8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Historia, politik, kultur

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1 Enskilda enkäter för Utbytesrapport/Exchange Report Person 97 Basic Information 1. Name Pär Holmberg 2. address: par 3. Exchange university Universdad del Salvador 4. City Buenos Aires 5. Country Argentina 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish spring semester (VT) 7. Academic year - 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Historia, politik, kultur 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Civilingenjör STS 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 3.5 Studies 12. Tell us about your studies on your exchange. If you are stuck for ideas you can for exemple write about: The differences between Uppsala University and the exchange. What were the teachers like? What courses would you recommend (or not) for future exchange students? The relationship between teachers and students. The academic level and quality of your courses. Access to computers. Examinations... Under mitt utbytesår i Buenos Aires på Universidad del Salvador läste jag en rad blandande kurser. Bland annat Argentinsk historia, geografi och politik. Jag läste också amerikansk förhistoria och Sydamerikansk kulturhistoria. Kurserna var från olika årskurser men jag valde med vilja en rad kurser från årskurs ett, då det var lättare att komma in och lära känna de argentinska studenterna. Jag läste inte den förberedande spanskakursen då jag hörde att den var väldigt dyr relativt andra kurser som finns i staden. Slutligen blev det så att jag plockade upp all spanska jag behövde från gatan så ingen spanskakurs behövdes. När det gäller undervisningen på USAL håller den väldigt blandad nivå och det beror mycket på vilken lärare du har. Vissa lärare brann verkligen för sitt jobb medan vissa andra mest ville få det avklarat. Jag upplevde allt från att svaren till tentan skrevs på tavlan under skrivningen till att minsta lilla citat från studielitteraturen skulle analyseras. USAL är ju också ett kristet universitet som kunde lysa igenom ibland. Bland annat lämnade en rad studenter klassrummet när läraren i Amerikansk Förhistoria gick igenom Darwins teorier. Det är dock ofta små klasser vilket kan vara positivt. Lärarna har också mer respekt och det var sällan någon ifrågasatte vad en lärare sa. Att hålla en tid var inte något som betonades varken av lärare eller elever. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 289 av??

2 Enskilda enkäter för Utbytesrapport/Exchange Report Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. Universitet hade en mottagningsdag där de gick igenom en rad praktiska saker och de hjälpte till att fixa migrationspapprena. Dessutom fanns det några faddrar man kunde ta hjälp av och de anordnande några träffar på olika ställen runt om i staden. Generellt var det väl inte något vidare studentliv eller sammanhållning. Vilket troligtvis berodde på att det var en så stor stad och det var svårt att hålla igång något sådant. Det var inte heller nödvändigt med allt annat som fanns att göra. Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? Jag bodde i ett gammalt kolonialskt hus i det något mindre medelklassområdet som heter Boedo. De allra flesta utbytesstudenter bosätter sig i de mer kända områdena Palermo, Recoleta, San Telmo etc. Men för mig var Boedo perfekt då det hade en mer intim kvarterskänsla med många lokala hak. Visst fanns det områden i närheten som inte kändes helt säkra men med lite Jag är dessutom fotbollsintresserad så det var nära till San Lorenzos arena. De gick dessutom och vann ligan året jag var där. Your finances 15. Describe the cost of living. Did you find CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? Levnadskostnaderna är lägre än i Sverige men hög inflation och svarta kurser gjorde den ekonomiska situationen väldigt instabil. Dock fick man ta seden dit man kom och med lite fixande så räckte CSN gott och väl till både att resa och leva gott. Min hyra i Boedo var dessutom väldigt låg i relation till de mer populära områdena. Jag jobbade inte extra men var en hel del som lärde ut engelska och det var inga större svårigheter att hitta jobb som framförallt engelskalärare. Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specifically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on offer? Universitetet anordnade väl inte jättemycket fritidsaktiviteter för oss utbytesstudenter. Dock tror jag det fanns en hel del via universitetet om man sökte lite. Jag umgicks mest med folk utanför universitetet och saker att göra finns det ingen brist på i Buenos Aires. Du kan göra och hitta precis allt i den kokande storstad. Your exchange on the whole 17. Please sum up your exchange experience. If you have any other tips for future exchange students, or any other comments feel free to include them here. För att summera var det en fantastisk upplevelse och man har gott om tid att resa till andra länder vilket jag tog tillfälle att göra. Jag rekommenderar starkt att resa omkring så mycket som möjligt i Argentina dessutom. Jag som gillar vandring och fiske fann mitt paradis i södra Argentina. Jag har också fått vänskaper som jag aldrig kommer glömma. Buenos Aires är dessutom helt fantastiskt även om det är en komplex stad med sina nackdelar också. För en vin och matälskande gosse som mig var staden underbar. Jag rekommenderar verkligen att göra detta utbyte. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 290 av??

