Getting Around Umeå

So thanks to my insightful last post, you've got yourself to Umeå and saved yourself a little bit of money as well!  Now that you're here, the next thing you could ask is, how do you get around Umeå?  Surprisingly... I have the answer :)

A Bike!  You can get to almost anywhere in Umeå once you have a bicycle as there are literally more bicycle paths than there are roads!  People are also known to get very attached to the bikes in Umeå.  This is my friend, Neisha, with her bike aka "Finbar".

There are many places you can get a bicycle in Umeå.  There are several second hand bike shops downtown but my advice is to try buy one off another student as the shops can be very expensive.  The best thing to do is to keep asking people, as somebody always knows somebody selling a bike!  Also you can try the website Blocket.se as a lot of people will post their bike for sale on this website.

Also the City of Umeå usually have a bicycle sale at the start of the semester so keep your eyes open for this!

Also a lot of people are wary of cycling once the snow arrives, but from experience once you take your time you will be fine!  The city officials are very good at keeping the bicycle paths clear even during the heavy snow falls!

However, as much as many of us rely on our bikes, there are times when you will need to get a bus!  All buses in Umeå go directly into the city centre which is very useful.  What can be a bit of pain however is that they do not accept cash on the city buses.  I highly recommend buying a rechargeable bus card as it can work out a lot cheaper than paying per trip!  And make sure you mention your age when buying the card as discounts are available depending on how young you are!  The website for buses within Umeå is Tabussen.nu.  Here you can find timetables for all the buses in Umeå including the airport bus (but don't worry about this upon arrival as it will depart whenever a flight arrives).

Oh you can also walk as well obviously... I just don't have the patience for that!

Brian

Getting to Umeå

Being honest, the first time I came to Umeå, I hadn't a clue what I was doing.  I knew SAS flew to Umeå so I went to there website, chose from "Dublin" to "Umeå" and went with the selection it came up with... this cost me over 320 euro.  When I fly back in August, my flights will cost me 125 euro, still flying with SAS; only this time I know what i'm doing!  So here is a little bit of advice...

Whatever you do, do not book flights directly from your home destination to Umeå.  Always book your flights to Stockholm first.  The reason being is that once you fly into Stockholm, then you can get a student fare from Stockholm to Umeå.  You have the choice of getting to Umeå from Stockholm via plane, train or bus. Personally I think you're crazy if you go for any other option than via plane as most options cost the same.  Just make sure you choose the "Student" fare when you go to any of the airline websites.  On last check those flying from Stockholm are: SAS, Malmo Aviation and Norwegian.

I know for many Europeans, an option to fly into Stockholm may be with an airline from my own nation, Ryanair.  However unless the difference in flights is HUGE (and yes the huge deserves capitals) then I would advise against flying with Ryanair for your flight over.  There are two reasons why.  Firstly, luggage! Ryanair will only allow you fly with 15kg.  If you can manage to move a semesters worth of clothes and belongings in 15kg, then fair play to you!  Most other airline will allow you 20kg and my experience with SAS is that they will usually allow you a few kilograms over if you smile and explain that you are moving to Sweden for the year!  Secondly, if you get a Ryanair flight, you will arrive at Skavsta or Vasteras airport which are both around 60-80 minutes outside Stockholm.  So you must get a bus to Stockholm centre and then either the train or another bus to Arlanda or Bromma airport, which are the two airports that fly to Umeå.  So whatever money you may save might be lost on all the transfers and paying for extra baggage!

I'd love to say my experiences travelling to Umeå have always been pleasant but unfortunately not.  The last time I flew to Sweden I was stuck on the runway of Dublin's airport for 8 hours... That't me above, keeping the spirits up :)

Hopefully you'll have a more pleasant journey if you are coming to Umeå!

Brian

The Buddy Programme

Well first off, hello again!  My apologies to those that have been frantically clicking their refresh button on their browser over the last couple of weeks waiting for an update!  I'm now back from my holidays so expect plenty more updates about the life and times of Brian in Umeå.

As promised the next thing I wanted to talk about was the Buddy Programme at Umeå University.

So you've arrived in Northen Sweden in a town that you've been pronouncing Ume-aaa only to find out its pronounced Ume-ooo.  You may have traveled on your own or with a few of your fellow country men/women;  but one thing is for sure you're going to feel a little bit lost.  Even if you've read all the information available to you; you know that Umeå is called the City of Birches, you know the exact gender ratio of the university (62% female / 38% male for those playing along at home)... it's still very strange arriving in a new country.

And this is where the Buddy Programme plays such an important role.  It mixes international students from different countries with Swedish students in different groups.  An average there is around about 15-20 students in each group with about 6-7 of them being Swedes.  The students themselves organise events and activities to get the new students more integrated into student life in Sweden.  Also the Programme organises "International Pubs" which happen once every couple of months.  These can be quite the event and usually end up with a few quite interesting stories to tell the next morning!

This picture is taken from the "Snow Games" that was organised at the start of the second semester.  There's nothing like some snow football or snow rugby to help you get to know your fellow students!

My advice to you now is to go register for the buddy programme.  The last day to do so is August 20th and you will really regret if you don't.

So click on the link below and follow the instructions to sign up, there is a link on the right hand side to do this:

http://www.umu.se/english/education/student-support/buddy-programme

Till next time,

Brian

One city, a lot of countries

I think it’s fair to say that when you ask an international student, what is it that makes Umeå special, the answer is undeniably the people here.  Yes, it is a great city... yes, there are amazing things to see (The Northern Lights, The Midnight Sun and many more) but ultimately Umeå has such a great mix of international people that integrate on a level I never really would have imagined.

