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Tag archives for Uppsala

How not to get cold in Lapland, meet a Swedish film director and get drunk in Uppsala.

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After spending the first months in Sweden discovering the city of Stockholm, I really felt the need to see other parts of this big country. And, trust me, there’s a lot to see!

At the end of November my friends and I went to the Swedish Lapland, a trip organized by the Scanbalt experience. What I will remember from this trip is the amazing feeling of freedom and of being at the end of the world. The 18 hours and around 1, 400 km by bus frightened me, but at least I thought I would see a lot of swedish nature out the window. Fail: there was only 4 hours of light and then we were plunged into darkness. The home-made sandwiches, the music from the iPod, the failure of reading a book and ending up having a headache and the half-sleep resulted in a sensation of floating in the space. When we arrived at 7 a.m. I had the feeling of being in a dream: everything was unreal, the white landscapes in semi-darkness, the red houses of our hostel, the mines of Kiruna that looked like a giant black boat.

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Nathalia Mikhalkov — Student

May 2, 2012

Seeing the City like a Tourist

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It is definitely strange that I live in Sweden, but I haven’t really experienced most of the tourist attractions the cities have to offer. As soon as someone comes to visit I start to look differently at all the familiar places around. What I usually walk past everyday becomes more foreign and exciting.

This weekend I am having a friend come visit from Canada. We met in university and have been traveling around together ever since. We even did an exchange together in Växjö only a couple years ago. While she has been in Sweden before, this is her first time in Uppsala. So, I am determined to show her all the best that Uppsala and student life has to offer.


The Uppsala Cathedral. Photo By: Haegglund (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Read more » >>

Kristin Follis — Student

November 10, 2011

A Night on the Town

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Being a student in Sweden doesn’t always allow for many luxuries. Most of us have to stick to a budget and watch our spending to make sure we can make it through every month. Going out on the town is not a frequent occurrence unless it involves cheap beers and burgers at a nation.

A pitcher of sangria. Photo By: Kristin Follis

But sometimes you just have to let loose. You have to take a break from the noodle diet and try some of the many restaurants Sweden has to offer. Whatever type of food you are searching for, I am sure you can find a restaurant serving it here. Because of the cultural diversity, there are tons of great restaurants with amazing food from all over the world.

Uppsala is no exception. There are plenty of good restaurants from Greek on the river, to Italian by candlelight and even some twists on Swedish modern cuisine. Because of the high costs of eating dinner out in Sweden, it is not a place you will find many students. While I love going out to restaurants to try new food and new wine, it is definitely not something I can do frequently.

But, this past weekend we took the opportunity to forget about schoolwork, money issues and deadlines and head out for some much needed unwinding. We decided to go the Spanish route and try a tapas restaurant called Tilltugg. The idea of the restaurant is to sit and relax, while mixing and matching your own menu of small dishes. The cold and hot plates were a nice mix of Spanish and Swedish flavours. Read more » >>

Kristin Follis — Student

October 17, 2011

Culture Night in Uppsala

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One of the biggest reasons for studying abroad or doing a Masters program in Sweden is getting to know many people coming from all over the world.  It is quite possible that people coming from every continent will be in your class. This gives all students an opportunity to not only learn about other cultures, but also make friends from around the world.

The result is that most cities in Sweden are very culturally diverse. In Uppsala this is celebrated every year during the cities own KulturNatten (Culture Night). The idea of having a Culture Night is to bring together all members of the community to share in a range of different expressions of culture.

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Kristin Follis — Student

September 13, 2011

A Carnival of Cultures

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Upon arriving to Sweden, it is without a doubt that you will realize the diversity of cultures that exists. The students you will live or go to school with is just the beginning of the diversity you will be able to discover.

While many of these cultures are showcased by local restaurants, cafes, student groups or dance teams around the city, there are also many festivals that take place in Sweden.

These festivals give you the opportunity to understand more about some of the different cultures that exist. Usually you can try some traditional food, listen to different styles of music or watch some cultural dancing.

This past weekend the third annual Kulturenas Karneval (Carnival of the Cultures) took place in Uppsala. The idea of the carnival is to display and present some of the great cultural diversity in art, food, music and dance that exists within the city.

The feature of the carnival is the parade that sets off the day. The procession was filled with many different cultural dance groups from many countries, including a skillful acrobatic team tossing each other around, despite the threat of hard pavement below. The bright and barely there costumes along with the powerful drum beats made for an exciting parade.


Some of the dancers from the Carnival of Cultures Parade. Photos by: Kristin Follis

The rest of the day was filled with a food and craft market, film festival, dance and theater, live music, arts and crafts, as well as workshops for kids. There was an abundance of food from fresh Swedish fika breads to Ethiopian lentils to ecological hamburgers and even some Mexican corn on the cob and quesadillas.

The live music continued into the night featuring salsa, cumbia, rock and Moroccan styles. Also included was a number of different dance performances from styles all over the world.

Sweden’s culture diversity is without a doubt one of the greatest benefits to becoming a student here. Not only will you meet people from all over the world in your corridor and classes but also within the cities. Festivals and Carnivals like the one in Uppsala are great examples of how these cultures can be displayed and appreciated. And really, who doesn’t enjoy some salsa dancing and homemade traditional Ethiopian food all in one day?

The acrobats from the parade had some crazy stunts! Photo by: Kristin Follis

Kristin Follis — Student

May 31, 2011