3 Enskilda enkäter för Utbytesrapport/Exchange Report Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by to individual students requesting it. Do you also approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University s website? Yes 19. Do you have any photos you would like to upload and include in your exchange report? Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s Publishing of pictures - Thank you for submitting your exchange report! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 291 av??

4 Enskilda enkäter för Utbytesrapport/Exchange report 2013/14 Person 186 Basic Information 1. Name Josefin Edberg 2. address: 3. Exchange university Universidad del Salvador 4. City Buenos Aires 5. Country Argentina 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish spring semester (VT) 7. Academic year 2013/ What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Spanish, Political Science, International Relations and History 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Pol.Kand 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 1,5 years Studies 12. Tell us about your studies on your exchange. If you are stuck for ideas you can for exemple write about: The differences between Uppsala University and the exchange. What were the teachers like? What courses would you recommend (or not) for future exchange students? The relationship between teachers and students. The academic level and quality of your courses. Access to computers. Examinations... I took the intense Spanish course (Curso Intensivo de Español CIE) that USAL is offering all the exchange students and had time to get to know the school, the staff and the way things work a little bit before it was time to apply for courses. But I still thought that part was tricky. You dont apply for the courses until a week before (the school gives you the exact dates etc.) and they do give a quite informative meeting for all the exchange students but all of the applying is done from the computer. I suggest you make sure to look up a lot of courses in advance on USAL:s webpage so you know what to look for when applying. Most of the courses are given on either morning or evening and you decide which one you want, in that way you are very free to build your own schedule. A lot of the international students try to keep Mondays and/or Fridays free from classes so that theyre able to get longer weekends for travels etc. The university offers special courses for students on exchange where the teachers tend to speak a little bit slower and keep in mind that its no ones first language. These are fun to take because you meet a lot of the other international students and you are not as insecure when it comes to asking questions etc. But, dont expect the exams or homework to be easier. I took both these special courses and the courses that the regular Argentinian students take and in some cases the teachers in the regular classes where more considerate of the fact that you could have trouble understanding. When the Argentinian students had exams I usually got a take-home-test which gave me more time to answer the questions. The size of the classes are usually somewhere between 20 and 30 students and the dialogue in the classroom is very open and free. It wouldnt be unusual if a student almost interrupted Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 554 av??

