*the music used in this video is no right of my own.
The six months I was able to spend at Lund University was a truly incredible time. Definitely coming with its highs and lows but nevertheless, I would relive it in a heartbeat if I had the chance. The video shows just a few snippets of the year.
Things I would do again:
Make the most of ESN- amazing opportunities and trips/activities both nationally and internationally. Organised for you. Decently priced. Great way to meet people.
Join all the mentor groups at the beginning of the year- great way to meet people and keeps you busy at the beginning (you also don’t have to go to every event there is).
Join a nation
Join Skåne netball team- this meant I was meeting new people who were not just students. Also did some tournaments which was fun as I had not really played netball that competitively before. Simultaneously, it was also a chilled and relaxed atmosphere where you could take it as seriously as you wanted to
Things I would do differently:
Travel more within Sweden
Choose different module choices for the first semester as I enjoyed my second semester modules far more and did better in them
Start looking for housing earlier than I did, I think in hindsight I would start looking for housing before even getting a place at Lund as you can always cancel it if something better comes up and then you have got some certainty and your own space for when you first arrive
Somewhat linking to the last one, I would do my best to try and live within Lund, when I moved into Lund from Åkarp, I could really see the ease of being in the city and being able to cycle pretty much anywhere in 10 minutes compared to having to catch a train or bus
Over the course of your time at Lund there will be many opportunities that I would recommend making the absolute most of. Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus I was unable to experience some of these, but they are amongst events that ‘make’ people’s time in Lund. These include white-tie balls, tandem (where students cycle from Gothenburg to Lund on a tandem bike whilst people follow along on a party bus) and Kvalborg (a weekend in late April/early May where the beginning of summer is celebrated where everyone is in the city’s parks together)
ESN
ESN stands for the Erasmus Student Network. This is an organisation who run trips and activities for students across Erasmus universities. You don’t have to be on an Erasmus exchange to make use of the organisation. They run activities such as yoga, sittnings, pub crawls, games nights, local hikes and trips to national parks, in addition to trips abroad. During my time at Lund, ESN had trips to Lapland (both Finnish and Swedish), the Norwegian Fjords, Iceland, a cruise to Helsinki, St Petersburg and Tallinn. I believe the variety of trips can change but these are the types that can happen. I personally went to many of their events, as pictured below.
Swedish Lapland
Cruise around the Baltic
Student Nations
A major part of student life at Lund University is the student nations. This part of the university is run by students for students. There are 13 student nations at Lund which are dotted about the city. The nations are a really good way of getting involved and meeting people. When you join a nation, there are novisch weeks where you often get a mentor group who you prep for the week’s events with. Also, if you decide to work for a nation, which many people do, you can meet lots of people like this. The nations host a range of events also, such as yoga G&T, pizza nights, film nights, Mario kart nights in addition to pubs and clubs.
Mentor Groups
As an international novisch student, you will have the opportunity to be a part of a variety of mentor groups. These include the international mentor groups, facility-specific mentor groups as well as the nation mentor groups. I would say these are a very good way to meet people and keep yourself busy for the first few weeks at least. Even if you do not go to all of the events that are available to you, it is good to know they are there. The mentor groups often do a range of activities such as going to the beach, sittnings, tours of the city amongst many others as a way to ensure everyone and anyone can be involved.
Reflecting on my time in Sweden, I began thinking about how my expectations before I arrived compared to the realities that I experienced. The main reasons I chose to study in Sweden include: great natural beauty, the idea that it was a world leader in terms of sustainability, a great studying and learning environment, and a feeling of the “unknown”.
To start with, I was attracted to Sweden because of the possibility to spend a lot of time outdoors, exploring its natural beauty. On this front, I have definitely not been disappointed. A friend summed it up best when he described Sweden as one of the most “quietly beautiful” countries he has ever visited. I think this is a good way of looking at it, Sweden is often overlooked, even in terms of its Scandinavian neighbours. Norway has dramatic fjords and glaciers, and Denmark has the lively city of Copenhagen, whereas Sweden’s beauty is more understated. The area surrounding Lund, and the region of Skane, are a perfect example of this. Rapeseed flowers, the unofficial national flower of Sweden, dominate the landscape at the turn of spring and paint the patchwork of fields bright yellow. Lund’s location makes day trips into the countryside very easy, as the sea is only half an hour away, and the area is dotted with national parks.
Ystad, Skane – Where the TV series “Wallander” was set and filmed.
