How Is It Studying Abroad in Sweden?
Question by Kevin: How is it studying abroad in Sweden?
I am looking to study abroad in Sweden from august-december 2010. I don’t really know how life is in Sweden or what to do. Has anyone studied abroad there, did you like it or not? I am from California and I am just looking for a whole new experience. What is there to do? The school I am looking into is Chalmers in Guthenberg (it is the only one in Sweden I can study at. How is Gothenburg? what is it like? Basically if you could just give me any info on the people and culture or anything on sweden! Thanks!!
Best answer:
Answer by Leprechaun
Chalmers eh? Ah.. well the joke is that there’s about a 70% chance that you’ll graduate as a drunk but it’s a good university.
Gothenburg, Göteborg, is a nice enough town/small city (pathetically enough our second largest with only several hundred of thousands of inhabitants, not even a million); the dialect isn’t the funniest we have but it’s at least mediocre. If you like seafood you’re in the right place, go to ‘feskekörka’ (haha) sometime.
You’re American so I’d advice against going to Sweden; especially if you’re right leaning, religious, ethno-centric, nationalistic, patriotic, pro-drugs (any kind of drugs), have difficulties or just a plain unwillingness to adapt (when we go abroad we adapt other peoples cultures and social rules and whatever; when people come here we expect.. no we demand the same; it’s called dealing with cultural differences but many yanks seem to have problems with that; they claim that they can handle them because they “come from the multi cultural USA” (HA!). To you we will come off as unsocial and rude if you’re not careful. You REALLY need to remember that you are NOT in the US anymore; a difference would be that people are rarely going to ask if you need help because; and this might be shocking for you, it can be considered rude to do so (but if you ask for help people will help you though; also important to remember). Also drop the formality, we don’t say sir or mam, officer, mr. prime minister, your honor and etc. Do you know why? Because it’s considered rude; though not by the person saying sir to someone else but the one you say sir to might feel like an a§§hole because he gets the feeling that you’ve gotten the impression that he consider himself better than other people and therefore deserves special respect and treatment. All in all Americans tend not to fit in (but there are always exceptions); I think it has a lot to do with that you’ve taken in so many people from all over most of whom mostly adapt to an “American standard”; it’s a paradox but that’s how it is and I think that most of your immigrants adapt which would explain it but I’m not sure), if you don’t like cold and darkness (though Göteborg is further down south than where I live so it’s not as bad (but it’s still bad (at least during December-February))), if you think the there has ever been a communistic or socialistic country (actually that’s a personal request.. I don’t want the average IQ to go down further because of immigration) or if you could even consider to watch fox “news” (that’s for the same reason as the last thing I said but also because it really does make you unable to fit in.).
The last and absolutely most important thing you need to consider is what you think about immigration. If you’d even for a second consider to vote the infamous Sweden Democrats (republicans with a more “leftist” view on how the economy should be handled) then don’t come. People would call you a racist or a nazi behind your back (I would too.. but openly to your face though, making sure you’d realize how much I’d hate you and how disgusted I theoretically would be if you did support them (which I hope you wouldn’t)).
And remember this; “hate” almost has a different meaning here; most of the time when that word is used the person that claims that “hate” represents what they feel is lying. That person might be so used to lying about that that he or she doesn’t even know that they are lying. Just something you might need to know. In almost all other cases we understate things though.
Well I’ve written too much already, ask if there’s anything else.
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