SwedenInTouch

Chinese Spring festival in Stockholm

Hao Wang — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:22:06 GMT

In Chinese culture, spring festival means a lot for us. In my memory, when I was a child, my big family (grandma, grandpa, uncle, aunt, and brother…etc. ) would cook together and chatting . Then, after big dinner, adults mostly will play mahjong that is a routine activity in my family at that time. In another hand, child can watch TV as late as they want. In addition, we can receive a lot of money from our family, which is also a tradition in China. What a nice childhood!

Following aging, especially after grandma and grandpa leave me, spring festival loses its taste generally. I have accepted that situation for a while. In addition, I have leaved my family for my study 8 years.

In Stockholm, this year, I would like to said spring festival came back to my life again. Sweden is a culture open country. You can find every culture elements here. Of course, the mainstream is western :P, but the country also accepted eastern.

The Education Section of Chinese Embassy organized a really remarkable spring festival party for all students and overseas Chinese. Most of programs are performed by students (Ph.D, master, exchange…etc.) whose studied in KI, KTH and Stockholm University. From thinking idea, formulating plan, practice, dress rehearsal and official perform, our winter not such cold anymore J.

Then, on Jan. 22th, we successfully performed a flash mob at galleria Stockholm. I would said, maybe, flash mob not such perfect for everyone, but it really bring a lot warm for me.

I put link of our flash mob here, just for fun. :D enjoy Northern Shaanxi style of China http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXLQAw3UPPs&feature=youtu.be&hd=1

My page: http://www.swedenintouch.se/My-Pages/My-Page/

Apple

Ivana Komatina — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 09:49:53 GMT

Evertytime I sit down to write a blog, thinking about a name for it is the hardest part. So I have decided to call them only by one word that marked my week. And I must say, my new computer definitely did that!

I have decided long long time ago that I need to have a new computer for my master thesis since the old one was basically falling apart. Being an architecture/design student, Apple seemed like a good choice. Great design of the computer is just a bonus, these guys (computer is a HE in Serbian) are just made for the programs I use. Yesterday when I worked in InDesign it was moving almost too fast! I am not used to it and it made me jump like a small child, out of pure happiness. This also means that I am in full working mode from yesterday which is good for a number of reasons.

My meeting with the supervisor is on Monday and I am trying to write down everything I wish to do for my master thesis and how to do it. From what I heard, everybody is having a slow start. Since most of the students want to have a real project in their thesis (and maybe include working in an office as well), we are all spending this first month just waiting for the answers from different clients. Did I write annoying somewhere? Because it is!

Most common situation in Sweden (but frankly not only here) is that you first send an email. There you will state who you are, what you need and why you need it from that specific person. In my case this happens:

1. they reply saying they unfortunately cannot help me, but Person X can, so I should contact them

2. I contact Person X but they do not answer

3. I must call Person X

I don't know what happens after no3. It may sound very funny, but I am scared of making phone-calls! It is the least favourite thing on my list of least favourite things. It goes before eating a worm (though I never had to do that, but trust me I would if it means that I don't have to call somebody).

I have no problem speaking with people in person. It doesn't matter if I know them, met them for the first time, did something embarrassing in front of them - I can and I will speak. But calling over the phone — that is just for the closest of family and friends. Otherwise I am just too nervous.

I guess that is something I have to work on.

Starting now and calling Person X.

Wish me luck,

Ivana

p.s. new CIRC organized SAUNA party last Sunday, I am still waiting for the pics, but you will be the first to see them

Prata Svenska! Finally learn swedish.

Experience Lund — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:50:06 GMT

Tyvärr, jag förstår inte. This sentences has become one of the most used ones for me here in Lund as…well, I have to admit that although I am living in Sweden now for six month I don’t really speak Swedish. Honestly, I feel a bit bad about this. Especially when I came home for Christmas it was kind of awkward. Of course everybody wanted me to say something in Swedish and the only thing I was able to say after all this months was “jag bor i Lund”, “Köttbullar” and “Fika” half of which I could also have picked up in a German Ikea store.

However, my lack in Swedish skills has nothing to do with disinterest. I think Swedish is a nice language and if I could actively speak it I am sure it would also be easier to become more a part of the real Swedish student life instead of living in the (also very nice) bubble of international student activities.