Another key factor that brought me to Sweden was it’s reputation as a world leader for environmental policy and sustainability. It was interesting to see how this manifests in everyday life. Firstly Sweden has an extremely efficient recycling system, and even imports trash from other nations to process. I saw this through the ordered recycling bins at almost all locations in Lund, including student halls and libraries. Secondly, cities like Lund and Copenhagen have been planned and designed to accommodate bikes and public transport as the primary modes of travel. This leads to reduced emissions and consolidated their status as climate friendly nations.
Sustainable and innovative architecture in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Overall, Sweden met my expectations as a beautiful and environmentally forward-thinking country. I was also presently surprised by the “unknown” factor of Swedish culture and society – which I experienced through getting involved with student “nations” and organizations. Check my other blogs for more information about this unique Swedish student life!
For me, finding accommodation for my time at Lund University, initially, seemed like a never-ending endeavour. I would say this is the only negative experience I have had so far with my time in Lund. However, I do also feel that potentially my year was particularly bad. Therefore, I have tried to accumulate all the information I feel is useful and relevant when looking for housing and accommodation for your time in Lund.
As some background on my experience of housing: when I flew out to Lund, I did not have anywhere to live and was staying in a hotel for the first two weeks. So, my first piece of advice is to book somewhere to stay for the first few days/weeks whilst you are getting settled. This could be a hostel (Winstrup Hostel is popular), Airbnb, Bopoolen, Blocket or a hotel. I would recommend doing this early as lots of places get booked up. Also, if you do find somewhere to stay after booking a place to stay, you can always cancel it. However, it is still useful to have somewhere to stay when you arrive in late August as most tenancies do not begin until September, so you would need somewhere to stay for that time anyway. I did not do this as I expected to find somewhere and then paid a higher price for a hotel. Additionally, within the hostels there are often many exchange students staying there so can find friends through this too.
About a week into being out in Lund I found a place in Åkarp, outside of Lund. It is about 5 minutes on the train or 20 minutes by bus. I found it on a site called Boopolen. I did not like this very much as Lund is a very concentrated place, so I felt once you were out of Lund you were out of it. The trains and buses were not very frequent (trains twice an hour and buses 2-3 times an hour). Also, both the trains and buses stopped running to Åkarp at 1am ish, which also meant I had to catch ~£30 taxi home on my own after nights out as a result of missing the last one. Following 2 months here, I found a place on AF Bostader in Lund where I am happy and going to stay for the rest of my time.
Lund University’s Accommodation
Lund University (LU) provides some accommodation for its students. This is distributed through a lottery system and is very competitive to the point I hardly know anyone who stays in these halls. This is aside from a place called Ideon. This used to be a hotel until the summer and this year is just international students who were given it on arrival day. Other than this, I am not sure what the LU halls are like. LU has a guarantee agreement with some universities so their students are prioritised. They are all within Lund so are convenient and I believe are all pretty nice, as most student halls in Sweden are. I know some students from previous years were offered a place within some LU accommodation following some people dropping out throughout the course of the year also.
2) AF Bostader
AF Bostader is also a housing lottery. You can only get a place in their lottery as a student of Lund and being a member of StudentLund (which is how you also become a member of the student nations). No one I have met this far truly understands how this system works; however, I will explain as much as I think is correct. During a week in July, when you sign up for AF, you will be given a time (e.g. mine was about 22:17) through a lottery system and this time is your place in the housing queue. So, the earlier your time is, the higher chance you have of being given accommodation during the novisch period (the so-called fresher period, when AF have set aside so many rooms for ‘novisch’ students). Through AF, you can get a ‘corridor room’ (like a normal halls) or a flat for one or several people. The flats are more competitive.
Once you are in the housing queue, you can sign up for 3 rooms each day, or until the rooms have expired and been given to someone. If you are first in the queue at midnight on the day that the room expires, the room is yours and will receive an email regarding it the next morning. These, like LU accommodation, are very competitive. There is a general rule of being on the waiting list for 6 months before being able to obtain a room. Mine was only 3 months, however. If you are active whilst in the queue, changing rooms when you have a higher place in a different queue, you will take less time. I think this is why mine took less time. Also, I was kind of desperate so wasn’t picky about where I was living, as long as it was in Lund.