5 Enskilda enkäter för Utbytesrapport/Exchange report 2013/14 the teacher if he/she want the teacher to explain more, speak louder or repeat what he/she just said. It also is common that either the teacher or the majority of the students are 20 minutes late. Some teachers are very strict and take notes when people are late but usually that is nothing to worry about. A lot of the teachers also have colleagues (normally they are younger, newly exanimated teachers) that help them give classes once in a while. So the responsible head teacher isnt always the one you meet. The level of the studies is quite high. I took classes in international relations, politics, Latin American and Argentinian history and I am satisfied with all of them. Its not really the same level or system as in Sweden where Im used to studying political science where you have to sit down and read all day long five days a week to be able to perform on the weekly seminars. At USAL there was a lot to read but you were never really examined until the test. There were two examinations per semester in all of my courses it could either be an essay you had to write, a normal classroom examination or a group project. Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. When we landed in Buenos Aires (me and the other girl on exchange from Uppsala, Theodora) we had made reservations at a hostel for a couple of days. We arrived almost a week before the intense course started, to be able to get to know the city a little bit and to find a place to stay. Its very easy to find all kinds of houses or apartments on craigslist.com. Once we started the intense course we got a lot of help from all of our teachers, recommendations about where to go, what to see, what to do and what not to do. We also went to some places with school. In my opinion the settling in went very smooth and Im glad I had the chance to walk around a look at some apartments before I decided. Its nice to get to talk to the people you will be renting from and also to get to see the neighbourhood. The first day of school (the CIE-course) was exhausting and we got a lot of information. But the staff was very friendly and a lot of them quite young so they were easy to talk to. Both before and during the stay the international office was very helpful, they answered s quickly and were always easy to contact. Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? When it comes to accommodation my tip is to not decide for anything in advance, instead look around once youve gotten there. In that way you can decide in what neighbourhood you like, Buenos Aires is a big city so there is a lot of places to live. I stayed in Palermo in a house owned by an Argentinian girl where there were five other international students renting as well. There are a lot of these types of houses in the city and they are all easy to find on craigslist.com or airbnb.com. Make sure you dont pay everything in advance because things may change and if you decide to move its not certain your landlord will give you the money back. I really liked staying in the house I did and I made some really good friends. Its nice to live with other international student since they usually have the same problems as you and you can help each other out. But if you want to be more integrated in the real society and hang out with more Argentinians and really practise your Spanish maybe you should consider other types of accommodations. You usually have to tell your land lord a month in advance if you want to move, but if you just keep that in mind its not hard to move around and try different ways of living. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 555 av??

6 Enskilda enkäter för Utbytesrapport/Exchange report 2013/14 Your finances 15. Describe the cost of living. Did you find CSN adequate? How was the rent in comparison to your rent in Uppsala? Did you undertake part-time work in addition to your studies? Since I chose to live in Palermo in this type of house the cost of living was high. I paid 600 USD per month, which is more than I pay in Uppsala. The price for food was also quite high, in general I would say that the price level in the supermarkets was almost like the level in Sweden. But the CSN I got was enough, I was even able to eat out a lot and do trips on the longer weekends. In Argentina there is a thing called the blue dollar. Due to the restriction of USD a black market was been created where American dollars are traded at a higher rate. In this way you can make more money out of the money you already have. There are also money transferpages online where you can send money to yourself and also make a good deal out of it. Its easy to google this to get to know more. Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Did the university arrange any special activities? Where there any activities specifically for exchange students? Were you happy with what was on offer? Its not hard to spend your time in Buenos Aires. USAL has a Buddy-system that you can sign up to and they also have e group of students organizing activities once in a while. There is also an organization in the city called BAIS and they do a lot of things, everything from big parties in to longer trips to different parts of the country. You will find all of these groups on Facebook. I did some of the activities that the different organisations offered but mostly I just walked around the city, went to cafés and hung out with friends in parks. I talked to a lot of people that volunteered in schools or in the villas around the city. They all said it was easy to find places where you can volunteer and I actually wish I had done something like that. Your exchange on the whole 17. Please sum up your exchange experience. If you have any other tips for future exchange students, or any other comments feel free to include them here. I am so happy I was chosen to go to Buenos Aires on my exchange. Its hard to describe almost six months of experiences in one small text. Let me just say that I was amazed by this city and all of its different neighbourhoods. But what made my exchange so good were all the people I met. To read more about my exchange you are very welcome to read the blog I wrote while I was abroad. Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by to individual students requesting it. Do you also approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University s website? Yes 19. Do you have any photos you would like to upload and include in your exchange report? Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s Publishing of pictures I approve of my pictures being published and used in Uppsala University s marketing of international exchanges Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 556 av??