James McQuillan studied on exchange during the spring 2016 semester.
Home University: La Trobe University, Australia
Major subject of study: Commerce/Law
Favourite thing about Umeå University: The ease and convenience of meeting and making friends
Three words to best summarise your time in Umeå: Snow, Aurora, Coffee
I have always had an itch to visit Sweden, coming from an almost geographically opposite place, I felt Umeå was a fantastic place to experience the stunning white winters, the chance to live independently and to experience in person the Aurora Borealis, which has forever been on my bucket list. Basically I felt like a challenge and adventure starting fresh on the other side of the world.
The structure of the courses is completely different from those at my home university, instead of having 4 parallel courses, the courses run for only 4 weeks or so, which you only do one at a time. Aside from this, I found the lectures and presentations less formal and less stressful, even during exams you can bring all the food you like, get up and have a stretch, all contributing to a significantly less stressful study period.
During winter I took all the time I could to go enjoy the snow, by skiing and of course by going for a Pulka, which is where you basically grab anything, be it a sled, a rubbish bin lid or a plastic bag, hurtle down a slope and eventually crash into each other. Of course there is an abundance of student bars and nights out; it's easy to get to know people, be it other international students or local Swedes who will all be up for exploring the town for the best BBQ spots. In Winter one of my favourite things to do was go to the local Ice Hockey matches, but during all seasons there is IKSU, a sport centre in which pretty much everyone in Umeå is a member of, you can do almost anything there: gym, innebandy, swimming and even beach volleyball.
I was lucky enough to meet a few Swedes who invited me to their home town about 3 hours southwest of Umeå, it was there I was introduced to snowmobiling, ice fishing, and of course being given a Snow Baptism. I was there over the Easter weekend, so I spent it meeting their extended family, eating questionable traditional Swedish meals and drinking bucket-loads of Påskmust. I think this was the best dose of Swedish culture I could have imagined as it was my first time leaving the areas catered for international residents.
I was worried that coming to Umeå was the wrong choice, I was too far from home and the weather was unbearably cold, however I was wrong. Umeå has proven to be my second home, even though I am 30 hours from home, I feel like I'm a stone's throw away, the winter weather, while cold was bearable and is honestly, an experience everyone should go through at least once in their lives. The fantastic thing about Umeå is it allows you to network and meet people from all over the world, this presents opportunities you may never have dreamed of previously, you should take hold of any opportunity and make the most of it! Basically, a semester in Sweden was the best choice i've ever made, my simple advice: Do it.