NUS SEP to KTH Sweden in 12/13 Sem 1
Before embarking on the exchange trip to KTH, I had some expectations
set and goals/accomplishments to be completed. Overall, it has been a
fulfilling exchange and the experience at KTH was a wonderful one.
My selection basis for university was primarily a country belonging to
a different continent (different culture) and in descending order of importance
safety, availability of modules not offered by NUS and wide variety of “mappable”
modules. Cost was not included because before embarking on SEP, I believed that
there isn’t much of a living cost to include and food prices can be overcome by
cooking. Indeed, studying in Sweden for only 1 semester did not incur huge
expenses on daily necessities. In total, I spent slightly less than $8000 SGD
including lodging and needs, insurance, food and transport (both local and
return air tickets), less than the projected amount of $12000. Knowing the
cheaper options can save a lot and add more budget to enjoying/travelling
during exchange. For example, lodging needs can be found in IKEA at a
comparable price to Singapore and certain food products like salmon are cheaper
than Singapore (SGD10/kg in Stockholm compared to SGD15-20/kg in Singapore).
My selection basis arrived me at 2 main options, Norwegian University
of Science and Technology and Kungliga Tekniska Hogskolan (KTH), that weren’t
as popular choices as the other SEP universities. However, Stockholm was situated
at a more convenient location for making short trips to other parts of Europe
than Trondheim. KTH offered modules that NUS does not offer and I highly
recommend (non core modules); Swedish History and Culture and The Nuclear Fuel
Cycle were modules that exceeded my expectations and there will surely be no
similar modules in NUS. Swedish History and Culture provided guided field trips
to the city and the most prominent museums (Vasamuseet and Skansen) for free
and is taken by only exchange students, hence an excellent chance to meet
foreign students from around the world (although most students are from the
Erasmus program, thus mainly Europeans).
The Nuclear Fuel Cycle is the most interesting module taken, as the
name suggest it is not something found in Singapore. The module provides free
guided field trips to nuclear plants, processing/enrichment plants and storage
facilities. For my year, there was a 2-day field trip to La Hague, France and
two other trips to other facilities in Sweden. There is no exam for this module
but a case study report on the feasibility for construction of nuclear facility
in a chosen country.
Stockholm is a clean, environmentally-friendly and safe city. The
primary means of transport is by rail and there is much walking to be done,
even around the huge KTH campus that does not have an internal shuttle bus
service like NUS. The classroom and research facilities are modern, and the
learning and assessment methods are slightly different from NUS. Much emphasis
is placed on group work and there is cohesive learning, especially with the
absence of the bell curve. Most, if not all homework, are done in groups.
Presentations are common even for science modules. However, Swedish students are
more reserved than expected. Questions asked in class by the lecturers seldom
receive enthusiastic response.
Going on exchange to KTH in semester 1 will experience the end summer,
autumn and winter seasons. The last picture above on was actually
taken during a class 2 snowstorm. It is a great time to visit Sweden unless you
are a fan of flowers, in which spring is a better season to come. Travelling in
end summer to other countries like Italy and France is ideal for taking
pictures while in autumn, trekking in the autumn forests in Germany’s Black
Forest or Tyresta By in Stockholm are great. In winter, there is the aurora
further North towards Kiruna (Albisko National Park) and skiing/snowboarding. The
Eurail pass is a good way to travel out of Sweden by train while budget
airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet (to Geneva only from Sweden) cost around
SGD100 or less.
There is also no issue of language barrier as most Swedes speak fluent
English. After my exchange, I did not feel any truly uniquely “Swedish”
experiences that were truly memorable. Afterall, the Swedish identity was a
created image (find out more from Swedish History and Culture module). Swedes
are generally reserved and quiet in nature. Families are mostly segregated by
generations as well due to the welfare scheme. If I would use one word to
describe Stockholm after this exchange, “lonely” would be apt. However, this
does not deter me to go to Stockholm for exchange if I were to re-choose my
option. After this exchange, I realize and cherish Singapore’s institutional
frameworks and culture more than ever before.
