall. If you want to get a first impression of the EMS programme and REMESO, join our Facebook group or Instagram page called EMS community. We are regularly posting information on upcoming events or impressions of everyday life as a student at the department. If you have any questions concerning the programme or practicalities, don’t hesitate to contact me 🙂

 

 

Time to say goodbye and prepare for next semester!

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Hej everyone 🙂

I finished my last course for this semester. I have to admit, it was quite a stressful one. At the end of the first year, the Ethnic and Migration Studies (EMS) students put all their skills and knowledge into practice and publish their own magazine. It’s great to be able to choose your own topic, conduct your own small research and then publish an article. But it’s also quite intense since we have to do all on our own: layout, copy editing, printing. However, I can’t wait to hold this piece of paper in my hands. We will also present our magazine to the public in a small conference at the end of September :-).

As much as I’m looking forward to the summer now, I’m sad that I have to say goodbye to some of my classmates that are going to leave soon, either in order to spend the summer in their home countries, or to start their studies abroad. Luckily, some of them will return for the fall semester and our second year of studies at LiU. The EMS programme has a lot of interesting partner universities around the globe. Did you know that you can even choose to do a double degree in cooperation with universities in Germany, Switzerland or Spain? I for my part decided to stay in Sweden over the summer. I want to experience all the Swedish summer benefits like bathing in lakes or going on several day hiking tours.

Apart from all the summer fun, me and my classmates are currently planning the reception for the new students that will arrive in August. Be prepared for some fun activities 😉

Lilla Älgsjön

 

Last year’s magazine

 

Spring is around the corner

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Hej everyone,

winter is gone and spring is here! Sweden turned the clock to summer time last week and now it is bright until 20:00 at night. It feels great to finally have longer days and to be able to use them for outdoor activities 🙂 Last weekend, I went on a hike along the lake Vättern which is about an hour drive from Norrköping. It is Sweden’s second largest lake and it has a beautiful coast line. Close by is also Sweden’s largest rune stone from the viking era called Rökstenen. So, don’t miss out on visiting the area 🙂

Also, our second course of the spring semester ” Race, ethnicity and migration in culture and the arts” ended last week with an excursion to Stockholm. We had a great day full of interesting and important experiences, discussions and impressions. First, we went to a city called Södertälje, ca. 30 km south of Stockholm, and visited the local art gallery. They had a very impressive exhibition on colonialism in South Africa which connected perfectly to what we have been studying in class. Our next stop was Tensta Konsthall, an art gallery north of Stockholm. They currently have an exhibition on the colonial past of Sweden and the colonialisation of the Sami people in the North. Apart from getting a lot of content related input, we were provided with delicious Ethiopian food for lunch and dinner. I guess the trip was one of my best experiences in the programme so far. It was inspiring to get out of the class room and educate ourselves by using other material and other senses. We also had a great time together as a class 🙂

Exhibition “I’m just a number”

Vättern

Vättern

The waiting will be over soon!

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Only two days left until the submission results for master’s studies in Sweden will be published! I guess most of you who have applied for programmes are super excited 🙂  At least, I remember that the day couldn’t come quick enough for me last year. In case you’ll be admitted (fingers crossed!), there are some important things to keep in mind afterwards. After you have received your result on www.universityadmissions.se, don’t forget to accept your place through clicking on the button below. If you wait too long or if you forget about it, there is the risk of loosing your place. If you are a student from outside the EU, you should start with organizing your visa for Sweden right away. Depending where in the world you’re from, this can take up to several months. You can get information on the requirements on the website of the Swedish migration agency called “Migrationsverket” ( please follow the link: https://www.migrationsverket.se/English/Private-individuals/Studying-in-Sweden.html). You can also apply for your visa directly on their website. In case you want to apply for a scholarship, you should also do that as soon as possible. The application period opens on the 4th of April and closes on the 7th. So, the time period for applications is very short.

And don’t be sad if your application has been put on reserve. There is still a chance to get admitted if applicants don’t take their places 🙂

I whis you all the best of luck! If you have any questions on what to do next, please let me know 🙂

I hope to see you all in summer!

Kristin

Campus Norrköping

How to finance your studies

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Deciding to study abroad is a big step and the question of how to finance this great experience concerns most of the people that made the decision. So, here are some of my experiences on how to finance your studies at LiU 🙂

 

1. Part-time jobs

First things first, working in a part-time job is not the rule and finding a part-time job besides your studies can be difficult if you don’t speak Swedish. However, it is not impossible to find something where you can get along with English. Most of my classmates that have a part-time job, me included, work in the hotel and restaurant business. The good thing with working in a bar or a restaurant is that working hours seldomly overlap with course times at the university. The bad thing is that you mostly work nights and weekends. But for those of you who rely on working to finance their studies, this is a good opportunity to solve the distressing financial situation ;-). How can you get one of these jobs? Those jobs are usually not announced on the national job agency’s website arbetsformedlingen.se. Thus, I recommend walking into bars or restaurants and ask if they’re currently looking for staff.

 

2. Scholarships

If you are a fee paying student or applicant from a country outside the European Union, you can apply for several scholarships that cover at least your study fees. LiU offers scholarships for outstanding international students. You can find information on how to apply and who is eligable here: https://liu.se/en/article/scholarships
Please note that the application period is very short. It opens on April 3rd and closes on April 7th. Furthermore, there are scholarships offered by the Swedish Institute (SI) and other foundations, associations and organisations. You can have a look into these other options through the link above (scroll down).

 

3. CSN

CSN is the Swedish national study finance for Swedish nationals and foreigners with a comparable residence status. Getting CSN as an international student is unlikely and you shouldn’t rely on that option. However, it can be worth applying if to see if you’re eligable. The rules for foreigners are complicated and a little bit confusing. For example, you can get CSN if you have lived in Sweden for a certain time period before you started studying, if you are related to a Swedish resident or if you have a Swedish live-in partner, or if you are working in Sweden. In order to get more information on rules and regulations I recommend checking the website (https://www.csn.se/languages/english.html#expand:none) or giving them a call. They have an English speaking hotline. You can apply directly through their website. However, you require a Swedish personal identity number that you will get when you move here (see earlier blog post on Swedish bureaucracy).

 

I know that study finance is a distressing topic and I hope I could give you an overview on possibilities. From my experience I can tell that usually a solution will add up. Nevertheless, I highly recommend to have some savings that will bring you through the first few months in Sweden until you have figured something out. If you have questions to the topic don’t hesitate to ask me 🙂

All the best,

Kristin