Enskilda enkäter för Utbytesrapport/Exchange Report Person 48 Basic Information 1. Name Aina Rasool 2. E-mail address: aina rasool@hotmail.com 3. Exchange university Sussex University 4. City Brigthon 5. Country England 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish autumn semester (HT) 7. Academic year 2013/2014 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Law and Media 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Law 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 4 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... Jag var nöjd med universitetet och studierna. Vissa kurser var dock bättre organiserade än andra, men så är alltid fallet. Jag läste Law of contract, human rights och questioning the media. Media-kursen var väldigt simpel, och jag valde den för att inte endast ha betungande ämnen, jag ville ju även njuta av mitt utbyte! De andra ämnena var krävande. För den som studerar juridik kommer man märka av stora likheter med Uppsala stora föreläsningar och PBL gällande seminarieuppgifterna. Lärares roll under seminariet var mer betydande, och hon gav ofta svar på frågor, vilket jag inte upplevt så mycket i Uppsala. De jobbade heller inte med basgrupper, vilket innebar att jag som utbytesstudent jobbade mycket själv. Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. Jag åkte till Brighton med mina föräldrar och vi hyrde bil, vilket underlättade till en början för mig. Jag kunde åka till de stora butikerna lite utanför stan (Tesco, Azda) och handla lakan, täcke etc. För den som inte har den möjligheten erbjuder Sussex ett paket med alla basic varor som man kan köpa på plats, dock var det dyrare än att köpa själv. Dessutom var kastrullen och stekpannan värdelösa. Det är lätt att inrätta sig. Finns bra bussförbindelser. Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 145 av??
Enskilda enkäter för Utbytesrapport/Exchange Report 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 på Kings Road, precis på stranden. Har man möjligheten till att bo där tackar man JA! Det var helt underbart. Jag hade nära till alla klubbar, restauranger, stranden, Brighton Pier etc. Jag tog mig överallt på några minuters promenad. Är man känslig för ljud ska man dock inte bo där, eftersom att folk festar ganska mycket och ljudet från klubbarna tar sig genom de tunna väggarna. Jag hade dock inte mycket campus-life, så den delen missade jag. För mig passade det perfekt, eftersom jag är 24 år gammal och känner att jag är klar med den biten. De flesta är yngre på campus, och för den som är yngre så kan det vara riktigt kul att bo 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? Kings Road har den högsta hyran. Jag betalade ca. 490 pund i månaden. Jag tyckte dock det var värt det. Jag bodde centralt och hade havsutsikt. Jag hade jobbat innan jag tog mig till England, så jag hade lite sparpengar. CSN kan räcka, men då lever man nog lite snålare. Jag gjorde av med mycket pengar, men jag åt ute exakt varje dag, reste inom England och shoppade. Gör man matlådor och lever lite snålare så räcker det. 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 har aktiviteter konstant! Finns massa föreningar som anordnar events. Jag tog danslektioner på campus och tränade lite, men den mesta delen umgicks jag med alla vänner jag lärde känna. Vi festade, åt middagar och bara umgicks. 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. Att åka på utbyte är det bästa jag gjort under alla mina år som student. Jag har haft så himla kul och längtar tillbaka varje dag. Det man ska tänka på är att vara social och dra sig till folk, det är så man lär känna andra och det är med rätt folk man har kul! Jag bestämde mig också för att ta vara på alla möjligheter, så jag var med på allt som fanns att göra och levde ett väldigt intensivt liv under mina månader där. På så vis fick jag ut det mesta av utbytet! Jag var inledningsvis lite deppad över att jag inte hamnade i London, utan Brighton. Så fort jag flyttade dit ändrade jag dock inställning. Brighton är en studentstad och det är mycket roligare att plugga där än i London. London är för stort och hamnar du i en lägenhet i zon sex så slösar du bort hela din dag på att pendla. Det var kul att åka in till London då och då dock, det är ju bara 50 minuter från Brighton med tåget. Jag rekommenderar starkt att alla åker på utbyte! Minnen för livet! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 146 av??
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 email 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? - 20. Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s. - 21. Publishing of pictures - Thank you for submitting your exchange report! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 147 av??
