Welcome to Uppsala Universitet!

Sometimes in a man's life, comes the time when he is about to do something life-changing and a tiny little thing occurs that reminds him that it is actually happening.

I had just returned on Sunday from a trip to Athens with my friend (hence my 3 day hiatus of posts) when i saw a nice tidy looking fat letter on my desk. Talk about excitement!

Welcome to Uppsala University Mr. Mandilaris!

I carefully opened the envelop to find a map, a sticker, a personal letter from the Vice-Chancellor and an International Student Guide for next season. Standard procedure that shows the fantastic organization of this country.

The letter was printed on slick, high quality paper and had my address and name on it. There was also a sticker that made you easily identifiable from the welcome group when you arrive in Arlanda Airport. This year they will wait for students in August (Dates: 22/08 and 23/08).

A little sticker to put on your suitcase!

The map is folded and has a detailed map in the centre with red numbers on the important buildings of the university, dividing it into each faculty. Mine is the Geocentrum, the faculty of earth sciences.

Trying to absorb every ounce of information!

Last is the Student Guide. I am still reading it while i am typing looking for interesting things that i may research and blog about in future posts. It has the smell of a freshly printed book, like freshly baked bread coming out of the oven. It begins with a personal statement and goes on to tell the reader about the history of this great institution. It talks about Uppsala and Campus Gotland, the climate and the language. It has a short text on Vikings (!) and a cool timeline of the history of the university since it's inception.

Swedish traditions follow, divided by season and follows up with the educational system in Sweden, the grading, the syllabus, the teaching methods and the different kinds of diplomas. Basically this booklet is a compilation-collection of all the information found in the University website. And all that into 63 pages.

They care about their students.

So this is it for tonight, just some random thoughts to keep the flow going. Plus i wanted to express my enthusiasm about the letter. I am beginning to realize that in less than 3 months i will be in a new country, a new culture, a new life. So for YOU, the person that maybe stumbles upon my blog, or the future student that considers Sweden and Uppsala as his destination, give it a read along with my previous material. After all one of the Laws of Success is the Habit of Doing More Than Paid For.

Goodnight and have a great new week! May is almost over and the summer is upon us!

Smartphone time - Preparing for the move to Sweden

Quick links to my previous posts about preparing to move to Sweden:

Moving to Sweden - Swedish Weather Extravaganza
Moving to Sweden - Things to Bring
Moving to Sweden - Housing and Financing

Moving to Sweden - Learning swedish

So, you arrived. Maybe your house is furnished, maybe you already have internet, but you need a cellphone ti contact your friends and family. You can't always rely on Skype.

Scandinavian countries seem to have on of the best mobile networks on the planet and Sweden is no exception. Unlike Greece where you have coverage of 99.7% and you can't call anyone even on the train. Yippy yeah! They also have surprisingly good wi-fi on the trains.

First tip, go apply for your personnummer fast, filling the form. It will take you approximately 6 weeks to get it, something that limits your choices in the beginning. Credit for this info goes to my beautiful friend Andrea (and #loveshila).

You can have a normal phone contract (abonnemang) with a duration of 12-18-24 months. However Andrea told me that untill you receive your personnummer you cannot get a subscription based phone. So that limits you to the kontaktkort or simply phones that work with credit (pay as you talk). Common credit is cards that cost 100 or 200 SEK, fairly comparable to Greek prices.

Regardless of your choice you will need a service provider. I have not researched them yet about the cost but i found that some of the more common companies are Tre/ Telia/Tele2/Telenor.

You can use any old device or buy a used one, unless you are one of those geeks that fancy new tech like the newest iPhones or Samsung Galaxy, where you can feel free to break the bank to feel special.

Sooo, phone, carrier, type of connection taken care of. Wow i already feel integrated in Sweden.

Really short post but it had to be done. Take care!