So I decided to give it a serious try without however investing too much money and time in it (much as I’d like to, in the end it’s only nine million people who speak this secret language)

Read on my blog how I will do it:

http://www.experience-lund.com/post/16825891089/how-to-learn-swedish-when-studying-abroad

recreational hellasgården

Olivia Biermann — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:58:11 GMT

Hellasgården! This is where my friends and I spent one of the most beautiful days so far. Go there! Bring a little bit of time and you will get a real break… Last Sunday was wonderfully bright when we were heading towards the recreational area. You take bus 401 from Slussen to get there. We went there for swimming during the summer, but now it looked totally different – the landscape covered with snow, the lake frozen. But we DID go there for a swim this time, too! We went ice-skating first which was absolutely great! It is so cool to do it a on a biiig lake instead of a small field or an indoor thing. You have incredibly much space and a nice view from the middle of the lake into the forests. Afterwards (our feet hurt like hell and) we went to the sauna to relax for a little bit. THEN we went for “swim” in the lake!! The swim didn't last for more than 10 seconds though (except for Icelandic Gunnhildur who didn't seem to feel any pain and actually really swam for a little bit). For me it felt like needles in my heated-up skin and I thought I was gonna die because my feed (bring shoes!!) got so unbelievably cold by walking over the frozen ground that I seriously thought that parts of them might actually freeze off. The second round was a little more enjoyable (I brought socks this time.. but that didn't help so much either. Bring shoes!!), the third even more because this was only followed by a nice shower. So... go there! You can check out the place here: http://www.hellasgarden.se/

Second hand shopping (IKEA for students!)

Abhinit Ambastha — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:46:07 GMT

Hej hej! I am a student and I am eternally as poor as a church mouse. But! this doesn't kill my dreams of having a complete furniture collection, or my personal library or a buzzillian sinatra records just lying on that piece of wooden furniture. Well one way to do this without shelling out my bottom dollar in Stockholm is to goto IKEA. The one single almighty shop for everything. Its inexpensive, well light, extremely confusing and seems further than India. But what if you want a leather arm chair or a bunch of novels? and what if you want something inexpensive than inexpensive? You goto the bunch of secondhand stores in Stockohlm!

There are many such stores in the city! mainly giving all their earnings to charity, makes me believe its a transparent and efficient way to do some charity! Its a line of shops which is hidden amongst the shiny outlets.

Erikshjälpen (våsby allé, 53), Myrorna, Åter Vinnarna being one of the best ones! you can even lookup of redcross second shops in the city. Erikshjälpen being my favourite, though lil outside the city provides an amazing collection of books, furniture and clothes. One can goto any of these stores and feel lucky! I got an armchair for 110kr! completely cleaned, hardly used and extremely comfy.

I would definitly suggest to check out these stores. You never know! you might save for a couple of beers! ;)

Ciao!
Abhinit

The Muffins story

Abhinit Ambastha — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:45:35 GMT

Muffins - trick or treat? a mysterious unambiguous feeling flowing inside numming senses as it passes through your mouth! They are one of the best which a baker can offer to this society. Its the new coffee, the new 'drinks'. whether it be just two friends meeting after what seems like ages, or a couple snuggling up for a snack at the end of the day. Why is it the hype? atleast for me? I guess this post will spin you through it!

A few weeks back while second shopping across Stockholm I found this cute lil place called 'Muffins Fabriken'. It wears the awning like a beret and sits at Götgatan 99.

My friend and me decided to grab a bite! Its graspingly astonishing to know how a this tiny cafe which seats max 21 customers, selling a single 'commodity' (le mieux) operates, nah captures, this area. The muffins were amazing! Ideally warm hot chocolate with it, creates the similar effect of a cotton candy which you thought you could never finish. We sat there for hours, talking about anything and everything. It got me thinking, why didn't I ever think of coming here with someone before? why do people need to specifically meet in bars and old cafes to mingle (in a classy manner!) when they could 'keep it simple'!

This further provoked the thought of me recommending this for a outting amongst the digital ambassadors at KI! we decided to meet up on the coming thursday in the evening! and well we did (me omitting minor details here!).

This completed my circle of thought (I suppose!). It also began another, the fact that how a warm service and a muffin can give you one of the best satisfaction which money can buy!

Cheers!
Abhinit

Tromsø, a winter wonderland!

Daniela Farias — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:37:18 GMT

Wow, I kinda disappeared from the blog! So many things happening....so, let's try to catch up!

