07_Life in Sweden

Food

Learn to cook
breakfast spaghetti

It is quite expensive to eat outside in Sweden. For example, a normal meal in a restaurant costs about 100 SEK~150 SEK. So, learning to cook by oneself can save much money, and it is actually a lot of fun!

Eat outside

sandwich pizza
afterwork

Fortunately, there are some less expensive options to eat outside. For instance,
Sandwich: 20 SEK~30 SEK.
Pizza: 45~ 55 SEK. Two people can share one pizza.
Afterwork Buffet: On Fridays, some pubs will have buffet. Just order one drink first (e.g. beer 35 SEK), and you can enjoy the food and nice talking with friends.

Clothes

second-hand store

In Sweden, it is cool in summer and cold in winter. However, because of the heaters inside the houses, we don’t need to wear a lot of clothes to keep ourselves warm. Some good coats are sufficient. Also, sometimes it is rainy and windy, so it would be better to have wind-proof and water-resistant coats.

Where to buy clothes? There are two inexpensive choices. One is H&M. H&M offers a wide range of clothes at affordable prices. The other one is second-hand store. It is cheaper, but the quality depends. Pick carefully, you may buy at a good bargain!

Accommodation

Rotary

I lived in Rotary for about one and a half months. The biggest advantage is: it is near almost everywhere! Some examples are Chalmers (school campus), Valand (a vivid street, full of shops and pubs), Willys and Netto (two main supermarkets where we buy inexpensive daily products).

Hogsbogatan

I moved to Hogsbogatan in late August. It is new and has private kitchen in each room. Most importantly, share-room is permitted (Rotary is not allowed to share room). The bad thing is: it takes 15 to 20 min to go to Chalmers by tram, and we must get up quite early if we have 8-o’clock class in the morning.

Transportation

There are three tickets we can buy: 100 SEK, monthly (500SEK), quarterly (1350SEK). With the card, we can go almost anywhere within the city by tram, bus, or even by boat.

tickets tram

Education

The environment and atmosphere in Chalmers is excellent.
I think the biggest difference between Chalmers and NCTU would be the grading system. Chalmers focus mainly on team work. We will learn to cooperate with other foreigner students in completing projects and labs.

Recreation

Just go outside and enjoy the sunshine!

archipelago

Goteborg has many archipelagos. The picture is taken in Vrango. We had a picnic there. If you are good at swimming, you can jump… and enjoy the 'cold' water!

botanical garden

There is a big botanical garden at the tram stop, Botaniska Tradgarden. I often go there, lie down on the grass, and take a nap.

All photos were taken by Chien-Chih Chen

NCTU Europe Bulletin v.3 Dec. 2005