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Tag archives for international student

Bright!

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The end is nigh! Sadly :( But there is still one small, slight hurdle! That of my thesis defense! It takes place on Friday so currently most things are taking second priority. However, whilst taking a break I thought it would be nice to share with you the recent fun things I’ve been up to!

It’s bright! So bright!
With glorious May, the weather has changed from fiercely cold only a couple of months ago to blissfully sunny! The days are so long that light has been streaming in at 3am! If you’re not a fan of light rooms when you’re sleeping you might not be so keen on Swedish rooms during the night!

3.18am Wednesday 29th May 2013.

Walking outside whilst the sun is shining so bright, is essential!
The long days make me eager to take a walk out early on in the day. But more often than not I’m distracted by some other fun thing especially on weekend mornings whether it be making/eating a full English breakfast (the vege version) or lying on the sofa reading a book! So by afternoon I force myself to venture out. Last Saturday I did just that and was rewarded with stunning views across the various bridges of Stockholm. The canals, boats, various flora and fauna, not to mention the numerous keen sunbathers all out basking in the sun!

One of the many waterways in Stockholm!

I’m hoping the future’s bright 
Walking outside and waking up early only make you think more, wonder more both about the good and the bad! How good it has been to live here in Stockholm for just under a year but how bad it is, how sad it is that this time is coming to an end! All I can hope is that the future will bring me back very soon so I can enjoy this beautiful city again soon!

The future’s bright! I hope!

Naieya Madhvani - Student

May 29, 2013

Swedes love their Summer! And now I know why!

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The sun’s out! The skies blue! And Swedes are outside! Anywhere and everywhere!

This weekend I made another trip to the countryside! Here’s how the last few days have gone…

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Naieya Madhvani - Student

May 11, 2013

Homemade Sushi

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What do you do with yourself when you find a free weeknight? Well, get together with friends and make some sushi of course! At least that’s what a few of us thought last week.  You can buy all the ingredients for making your own sushi from a local grocery store, although shopping at a local Japanese market will save you money and will probably get you better quality items. To do this, you will definitely need sheets of the seaweed covering (nori), some short grain rice, vinegar and lime, and whatever else you want to put in your rolls.

To start with cook the rice as you normally would. When it is done add some salt, vinegar, and a little lime juice. Lay out the nori and add a layer of rice. Then add whatever sliced ingredients you wish. You will end up with something looking like this:

Now you cut it up into slices and eat! Simple, right? To be honest I don’t know if this is the exact recipe for making sushi, but this is what we came up with. What fun is making food if you can’t be creative? :)

Kazem Behbahani - Student

May 1, 2013

Acute Dentistry

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Last month I found myself sitting in class and minding my own business when all of a sudden I started to have an incredible toothache in the back of my jaw. It was my wisdom tooth pressing in as it usually would once a month or so. I had stopped being surprised by the pain and started learning the best way to endure it. However, this time was especially painful. I felt that I had to see a dentist.

The dental system in Sweden differs a little bit compared to the States. Back home if I had an emergency with my tooth (that was not bad enough to warrant a trip to the emergency room) I would make an “emergency appointment” with my local dentist and they would usually move their schedule around a bit to fit me in right away. That is not possible in Sweden. Though there may be exceptions, the appointments set by the local dentist are rigid. I cannot simply walk in and demand to by seen right away. Instead I had to go to an “Akut tandvård”.

When I arrived I went up to the welcome window to present my information, and they gave me a number and pointed to the waiting room. I sat down and waited along with about 5 people ahead of me in the queue and I was to wait until my number was called. Waiting took 2 hours, though I have heard when the clinic is busy you can be waiting for up to 4+ hours, so make sure to bring something to do if you ever find yourself in that situation. The trick is to come early. The earlier you show up, the less waiting time you will have. When it was my turn to see one of the dentists, I told him about my pain and he took an x-ray. This showed us that my wisdom teeth were impacted and I had to take them out sooner rather than later. Though there was not anything he could do for the pain (I guess Sweden is much stricter about handing out pain medication compared to the States), we made an appointment for me to come back and extract my wisdom teeth once and for all. For anyone’s reference, the full price for the extraction range’s between 1000-2500 SEK depending on the complexity of the extraction.

The quality of dental work here is similar to the States. It really will depend on the dentist him/herself and how much effort is put into the work. I was lucky to have a very skilled and engaging dentist.

After a month I am happy to say I have taken out the trouble makers and never have to worry about the random pain events again.

If you are interested in making an appointment or visiting a dentist I recommend you start here: https://www.folktandvardenstockholm.se/

The akut tandvård by St Eriks sjukhus – Photo by: Kazem Behbahani

Kazem Behbahani - Student

April 30, 2013

The Little Mermaid

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When I was a little younger, I used to wake up bright and early on Saturday mornings, rush down the stairs, dash into the lounge, where my Mum and Dad would be sitting enjoying a hot cup of Indian masala chai on our very comfy brown sofas. I would perch myself next to my Dad and a few minutes later we’d be watching “my programmes”. When I say “my programmes” I mean children’s Saturday morning TV! And what fun it was! One of my favourite cartoons was The Little Mermaid! I don’t know exactly what it was about The Little Mermaid, in fact I could certainly watch it now on Saturday morning’s with my own cup of tea! It just let my imagination run free!

Nyhavn in Copenhagen. Hans Christian Andersen author of The Little Mermaid lived in a number of these houses during his lifetime. Photo: Naieya Madhvani.

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Naieya Madhvani - Student

April 21, 2013