One of the reasons these halls are so competitive is all Lund University students can live there. For example, in my corridor there are students who are close to finishing their degrees as well as students who have just started. As students can live in the same room for their whole university careers, rooms will not necessarily be furnished, so this is something to bear in mind when looking for accommodation. This is the case not only with AF but anywhere you look. If it is furnished, generally, it will mean there is a bed, desk, wardrobe as well as cutlery, crockery and kitchen utensils. It is, therefore, quite good to go for a furnished room, not only because then you do not have to buy a bed but also because you do not need to get plates and stuff, which makes it cheaper and less hassle at the end of the year when moving out.
The picture below is what the queue looks like.
Something to note is the ‘party’ halls are Delphi, Parentesen and Sparta. Vildanden is known to be quieter and further out, but that only means it takes 15 minutes to get places rather than 5 minutes, like the rest of Lund. This is because, like I said previously, everything is very concentrated in Lund so as long as you are in Lund, you are not actually that far away from things so I wouldn’t let this particularly tempt you towards one or the other, as it is good to just get one!
These pictures are from my room in Vildanden. It is en-suite, has ethernet connection (as most AF rooms are) and about 4545 SEK per month (around £365).
3) Nations
LU has 13 nations associated with it. These are good places to meet people as they do brunches, lunches and general activities as well as being where the majority of Lund’s clubs are. They also have some accommodation but you can only try for accommodation in the nation that you are a member of, and you can only be a member of one nation. There is generally 6 months waiting list for these also. However, some do put some rooms aside for new students, like Kristianstads nation.
There is also Smålands nation which is not directly linked to the university which you can be a member of, in addition to another one. Smålands seems to have pretty regular rooms available that are also a reasonable price and in a good location.
Bopoolen is a website, specifically for students, to find accommodation. This is where I found my first place to live in Åkarp. These tend to be apartments sharing with other students or living with the flat owner. It is not unusual for students to live with just normal people in their spare rooms, in their converted basements or something similar. My previous place was a large house, where three other students and I lived. We lived upstairs in the house, which had been converted to a flat, with its own kitchen and bathroom and the homeowner, our landlord, lived downstairs. This was a better set up, in my opinion, than some others I had seen whilst looking for somewhere to live, such as being in the room next door to the landlord. However, I also have friends who have done this and really get on with their ‘landlords’ and it has worked out well for them. It all depends on what you want and are expecting. To find these places, there are adverts on the site and you have to email or ring the landlord. These, again, are very competitive and one advert can have 10+ people coming to look at the housing. They also depend on what the landlord wants from their tennants (long or short stay), whether they took a warming to you etc. Therefore, I would recommend emailing everyone or as many as you would feel happy with. As a result of the high demand for places, it is not uncommon for people to not respond to you also as a forewarning. Also, you are able to email Bopoolen themselves to ask for accommodation if you are feeling time is getting on, but I think this is only really done once in Lund.
These adverts are often outside of Lund, like mine was, and can be in nearby Malmo. I think if you are in the situation of living outside of Lund, I would say it is better to live in Malmo as it is a city and there are frequent trains as well as trains throughout the night to and from Lund. Also, there is also an university in Malmo so there are students there too. Alternatively, someone from Manchester this year is living outside of Lund and not in Malmo and he is loving that. It all depends on you and who you live with.
Bopoolen’s website is useful to look at generally as it has a list of housing sites which are legitimate as well as ways to avoid fraudulent sites/people. Being defrauded can occur as people know that students are in need of places to live. I would not say it is very common and should not happen if you use common sense.
Blocket is a similar case in regard to the type of accommodation that is available on it. It is a website for selling things generally. So, there are people selling second hand bikes, sofas and apartments as well as renting them. These are not necessarily specifically for students, so that is something to be aware of too. The same emailing process takes place with this website too.
Greenhouse is an eco-friendly accommodation about 15 miles outside of Lund. It is supposed to be quite social as everyone is there together as well as quite cheap.
Arrival Day
On arrival day this year, 20th August for reference, there was a housing lottery. This is for international students who did not have accommodation and took place between 9am-10am. Everyone who was there was given a number and then numbers were chosen like a lottery after the hour and these people were given accommodation. So, it also may be useful flying out to Lund prior to the actual arrival day. The accommodations distributed included LU and Greenhouse. We were not informed about this until about 2 weeks before leaving so I had booked my flights and was not able to participate.
There are lots of people there who are there to help you, whatever your situation is, so just talk to anyone and they will try to help or point you towards someone who can. Also, on arrival day you can book some activities for the first few weeks to get to know people, like dinners or sports days.