Coming from Brazil, one of the things I like the most in living in Sweden is the fact that, well, I'm in Europe (duh)! This puts me close to so many different places, some that I haven't ever imagined I would visit! The best example is Tromsø, Norway. I've been there for the second time during this Chrismas, and I'll keep on coming back for sure.

First of all, let's see where Tromsø is...

And you thought Kiruna was the northest you could get, huh? ;)

How did I end up there? Easy, it's my boyfriend's hometown! He currently studies in Trondheim though, and that means that we're always travelling around to meet up. The pains of long-distance relationships...:(

Anyway! Tromsø is an island, around 350km north ofthe artic circle. From what I understood, the city grew from the island and now there's a part of it on the mainland (the area called Tromsdalen), and a part in another island that they call Kvalløya,Whale Island. All these parts are connected by bridges.

I took this picture from the top of a mountain in Tromsdalen; there you can see the main island and the bridge connecting it to the mainland, as well as the Whale Island on the other side.

There, during the winter, the sun never goes up; at noon it gets a bit brighter, but it's not direct light. Result: my biological clock went crazy! I'd "wake up" at 9, give a sleepy look out the window, think it was 4am, and sleep again...until 3pm! This looks ridiculous, but it was really difficult to cope with. In Göteborg during winter the mornings are also dark, but that was just a bit too much to get used to!

In the rare days we managed to get out of bed before 12pm, we did some sightseeing. And oh, there's a lot of amazing stuff to see there! First, is going up the mountain I just talked about. There's a cable car that goes there, and the views are incredible. However, it's good to pack a LOT of warm clothes, because up there I felt the most extreme cold I have ever felt...

Me trying to ignore the fact my bones were frozen. Notice the "sun"- this was around 13am.

Going down the montain you'll see the icon of the city: The Artic Cathedral! It's beautiful.

I messed a bit on Photoshop to make the picture clearer and the cathedral more visible. :p

Then, crossing the brigde back into the island...

I'm so proud of this picture! Beautiful, isn't it? The bridge is on the left.

In the island there is Polaria, a sort of aquarium (like Universeum in Göteborg). I love the "ice domino" and the way the architecture relates to the Artic Cathedral's.

I was having a lot of trouble with my camera on this day, so I'm glad I managed to take at least ONE crappy picture. Bought a new camera later.

Another interesting building is the library. The thin shell structure is fantastic! My boyfriend said that they rebuilt the library, but the roof stood there, with nothing under it - it can support itself, as you can see in the picture.

Inside the library there's a gingerbread cookie house exposition during Christmas, where people create edible models of the city's buildings, most of them donated for charity in order to be sold. Cute.

Yum!

Tromsø also has the northernmost brewery of the world, Mack!

The beer is great, I tried them all.

The thing I love the most about Tromsø is the cozy "aura" of the end of the year celebrations - and of course, all the snow!

My first snowman ever, made with my boyfriend's little cousins.

Me and my boyfriend also made nerdy pepparkakor...maybe next year we'll do something to donate to the library.

A prize if you recognize all of them! (Except the 2 guys at the right, that's me and him :D)

A Super Mario plate, our masterpiece!

In the New Years eve, they lighted up a big "2011" in the mountain, that turned into "2012". All the citizens donate money, and there's a huge fireworks show there.

But the most amazing was still to come...on the day before I came back to Göteborg, I was greeted by Nordlys, the Aurora Borealis.

It wasn't a very strong one, but it was big and beautiful! On the year before I managed to see a really strong one, but then I had the problematic camera I talked about. It seems the strongest ones appear during January, but sadly this is when the classes start.

There's a lot more you can do in Tromsø: Skiing, dog sledding, taking the Hurtigruten (google it!), climbing, going to the museums, enjoying some beer and rock at BlåRock...however, all I really want right now is to go there during summer, when instead of a full day of night, they have a full day of light - the Midnight Sun! Tromsø is wonderful while white, but I bet it's also incredible without snow.

I hope I managed to give you a quick tour! If you have an opportunity to go there, don't even think twice!

/Daniela Farias

Twitter: @danifarias

Health Informatics: An Area of Emerging Opportunities

Aminul Islam — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:31:33 GMT

Health informatics is concerned with capturing, collecting, processing and storing of data in order to represent as knowledge for care giver. Health informatics is delivered by health care practitioners, academic researchers, educators, scientists and technologists. The main focus is to improve patient care, patient safety, and organisational eﬀectiveness to achieve better outcomes.

