留学情報

スウェーデン王立工科大学（スウェーデン）2023年1月～6月

【所要経費】For 1 semester:Round trip air tickets fees: 200,000 yen,Insurance fee: 60,000 yen,Textbooks fee:10,000 yen,Rent: 340.000yen;,Food fee: 450,000 yen,Transportation fee: 68,000 yen, entertainment fee:100,000 yen,Others:150,000 yen

Above all:1,378,000 yen

1．渡航前の手続きについて

・ビザ(VISA)又は滞在許可書

The visa I applied is student visa. And because I am a Chinese student studying in Japan, so I applied the visa in Swedish embassy in Tokyo before I went to Sweden. It took me around 1 week to meet Sweden ambassadors and around 1 and half month for the visa delivered to my home. The transportation fees for flying to Tokyo and hotels, the visa delivery cost around 24800yen. The whole process for applying visa in Japan is submit application, make an appointment after application is allowed, meet ambassadors at Tokyo, record your biological information and wait until the residence permit was delivered. I only meet difficulty when I filled in the application. When I selected which program I belonged to, Asian students usually ought to choose non-European agreement.

2．到着直後の手続きについて

①大学関係

When I arrived at Stockholm, the first thing I needed to do is going to KTH for keys. Because that day is enrollment day for international students. So, there was special place called KTH Entré to deal with those procedures. I gained my keys for apartment room assigned by KTH, student access card, student email address, access to school WIFI and so on. The problem I met is with sim card. Because I arrived at KTH relatively late and accidentally it’s the last day for the enrollment day. Then I missed activating guidance for my sim card. Therefore, when I went back to the apartment room, I was stuck in a predicament without neither internet nor data (There are installed network cables at home, but a router is needed to produce WIFI.) I solved the problem about 3 days later.

②滞在許可書関係

I didn’t apply residence permit card in Sweden. The process about applying it in Japan was portrayed above.

③その他

Many exchange students often overlook the internet issue when they just arrive at their destination. Most airports do have WIFI, but I’ve also encountered airports without it, so it’s always important to be prepared. Before you manage to get a SIM card in the new country, you can consider the following solutions:

1.Get a data plan about your destinating countries at current SIM card.

2.Purchase a portable WIFI device or data card at the destinating airport.

3.Get a data card or local SIM card for your destinating countries before you leave.

Although it might only be a day or two from when you arrive at your destination to when you get a local SIM card, it can be quite dangerous and inconvenient to be without internet in a foreign country. Therefore, I hope everyone pays attention to this issue.

3．留学生活について

①大学関係

I believe the destinating university KTH hold with below characteristics: rigorous and scientific in academic research, a culture of academic freedom, most courses are related to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), diverse and flexible course formats, countless social events for students, but relatively heavy assignments.

②大学の所在する街（町）の様子

There are 5 campuses of KTH, but I only stayed in main campus. So, I will introduce main campus only. There are many restaurants (including Asian restaurants), cafeteria, coffee shops around university. And there are several shopping stores, supermarkets, and a subway station near school.

So, it’s very convenient to live near school. And surrounding main campus, the security is also very good.

③大学が提供するサービスについて

There is international coordinator for international exchange students, technical supporter in KTH entré. And the student union prepared “the student Union Day “and “welcoming events” including city tour, museums visit, parties and so on for new entrant. When we certify us as student of KTH in an app called Mecenat, we are allowed to use all student discounts in European.

4．住居と食事について

①住居

I lived in a corridor room in an apartment assigned by KTH, which means the kitchen in the apartment is shared with your corridor roommates. Besides kitchen, the others are private.

It cost 4,600 SEK, which is equal to 62,579 yen but the rent contains light, water, gas, and internet fees. Usually，I need to take 4 stops of one bus and 1 stop of one subway, which takes around 30 mins for me to arrive at KTH.

②食事

I often ate outside in the restaurants. There are many restaurants and cafeteria near KTH. Thus, I usually ate there.

③インターネット環境

I have one computer and there is stable internet in my living room and University. The one thing is that I need to buy a router for producing WIFI when I started living in the room.

④住居に関するアドバイス

I will recommend my living apartment for juniors. It’s called lappis. And the rent is cheap, close to KTH, and very close to a gym under SSIF (a student union in KTH). So, you can make gym member cards and attend exercising courses including Thai boxing at very cheap student price and go to the gym soon.

The advice here is there are always parties every Friday, especially in summer, you may need to have soundproof earplugs if you are a bit allergic to noise.

5．留学生活全般について

During my time at KTH, though it was just a short five months, it has been an incredibly valuable experience in my life. Throughout this journey, I’ve learned three essential things:

Firstly, one should possess imagination for the unknown and embrace diversity. Before studying abroad, I was someone who didn’t enjoy social activities or organizing them. During my time in Sweden, I joined a Japanese language study group, consisting of people from various parts of the world who could speak multiple languages. They weren’t afraid of speaking imperfect Japanese and insisted on using Japanese during our designated language practice sessions. The group also organized several outings. Initially, as the only Asian member who wasn’t Japanese, I felt a bit apprehensive. However, gradually, I came to enjoy playing games with them in our less-than-perfect Japanese. Later, I even volunteered at the Japanese Cultural Festival in Stockholm. Prior to this experience, I believed it was difficult for people speaking different languages and coming from diverse cultural backgrounds to become genuine friends. However, after this experience, I realized that with a tolerant and loving heart, true friendships could be formed between whoever. Moreover, one should never easily dismiss things we haven’t tried before; instead, one should maintain our imagination for the unknown.

Secondly, the importance of scientific teaching methods. I observed this through two examples. First, most Swedish people have nearly reached native-like fluency in English, yet they haven’t spent much time on English learning. Their proficiency in English is a result of being exposed to the language from young, with a vast array of English TV shows, movies, and games available without Swedish translation. As children, they had ample opportunities to immerse themselves in pure English media, which is the golden period for language development. Second, the diversity of class formats and the prevalence of group collaboration in university classrooms. KTH’s professors don’t stick to fixed classroom structures; instead, they often adopt flexible approaches. Initially, I found this a bit challenging, as I had to adapt to a new classroom style each time I selected a course and work with completely different group members. However, I eventually understood that these classroom formats were designed to facilitate the learning of core content. For instance, when learning English rhetoric, the teacher had us simulate Oxford-style debate to appreciate the art of public speaking. In certain statistics courses, we worked on projects in groups to turn theoretical knowledge into practical application. These flexible classroom setups serve the purpose of making teaching more effective, allowing students to absorb knowledge more quickly.

Thirdly, different cultures influence people’s lifestyles. In Sweden during the summer, you’ll find people sunbathing in bikinis or shorts in parks, alongside Muslims wearing headscarves. It’s a common sight, and most residents accepts it. Swedish summers are filled with parties, as the long daylight hours create opportunities for intoxicated youths throughout the night. During parades, people gather to sing and dance together. Sweden has a significant immigrant population, and under the influence of diverse cultural backgrounds, the immigrants still retain many of their original cultural habits. Some things that used to surprise me no longer do because I’ve learned to understand that certain behaviors stem from their cultural backgrounds. As long as these actions don’t harm others, I should respect it.

Overall, my time at KTH has been transformative, and these three lessons have left a profound impact on me. In my future career, I will bravely take on challenges that I previously hesitated to attempt and make more determined choices aligned with my interests, while also respecting my own dreams.

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