Facebook Groups
There are lots of groups on facebook which advertise housing in Lund also. Some of these are specifically for students and some are general. Again, there is the precaution to be aware of scammers on these as there is not the safety that comes with the other websites. To name a few there are:
Lund Student Housing
Lund Housing
Lund Sweden Accommodation
Lund Apartments for Rent
Airbnb
There are also long-term Airbnbs you may be able to find to stay in for a few months.
Some things I think are important to note:
Your flatmates are not necessarily your friendship group, as is often the case in the UK. This is to do with people of all years living in the same corridor so there is not the same want to get to know each other. I would not take this as a wholly negative thing however, particularly as, an international student as there are so many ways to get to know and meet people. A lot of this takes place in the first few weeks (the novisch period). I would recommend signing up for as many mentor groups and novisch events as you can because it gets you meeting people. There are also the nations novisch week and the Erasmus Student Network (ESN) which does lots of trips and activities.
It is good to try and obtain any accommodation until Christmas or for a month/s as the initial craze to get housing will have dropped by then, making it more likely for you to find somewhere later. It also means you have your own space for your stuff, which is important for yourself when you are settling in.
Lots of exchnage students leave after one semester, at Christmas, so more rooms will become available around this time.
When you come out to Lund it is not unusual to have nowhere to live, if this is you, you will not be alone!
Don’t let where you live stop you from socialising and going out.
If you don’t have anywhere to live, it can be hard to try getting to know people and socialising but the housing will work itself out, make sure you make the most of your time!
One of the most unique things about studying in Lund is it’s organized student life. Many universities have student unions, however none are quite like Lunds. The first “Nations” were founded in 1668, based on geographic regions in Sweden, and historically students who came from that area would join the according nation. For example students from Halland province would join Hallands Nation, and students from the East would join Ostgota. In the modern day all 13 nations are open to anyone who wishes to join, and offer a wide range of activities to be involved in. This includes putting on cheap student meals and lunches, cinema nights, pubs and clubs, as well as organising day trips such as hikes and other outdoor activities. Whilst every nation will offer the basic activities, each has it’s own speciality, for example Kalmar nation focuses on outdoor activities, whereas Sydskanska nation aims to be the go to place for electronic music. This makes the small town of Lund, with a student population of around 40,000, seem a lot bigger as there is an activity on most days of the week.
Sydskanska Nation (AKA SSK), where I became a Foreman.
What makes the nations even more successful is that they are all entirely student run, and rely on volunteers to make their activities happen. This is quite unique and as a British student I found it hard to believe that people would volunteer their time so freely. However after getting involved with a couple of activities, I discovered what makes them so special. I first volunteered as part of a pub team, and the Foreman (the person in charge of the activity) made the atmosphere very social and welcoming for the workers. I ended up becoming very good friends with him, and after taking part in a few more activities, I decided to sign up to become a Foreman myself. In true Swedish tradition, the nation meeting where new Foremen are voted in took around 3 hours, and was conducted entirely in Swedish. Whilst this wasn’t the most exciting start, it was followed by some free food and drinks. I signed up for the Kafe Matine post, a film evening on Sundays, where my responsibilities included cooking a vegan meal for around 40 people, and choosing one of my favourite films to show. This was quite hard work to organise at first, however being a Foreman also brings quite a few perks.
The first of these was a weekend trip, where all the Foremen at the nation were taken to a large cottage 1.5 hours from Lund, in a lovely remote location by a lake. We were cooked a meal, and given a “small” supply of free drinks. An aspect of Swedish social life that is very different from what I had experienced before was the focus on “organized fun”, and an evening with the nation often involves a lot of games and challenges. The cottage also had a sauna by the lake, making the weekend very relaxing and fun. Overall becoming involved and volunteering with the nation was one of the highlights of my time in Sweden, and I would recommend it highly for anyone considering studying in Lund!
Lund is a beautiful small city in the South of Sweden. I think the ability to appreciate the landscape of Lund was helped through the equally beautiful weather that was received during my first week in Lund, not going below 23°C and getting as high as 31°C. This was certainly not expected nor packed for, but nevertheless greatly appreciated. The city is made up of many greenspaces and old buildings, with many having their own unique personality to them.
Ebbas Skafferi
The population of Lund is less than 100,000 people, with, on
average, there being 40,000 students also in the mix. The people of Lund are
very helpful and welcoming, all of whom (or at least thus far) have impeccable
English skills, which has made the daunting task of moving to a new country so much
less so.
An interesting point about Swedes that I have been told
repeatedly since my arrival is that they love to sing, this has been proven to
me as within 8 of my welcome activities I have been told to sing and/or sung
to.
