Studying abroad – the 6 things I wish I’d known about the first weeks

Very soon, Lund will finally be filled with students again. This starts with the arrival of the new international students today. They will start their time in Lund (which can range from half a year to doing a complete bachelor or master program here) with an almost two-week-long introduction program, which will bring them from a tour in the Cathedral to an amazing brunch in one of the nations to silly but funny drinking parties with their introduction group to the crowded ‘Information about Sweden’ market and even to the utterly boring ‘no-you-should-not-plagiarize-really-you-shouldn’t-I-mean-that-is-REALLY-forbidden-in-Sweden’-seminar.

If the students are somewhat alike me, they will be feeling something between great excitement and big nerves about starting life in a new country and town. Now I wouldn’t dare say that life in Sweden has become as ‘normal’ as in Holland*, but to some extent I certainly feel like having granny tendencies – the urge to pass on my tons of experience (ehm) to the new generation of internationals.
So I formulated a list of some things that I in hindsight would have liked to know about the first weeks before I headed off North. They are very personal and might be completely different for any other international student, which I duly realize.

1. Yawn, yawn. I almost forgot by now, but the first weeks in Lund I immediately fell asleep when my head hit the pillow. In hindsight, that wasn’t so strange. Half of the day I received an overload of information about life here, the other half of the day I was either having loads of fun with my intro-week group or looking on a map to find out where I could find some obscure gata to meet up with that very same group. Add to this constant communication in a language that is often not one’s first (English) and constantly hearing a language that one doesn’t understand at all (Swedish) and it’s obvious why your bed will be such a nice place at the end of the day. Stay there an hour longer than normal and you’re ready for a next day of adventures.

2. The little culture shock. Yes, I very much realize that studying in Sweden will be a lot more challenging for people coming from African or Asian countries – I imagine that the culture differences must be immensely bigger and I have a lot of respect for several friends of mine, for whom the trip to Sweden was sometimes their very first travel into Europe.
Nevertheless: don’t think that life is completely the same if you come from Europe. It can range from making the faux-pas of not taking off your shoes when going into a Swedish home to trying to buy a party outfit Saturday afternoon at 4 PM (surprise! All the shops have closed already!) or having to call about some formal matter and getting that one Swede on the phone that refuses to speak English. No big deals and sometimes they can even be the ‘raisins in the cake’ as they say here, but at other moments they might just be a bit skit. See also point 1.

3. Stuff is not so important. I don’t want to sound like an enlightened Buddhist that has gotten rid of all forms of materialism (as I definitely haven’t), but there is a lot of things that one can apparently do without when moving abroad. My parents’ attic has kept my stuff – about 10 big boxes – safe since August 2012 and most of their content I don’t miss at all.

Still worried that you might miss a lot of your dear belongings? I think that it’s good to remember that all kind of cutlery and pottery – if you even need it, probably you’ll share a kitchen – can be bought for almost nothing at the secondhand market in Södra Esplanaden. The same goes for furniture and electrical devices like water boiler and hair dryers. Pictures of your family, your musical instrument, a proper bike (maybe one day more on Swedish bikes) and your favorite pullovers will be harder to buy here. Just sayin’.

4. Contacts are not the same as friends. Maybe you’re the kind of person that finds your best friend in the cue for picking up your keys. If so, good for you! But if you’re the kind of person that needs a bit longer to find friends, the main message is: don’t panic. (And yes, I write this because I did panic a little.) Especially as the first weeks in Lund might feel like three months because you’re experiencing so much (see point 1), you might wonder after a day or 4: “These people in my intro group are nice, but I already know that they will never become anything more than nice acquaintances. Where are these awesome friends that will become my soul mates and that I will discuss the essence of life with until 3 AM, sharing a bottle of wine?” Very probably, you’ll meet them within a few weeks at one of the activities that you definitely should undertake: join a Nation, a sport club, your union, visit open lectures and film nights and – preferably – get active in some of those. Or just organise an international dinner with your housemates, bring a bottle of wine and see what happens.

5.  “Where  are you from?” If you haven’t found that best friend yet (see point 4), the first weeks might also contain a lot of chit-chat. The top five of questions: What’s your name? Where are you from? What do you study? Why did you choose Lund? Where do you live? And while it’s nice to get to know many new people and discover that you have people from every continent among your acquaintances, at some point you might want to have a conversation that goes at least somewhat more in-depth. Solution: why not deepen the conversation a bit yourself? After having exchanged the first formalities, start about the role of Facebook in today's society, the plans to stop the ERASMUS program or feminism in Sweden. Another option is to find a nice church – usually people there are in for a bit more than chit-chat - but I guess that’s just not everyone’s piece of kaka.

6.  All will work out fine and studying abroad will just be great and you won’t regret it at all! Trust me. 

   *Yes, this opens the door to the utterly philosophical question of whether something like a ‘normal life’ exists and of whether life in itself isn’t completely abnormal to start with. Sorry, another time. :P