Pic:01 location Huddinge campus, Stockholm and picture source: KI website

Eﬀective healthcare relies on skilled professionals and their use of tools and techniques. To make a decision about patient care, clinician needs to access patient record including test results, evidence based clinical guidelines and evidence base of research and good practice on their clinical condition. The health informatics ﬁeld is growing and subject to change because of political environment, rapid technological advancement and public and professional expectations. However the basic needs and themes will remain constant.

Pic:02 location Solna campus, Stockholm

Health informatics requires a level of knowledge and understanding of health itself in order to design, develop, operate or train others to use appropriate solutions. So, more and more Health Informatician requires supporting the entire domain for better outcomes.

Opportunities in Health Informatics mainly covered the following areas:

• Information Management

• Knowledge Management

• Research and Development

Pic:03 location Solna campus, Stockholm and picture source: KI website

Karolinska Institutet (KI) is offering health informatics for international students to meet the current demand. Welcome to KI if would like to part of the emerging challenges and opportunities.

http://www.swedenintouch.se/Aminul-Islam/

Confidence is a tool

glory shayo — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:48:05 GMT

Si. Network For Future Global Leaders has build high confidence on me.I hope it will be so to others also.When i go back to my home country i feel energized and could do something for the nation.Your efforts( SI) will not be in vain keep it up.

Whoever is born in January, stand up, stand up, stand up...

Ioana Vlad — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 23:38:46 GMT

The title is a loose translation of a Romanian song which is usually sung at New Years’. It continues with all the other months in the year and it might involve or encourage some drinking. I am only interested in January because it was a full month. And I am not talking so much about schoolwork (although it certainly was busy from that point of view too) as I am about celebrations, specifically, birthday celebrations. Five birthday parties in one month!!! Some of my closest friends here in Stockholm (all international students) were born in January, and so was I. This is why, for me, January was a great month.
We kicked off the month with Olivia's and Christine's birthdays, celebrated with a common karaoke party. Then, it was my turn: I chose to celebrate 3 days in advance (to the shock of my German friends who kept saying it was bad luck); however, I wanted to have my birthday party during the weekend following the end of the semester, because I was sure people will be in a party mood. I was right: a lot of people in my class, but also from the other international master programmes showed up in the mood for a party. And, even if I say so myself, it was a great party. Three days later, on my actual birthday, in order to give my German friends an opportunity to wish me happy birthday (they had refused to do so for my actual party), we went out for a birthday dinner and ate some fabulous sushi. Good food (Indian, this time) and another party were in order again for Nora’s birthday, one week later. Last but not least, we painted the town red for Elisa’s birthday just last night.
And that was January. I am looking forward to February!!!
PS: I know you don’t know anything about all these people I mentioned in this entry. However, I assure you, they are awesome and celebrating with them has made for an awesome month. Next time, I promise we’ll get back to more serious topics. For instance, who’s in the mood to talk about some statistics?

1 February deadline for application package

Sokrates Nifakos — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:35:34 GMT

‎1 February deadline for application package
The international applications to the Global Master's Programmes and freestanding courses starting in autumn semester 2012 closed on 16 january 2012. The last day to complete your application package is 1 February 2012.
However applicants can still make a late application to some of the freestanding courses and Global Master's Programmes starting in autumn 2012.

Group assignments

Sushmitha Sathiyamoorthy — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:19:13 GMT

Hey all!

In the biomedicine program, a lot of our assignments are a group- task. We are assigned in several groups for every assignment so that we work different people each time and get the feel of working in a team. Group work can be a very effective method to motivate students, encourage active learning and develop critical thinking, improve communication and decision making skills. There is also a major need of careful planning and the involvement of all the team members without which one might feel that its just a waste of time.

We have had a lot of group tasks so far and it has been a great experience working with different fellow students in my class and of course it has been a wonderful learning experience in terms of planning and the way one thinks about a particular subject.

I love the fact that our program has allocated time for group work in our schedule whenever we an assignment. It really saves one from the hassle of finding a common time to meet. It can be difficult when you have a large group to work with. One main thing that happens often in a group work that makes the whole task fall apart is when someone thinks that they are doing more work than the rest of the group. A fair division of labour before starting to work on the task would be a great help to avoid misunderstandings. But in the end its all the part and parcel of learning process.

A final thought....

