Hej. My name is Aloka. I am from India, and I am studying for a Master’s in Global Health. I am a first-year student, and I moved to Sweden in August, just a couple of months ago.
Uppsala is known as a student city and people are very friendly here. I was scared of the language gap because this is not an English-speaking country, but thankfully Swedes speak excellent English. But at the grocery shops, train stations, and on buses things are written in Swedish, so Google Translate works like a lifesaver.
My classes are mostly held at the Uppsala University Hospital, Rudbeck Laboratory, and at BMC (Uppsala Biomedical Centre). Classes are a mix of lectures, group work, and seminars. We have classmates from all over the world, which gives me extensive international exposure. I chose to study global health because it will give me the flexibility to work in a versatile field.
Uppsala University has 11 libraries in total. One is in Gotland and the other 10 libraries are spread out in Uppsala city. So you just cannot get bored studying here. Also, the nations have nice study places and at the student union, you get free coffee while studying. One day I went to the oldest library called Carolina Rediviva to study and spent the whole time in the library museum rather than studying.
Socializing can be challenging when you move to a new country. It’s true that it is not easy to make friends here but Uppsala has a unique thing. That is nations. I never knew that anything like this existed before. Nations are student organizations run by students, and most of them are hundreds of years old. You can join a nation and meet new people, get involved in activities and even work there, which will give you a small amount of money. I often end up spending my nation’s earnings on nation lunches and breakfasts.
Uppsala is surrounded by nature, you can go hiking, running, walking in the woods, and you can refresh your mind whenever needed. When I came here it was early fall so it was easy to do outdoor activities. But now it’s getting difficult because of the early winter. I may join the student gym known as Campus 1477 which has a special discount for students.
After moving to Sweden, I miss my home foods. I packed some dry spices before coming here, and I am trying to make similar versions of my native dishes.
Overall, my journey in Uppsala has just begun and I am excited to explore more here.