Person 14 Basic Information 1. Name Ida Forsgren 2. E-mail address: ifogen@gmail.com 3. Exchange university University of Sussex 4. City Brighton 5. Country United Kingdom 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish autumn semester (HT) 7. Academic year 2013/2014 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Economics, Sociology, Politics 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Bachelor Programme in Human Resource Management and Working Life 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 2 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... My idea when I went on this exchange was to study modules that were a bit different from courses I usually undertake and function as a complement to my studies back home. I can especially recommend the sociology institution where I studied two gender related courses called Gender and the Life Course and Constructing Sexuality. Especially the latter was a great module, much due to the very enthusiastic and ambitious teacher Ben. Also, if you want to get a better understanding of the United Kingdom and are interested in politics I can highly recommend the module British Political History quite challenging consider the low pre-knowledge I had about the British political system and history but very instructive. Overall, the teachers were good, though in comparison to Uppsala I think they sometimes could have made the seminars more engaging. What was positive was that the teachers at Uni of Sussex made a great effort to learn the names of the students and to be including which created a good relationship between me and my tutors. Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. I arrived a few days before the term started and went straight to my student accommodation to settle in. It was a big freshers fair on campus when I arrived and there you get familiar with the different sports clubs and societies which was a good way to get to know people and get an understanding for the social life of the university. Though, to be honest I spent a lot of time with the other exchange students Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 39 av??
from Uppsala during the first week, we had a facebook group where we made plans together - something that can be quite nice before you ve started to meet new people Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? I had fixed a student accommodation on campus before I arrived in an area called Stanmer Court. In comparison to Uppsala, I would say the standard on student housings is lower than back home, or similar to the dorms in Flogsta. Especially since the rent was quite high, a little more than 400 pounds a month. Also Ive realised that the standard is highly dependent on where on campus you are staying: Northfield and Brighthelm are quite nice areas whereas the standard of for example East Slope and Stanmer Court was lower. I would say the big drawback of Stanmer Court is that it lies just beside a big motorway and the sound was very loud even when I had my window closed. Though what was good at Stanmer Court was that I had my own bathroom and shower and lived in a dorm where everyone was very nice and welcoming. After Christmas I moved into a private accommodation halfway between campus and the city centre. I heard about this through I classmate and now share a flat with three other students. Even though the rent is higher and also that we had to pay all the months in advance (with rent all the way to August), I like this better than campus. The main reason for this is that many of my friends live in the same area, I enjoy living in a flat instead of a dorm and I can easily walk into Brighton or take the bus to campus in only 15 minutes. My tips to future exchange students is that if you want to live off campus, dont be afraid to contact people on for example Gumtree and sort everything out after you have arrived. It is quite easy to get a private accommodation in the Brighton area and at least for me it has been much nicer to live off campus than on. 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? Like Ive already mentioned, the rents are quite high in England. I had some saved money from before so cannot really tell whether CSN was adequate to finance my cost of living or not, but what is worth to consider is that you will be given all the CSN money for the term at the same time, i e not month by month like in Uppsala. So even though you might feel like you have a lot of money in the beginning, this can be misjudging. I did not undertake any part-time job during my stay. Furthermore, if you are going to stay for a year, I would recommend you to open up an English bank account so you can avoid extra transaction costs. You can open up an account through any of the main banks in Brighton and this was not difficult to do at all. 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? I joined the Sussex athletics club during my first week and have therefore spend some of my free time training and also competing with club. This was a good way to get to know people and the club was very welcoming to everyone without making a distinction between those who were a bit better/worse than the others. I enjoy long distance running and actually created my own running sessions through the athletics facebook page which has been great Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 40 av??
fun. I also went on some of the day trips organised by the University and can especially recommend Stonehenge, Bath and Oxford. These trips cost around 30 pounds and in the price the transportation (bus) and guided tours are included. This was also a good way to get to know other students. A tip here is pay attention to when they release the tickets to these events and be there on time to purchase the ones you want since they are popular and get sold out quickly. A can also really recommend all the events going on in Brighton away from the university life. Brighton has a great local music scene and many cozy pubs worth a visit! 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. Overall, my stay in Brighton and studies at University of Sussex have been really good. I was only planning to stay one term but extended my visit to a year just because I liked it so much. The local culture is great, people are friendly and I have met many people I surely will keep in touch with. The only thing that was a bit of a disappointment was the campus life, that I found different from what I had expected it was not as easy to get to know people that I would have thought and the university area is not as nice as I thought it would be. For me, the move into a flat closer to Brighton was therefore much appreciated, but that all depends on your preferences and what you want to get out of you exchange. Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by email 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? - 20. Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s. - 21. Publishing of pictures - Thank you for submitting your exchange report! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 41 av??