A successful groupwork not only requires careful planning and facilitation but also regular reflection and reassessment afterwards. Peer review could be of major help if one comments on what worked especially well and what one would want to change in the future to make the exercise run more smoothly.

Have a great week ahead!

See you all in my next blogpost. Stay tuned till then.

Hey, let's go skating !

Tingting Li — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:31:08 GMT

Oh my gosh! I cannot believe it--I lost my skating ability, which I obtained 2 years ago in my college. It was on the PE class that I learned it, and I got full marks for it! But today, I hate to say, but I fell down 3 times in less than 30 mins!! The skating end up with my classmate holding me out of the skating arena!! I hurt heavily on my ass the first time falling down, then left knee, and third time my right knee. My classmate warned me "Tingting, if you don't want to break something, just stop!!"

I am afraid of standing straight.

However,I think I will recommend my friends who love skating to go there--Heden
(about 10 minutes' walk from Chalmers). The entrance fee is 30kr, and for the skates (30 SEK) and helmets (5 SEK). You can enjoy the beautiful music when skating, for me, however, one heart for concentrating on my feet is not enough, let alone appreciating the music, this time. Next time, hopefully, i won't miss the music.

Very good place for skating!

I try to find the feelings two years ago, but still cannot do well. I saw several little boys and girls, they are so little, but skating with very skillful steps, and a little girl was even dancing like a fish. They are brave.

Am I cool?

The blue dressed, little fishy girl--sooooo flexibly

Next time, after recovering from the hurts, I will come again, try my best to pick up this ability.

Summer Courses in Stockholm: Offered by top three universities in Sweden.

Aminul Islam — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:58:19 GMT

This is the first time three top ranked universities in Stockholm are offering summer courses with joint collaboration for international students. This would be a unique opportunity for international students studying on undergraduate level in Sweden. Stockholm Summer School: A joint program between three universities in Stockholm: Karolinska Institutet(KI), Royal Institute of Technology(KTH) and Stockholm University(SU). Students will get unique experience about Swedish education and culture.

Pic:01 Panoramic view of heart of the stockholm city. Is n't it Awesome!

The five different summer courses of 6 credits are all given in English during four weeks starting 11 June 2012. Please note that the courses begin 11 June (distance learning) and from 18 June to 6 July on location in Stockholm. The online application period opens 20 January and closes 1 March 2012.

Five courses are given below:

Bioentrepreneurship

Future Energy Technology

Global Health

The Earth's Climate and Climate Change

The Swedish Model

Please browse below links for more information about three universities:

http://ki.se/?l=en

http://www.kth.se/?l=en_UK

http://www.su.se/english/

Stockholm city is often described as clean, safe and green city in Europe. Sweden is also well-known for IT innovation, peaceful and country of equal rights. Stockholm in summer is just like a paradise. Everyone speaks excellent English here.

Pic: 02 This is why stockholm is called green city in Europe.

Accommodation is really tough to manage in Stockholm but summer school will arrange accommodation for students in this case. During your stay in Stockholm, you will live in a room with private toilet and shower as well as a part of a communal kitchen.

Pic :03 Panoramic view of the stockholm city. Surrounding water! Awesome!

The rooms are furnished with basic furniture which consists of a bed, mattress, desk and chair. Pillow and blankets are also included in the list. For details admission prerequisite, fees and accommodation please browse below link:

http://www.stockholmsummerschool.se/

Students who are interested to study in Sweden for master’s program in future, this could be a good starting point and vital experience for them.

http://www.swedenintouch.se/Aminul-Islam/

Master Program Film and Media Production in Lund

Experience Lund — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 08:50:05 GMT

Lund, Skåne Lan, Sweden – 07.December 2011, 05:24am – Bus stop Universitetssjukhuset – one girl waiting to hop on the Skåne Expressen #6 to Ystad. Why Ystad you might wonder, and why at this god forsaken time? For somebody working in the film and TV industry in Sweden probably the only and correct answer would be: I bet they are filming another Wallander down there again. And indeed they did.

As some of you may know, Kurt Wallander is one of the most famous police inspectors of Sweden. Not in real life, mind you, but in the books by Henning Mankell, who has written more than 12 crime novels all revolving around the grumpy police man in one of the southern most points of Sweden, in Ystad – which, according to the books, apparently has one of the highest crime rates in Sweden.

Read more about studying Film and Media Production in Lund on my blog:

http://experience-lund.tumblr.com/post/16522126766/master-program-film-and-media-producing-lund-wallander