A useful thing to know about Sweden also is that you get charged
an extra 1 SEK if you buy a plastic bottle for the environmental cost, so it is
always useful to carry a bottle around as all water is drinkable too. Also good
to know, is that any cans or bottles you accumulate can be taken to certain recycling
points where you can get 1 SEK per item recycled.
#2 Lund University
The university, just like Lund itself, is very pretty. The buildings
are beautiful, some of which are hundreds of years old and covered in vines and
greenery.
Lund University’s Main BuildingLund University’s Main Library
Lund University has put on many welcoming events for international
students in order to help them feel settled and meet people. Personally, I have
over 3 weeks of orientation events. The events and activities are inclusive, diverse
and plentiful. They range from Swedish classes, sports days, boardgames, club
nights, pub nights, mentor groups, IKEA trips, a pub-crawl to Copenhagen and
more. Lund has many international students, inclusive of bachelor, master and exchange
students there are over 2000, I believe. However, many exchange students here
are only studying in Lund for one semester. In fact, so far, I haven’t met any
exchange student who was not British and who is studying for the year.
#3 Transport
Despite Lund being a small city, it still has a very good and
reliable public transport system. Buses and trains run regularly until about 1am
and begin again around 5am with multiple routes that can get you to where you
want to go. Additionally, the buses and trains use the same ticket which is useful if you have to catch a bus and a train to get somewhere for
example. The tickets are purchased via
a newly introduced app, ‘Skånetrafiken’,
which works throughout the region of Sweden, Skåne. The ticket prices are fairly
average, costing 18,75 SEK (~£1.59) for a single, 52,50 SEK (~£4.50) for a 24-hour
ticket and about £30 for a 30-day ticket. However, this is not the best way to
get around Lund by any means. The best, most time-efficient and popular is by
bike. The ease and cost of getting a second-hand bike, in addition to the many
cycle lanes makes the bike the superior mode of transport even for an unexperienced
cyclist like myself. The population of Lund, and the students of Lund
University in particular, use bikes to get anywhere and everywhere in the city,
whether that be to class in the morning or getting home after the club. It’s
what is done.
#4 Alcohol
Prior to coming to Lund, I didn’t expect there to be quite so many different rules surrounding alcohol. Sweden, as a whole, is relatively strict with alcohol. Any alcoholic drink that is stronger than 3.5% is only sold in monopolised government shops called Systembolaget which are far fancier than your classic off-licence. The employees are dressed smartly in waistcoats, shirts and bow-ties. Lund has 3 of these shops in total. They shut no later than 7pm, normally earlier and particularly so on Saturdays where they are closed by 3pm. Price-wise, I would say alcohol from Systembolaget is generally not that much more expensive than at home, however if you are buying a drink from a bar, which is not one of the nations’ bars/clubs, it is pricey. Low-percentage alcohol and alcohol-free drinks can be bought from normal supermarkets across Lund though.
There are other interesting laws regarding alcohol here, for
example you are not allowed to cross a road with alcohol in hand and if you are
caught doing so it is punishable by a fine. Also, despite the legal drinking
age being 18, you are unable to purchase alcohol from stores until you are 20. But
you are able to purchase drinks from bars and clubs etc. from 18. Lund perhaps
is more lenient with alcohol relatively to the rest of the Sweden as it is one
of the only places that you are able to drink outside as this is illegal
elsewhere. As a result of this, it is not uncommon to see people sat in the
park having a social drink during the warm weather.
I think all of these laws demonstrate the drinking culture
that Sweden has, where alcohol is there to be enjoyed and appreciated rather
than anything else.
#5 Food
The classic takeaway food here, whatever time of day it may be,
is falafel, usually with garlic, chilli and yoghurt sauce on it. There are many
places across Lund, and nearby Malmö, which have been recommended to me as
great for falafel which I plan on making my way through during the course of my
year here. Fika is another part of Swedish food culture which I fully plan on
throwing myself into. This is a coffee and cake (or something of the variety) break.
It occurs twice per day in work schedules and is taken as a granted thing to do
by colleagues. Fika has had its part in many welcome events here.
Fika Time
I would say that food from supermarkets has been the notably
more expensive category than home. The big shock came to me when I expected Lidl
to be much cheaper than other shops, but it is just a bit cheaper really. I
have ranked what I believe is the best value for money (starting from least expensive):
1)Netto 2)Wallys 3)Lidl 4)ICA 5)Coop.