Person 58 Basic Information 1. Name Pia Fors 2. E-mail address: pia.fors@hotmail.com 3. Exchange university University of Sussex 4. City Uppsala 5. Country Sverige 6. First semester of your exchange Swedish autumn semester (HT) 7. Academic year 2013/2014 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Business and economics 9. Level of studies at the exchange university Undergraduate 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Kulturentreprenörskap 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? 2,5 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... It s been a really great year. What I liked about the English system with modules was that it was easy to combine whatever you wanted to study. Basically I liked the concept with 2 hours lecture and 1 hour seminar each week per module, but in the end it was almost a bit too little to do. Especially if you had 1st year modules. Before assessment period it could be a bit stressful, but as long as you planed a bit beforehand it really wasn t too much. Since we had four modules to study at the same time it gave some more variation. We also had a lot of group work, it s very worthwhile, but can also be frustrating depending on the group. It could either be that some in the group hardly could speak english or it was their mother tongue and made it sometimes hard for you to discuss things. On the other hand, it gave me new perspectives on team work! Overall, it wasn t a too heavy year, and I didn t mind their system at all. Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in. - Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 167 av??
Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. What type of accommodation did you have, where you satisfied? Do you have any tips for future students? I rented a room in a house together with three other girls that studied their final year at the university. I met them through facebook and everything worked very well with them since they knew how everything worked when renting from a private landlord. I simply just had to pay to one of the girls that took care of everything. It was also perfect to live with them since they already knew their way around Brighton and the school system, so I could simply ask them if I had any question. The original plan for me was to only stay one semester, but I decided to extend my visit, so after christmas I had to find a new place to live. Together with Ida (also from Uppsala in the same situation as me) we moved in to an other house, also a private house. Overall this house was great, but the girls that lived there before (we took over their contract) hadn t payed their bills so it got a bit complicated for us. Everything is sorted out, but I would recommend to other to always double check that all the bills are payed, open up your own electricity, gas, internet and so on accounts! 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? The rent was much higher than in Uppsala + if you rent from a private landlord the gas and electricity bills are extra, and quite high. Since I m from Finland I get my student money from there, which is almost 480. You could manage to live with this and the Erasmus money, but I m glad I had extra money I could use since you of course also want to travel around a bit and do some extra stuff. It was expensive, but bearable. I didn t work any extra, but was thinking about it 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? I did go on some of the journeys that the international office arranged and also tried some of the societies from the University, such as Salsa and fencing. Was gonna do more, but don t know where the time went.. I also had a gym card to the gym at the University, which was ok, but a good price. The first few weeks there were some meetings for the international students which was a good way to get in touch with the other students. 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. It s been an amazing year and I m so glad I did it. I got so many new friends from all over the world and we had a lot of fun together. Brighton is also a great city with a lot of things happening all the time - a lot of music, festivals, culture, restaurants, cafés, night clubs and other fun events. Since it s only an hour away from London it s easy to go there and also close to airports. Overall, a great year! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 168 av??
Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by email 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? - 20. Please tell us a little bit about the picture/s. - 21. Publishing of pictures - Thank you for submitting your exchange report! Vetenskapsområdet för medicin och farmaci, Uppsala universitet Sida 169 av??
1. Name: Nils Strandberg Mäkitalo 2. E-mail address: nils.strandbergm@gmail.com 3. Exchange university: University of Sussex 4. City: Brighton 5. Country: United Kingdom 6. First semester of your exchange: VT 2014 7. Academic year: 2014 8. What subject area/s did you study during your exchange? Psykologi, lingvistik och statsvetenskap 9. Level of studies at the exchange university: både grund- och mer avancerade kurser 10. What are you studying at Uppsala University? Psykologprogrammet 11. How many years of study had you completed before going on exchange? Tre år. Studies 12. Tell us about your studies on your exchange. Jag upplevde studierna som mer utmanande på Sussex, mest eftersom jag är van att läsa kurser blockvis istället för fyra stycken samtidigt och utspridda över hela terminen. Det kräver mer planering helt enkelt att göra klart inlämningsuppgifter och läsa kurslitteratur för fyra kurser samtidigt. Dock så tyckte jag att det var väldigt positivt med de veckovisa seminarierna jag hade där man fick omsätta det man läst och hört på föreläsningarna i praktiska gruppdiskussioner. Det upplägget finns inte riktigt hemma och både tvingar en att läsa ordentligt innan seminariet och möjliggör ny inlärning tack vare intressanta diskussioner. Jag tyckte att lärarna var väldigt kompetenta och trevliga överlag, även om det fanns enstaka undantag. Generellt så var lärarna väldigt avslappnade och jag märkte ingen egentlig skillnad i exempelvis hur man tilltalar sina föreläsare på Sussex jämfört med i Uppsala. Jag testade både på att studera helt nya områden och det jag har min bakgrund i, psykologi, vilket nog kan vara bra i början så att man både utmanar sig samtidigt som man i alla fall har några kurser som man har lite förkunskap i. Jag skulle säga att den akademiska nivån är jämförbar med Uppsala och Sverige men att det är betydligt större fokus på att uppsatsskrivning med förutbestämda frågeställningar. Även tentorna är lite annorlunda jämfört med det jag var van vid. Man har betydligt mindre tid på sig på att skriva tentan (kanske bara 1,5 timmar) och ska dessutom grovt strukturera sina svar som uppsatser. Personligen tyckte jag också att betygssystemet var lite förvirrande eftersom det är så annorlunda det svenska, om man inte är van vid Bologna-systemet. Orientation and reception 13. Tell us about how it was to arrive and settle in Jag tyckte ankomsten var väldigt spännande och välkomstveckan hjälpte en verkligen att känna sig mer hemma och mindre utelämmnad i ett nytt land, även om det kändes som att det hade funnits betydligt mer aktiviteter om jag kommit på hösten. Hursomhelst blev vi väl omhändertagna de första veckorna och vi hade även möjlighet att ansöka om en fadder eller Buddy, en mer erfaren Sussexstudent som kunde stötta oss genom terminen. Vi fick mycket matnyttig information och hjälp med att exempelvis öppna bankkonton och andra praktiska saker. Det fanns även en hel del sociala aktiviteter för nyanlända utbytesstudenter, och i alla fall de jag gick på var väldigt trevliga. Accommodation 14. Describe your accommodation. Jag valde att söka privat boende, mest för att jag inte ville bo på campus bland massa festande första-årsstudenter. Jag bodde i ett hus på Ewhurst Road (mittemellan Brighton och Sussexuniversitetet) med fyra andra killar. Det var ett okej boende men jag måste påpeka att standarden i Storbritannien, särskilt i södra England, är betydligt lägre än i Sverige. Det kan vara en god idé att förbereda sig på kalla duschar, heltäckningsmattor och trånga hus, särskilt om man vill bo centralt. Med det sagt så är Brighton en väldigt trevlig stad att bo i, speciellt om man gillar kultur och att gå ut.
Your finances 15. Describe the cost of living. Även ifall jag inte kände mig tvingad att jobba extra så tyckte jag att CSN inte riktigt räckte hela vägen, särskilt med tanke på att boende är så väldigt dyrt i Brighton. Mitt kostade sammanlagt nästan 2,000 kr mer än mitt boende i Uppsala, något som känns särskilt dyrt eftersom jag bodde i ett betydligt mindre rum utan inget eget badrum. Matvaror kan vara billigare i Storbritannien men eftersom jag är glutenintolerant och måste specialkost så upplevde jag att det inte var så stor skillnad jämfört med Sverige. Det kan också vara värt att påpeka att bara det faktum att man är i ett nytt land och av naturliga skäl vill uppleva så mycket som möjligt gör att man riskerar att spendera mycket pengar utan att egentligen tänka på det. Free time 16. What did you do in your free time? Jag sysslade mycket med att delta i olika Societies, universitetsföreningar, vilket var ett väldigt bra sätt att lära känna nya och likasinnade människor. Universitet anordnade även olika resor till exempelvis Oxford och Isle of Wight, som var väldigt trevliga. Som sagt fanns det en hel del aktiviteter för utbytesstudenter men jag var mer intresserad av att lära känna brittiska studenter så jag deltog inte i så många utan fokuserade mest på olika Societies, som OddSoc och Urban Gaming. Överlag så tyckte jag att det fanns en väldig bredd av Societies, och definitivt något för alla. Your exchange on the whole 17. Please sum up your exchange experience. På det stora hela så är jag väldigt nöjd med mitt utbyte och kan varmt rekommendera Sussex som universitet och verkligen Brighton som stad. Det finns väldigt mycket att göra här: det är en väldigt internationell stad och närheten till London innebär att det är svårt att ha tråkigt här. En sak som är mindre positiv i mina ögon är att England och kanske särskilt Brighton har en väldigt utpräglad alkoholkultur, vilket kan vara lite tråkigt om man som jag inte dricker alkohol. En sak som kan vara bra att komma ihåg är att det till skillnad från i Sverige finns både kaffe och té på de allra flesta pubar. Bortsett från detta så tycker jag att Brighton som sagt är en fantastisk stad och tycker verkligen att det är ett bra ställe att söka sig till om man är sugen på att göra ett utbyte! Några praktiska tips jag skulle ge till blivande utbytesstudenter är: ta med ett svenskt grenuttag så slipper du köpa massa adaptrar till eluttagen; öppna ett brittiskt bankkonto så snart som möjligt om du planerar att stanna i Storbritannien en längre tid; och, slutligen, ta med bra regnkläder och en vattentät ryggsäck för det kommer nog regna och blåsa en del Approval 18. Your report will be available for future exchange students in printed form at the International Office and will be sent by email to individual students requesting it. Do you also approve the publishing of your exchange report on Uppsala University s website? Ja.