I suppose at this stage I take it for granted and it was only really one day when I thought about my interactions that I realised how diverse my encounters here in Umeå are.  This day in question started off with meeting my Chinese and Nigerian classmates who I was working on a business project with.  This was followed by a meeting with the Swedish girl who I was writing my thesis with.  Lunch was eaten with my Irish and American friends.  Then that evening I lost count of the different nationalities that I partied with from the Spanish who will always be at every party (but will probably be late) to the Swedes that showed up 15 minutes early and realised that nobody was even there yet!  The French will also be there, drinking their wine while complaining that it tastes like crap but they can’t afford “proper French wine” because Sweden is so “damn expensive”.

A great thing to do in Umeå before the snow comes is to BBQ or as the Swedes say “grill”.  This is another opportunity to see the different cultural approaches to cooking food over hot coals.  The Irish method is usually to eat as much meat as we can that will cook in the shortest time.  I don’t know how many times my Irish friends and I found ourselves in ICA (the local supermarket) asking should we buy ketchup only to collectively answer “no... the Germans will bring that”.  And the Germans will always bring a salad as well.  As a general rule, if you are going to BBQ... invite the Germans!

I particularly liked my Belgian friends approach to BBQ-ing, which involved trying to cook a full chicken breast on a disposable BBQ.  After 40 minutes and acknowledging that the centre of the meat was still an e-coli pink then finally retreated to their kitchen and cooked in the oven.  But you have to admire their effort!

I guess you could argue that every University has an international dimension to it but for me Umeå just does such a great job and making this huge international community, and not only that but allowing you to integrate with the Swedish students through the “Buddy Program”, something that I will talk about in my next post!

Till then, keep reading!

Brian

Umeå and me

Sunday 20th August 2006 was the first time I set foot in Umeå.  It had not been my first choice for an Erasmus exchange, I had actually been due to study in America for the year but politics within my home university meant that it would not be possible.  So with not a lot of time to choose, I told my study advisor that I liked the idea of studying in Sweden.  This wasn't really grounded in anything other than that I liked the "idea" of Sweden.  His reply to me was that if I wanted to do my Erasmus exchange in Sweden, than the best place to choose would be Umeå... and with only that conversation I decided I would leave Ireland for a year and study in the North of Sweden.

In the months before arriving I read as much information about Umeå as I could and by the time I got on the plane in Dublin, I couldn't wait to arrive.  I arrived in Umeå on a Sunday afternoon and went for a walk downtown.  After walking for about 20 minutes around downtown Umeå I had only encountered two people.  Every shop was also closed.  I felt like I was in a ghost town and I immediately thought "Brian... what have you done, you have to stay here for an entire year!!"

Thankfully the next morning at the orientation course it was explained to me that the Swedish students had not arrived, and the only people in Umeå were the locals living here and the international students taking the orientation course.  As the weeks went on, I continued to meet more and more people from every country over the world and my initial fear went away as over 30,000 students descended on the city.  

I initially came to Umeå to do an Erasmus exchange, but as anybody who has come here will tell you, it is so much more than just studying.  I had lived, loved and partied in Umeå amongst some amazing people from around the world and when I left at the end of my Erasmus exchange I thought that would be the last time I was in Umeå.

I went back to Dublin where I completed by bachelor degree in Business and Management.  After this I worked for a year in two different sales companies, however I wasn't satisfied with the direction my life was going.  I have always had a keen interest in entrepreneurship and I began to look at Masters programs that would increase my knowledge in this area.  No matter what program I looked at, I always came back to the Umeå University webpage.  There is no doubt that the Erasmus exchange had made a huge impact on me and ultimately I applied for the masters program in Business Development and Internationalisation and was accepted!

So after never thinking I would be back... I arrived again in Umeå on the 24th August 2009.  Hopefully over the two months that I will write this blog, I will be able to give you an insight into my experiences and my perspective on life here in Umeå!

Keep reading :)

IKSU!

(oops managed to delete this post so it ended up here!) 

IKSU

What is this?  i’l tell you. It’s brilliant. Can you imagine a state of the art sports centre that has recently been voted second best in the world for group training and is also the largest sports centre in Europe? Can you imagine it runs roughly 50 different classes per day...everything from aqua power, yoga, martial arts, zumba, swimming, boxing not to mention having the facilities for virtual golf, indoor hockey and indoor beach volleyball? It sounds like something I dreamt about...like a fantasy land for fit people!  Well don’t worry.. it exists, it’s called IKSU and it’s right here in Umeå.

Let me give you the run down. 

Aqua power: Best done at around 8am on a day when you have no school. Not only will you feel super productive getting up so early to do aerobics in water.. it’s also a perfect simulation of what life would be like in a retirement home in Florida.

Zumba: This is a kind of latin style dance class. I don’t go for the fitness...it’s more just a fun way to spend an hour. Although...it can be disheartening when you realize how hard it actually is!

Punch out:  This is probably my favourite class. You work in pairs boxing and kickboxing against pads your partner is holding.  It can be a great way to meet people if you go alone. Beware though...sometimes you can get paired with someone much weaker or stronger...which inevitably leads to someone being thrown across the room!

Spinning:  Spinning is a great workout. IKSU host 40,55 & 70 minute classes that are really fun. Try out a few as each instructor has their own favourite genre of music to cycle to. You’ll find the perfect class eventually.

Body Pump:  This is a fantastic class. You choose your own weight level and lift to music. In the beginning your muscles will be crying. It gets better though!

Yoga: I had never properly tried yoga before and I was really impressed at the balance and peace of mind it gave me after every class. Do it regularly and you will definitely notice a difference in your flexibility.They even cover you with a blanket at the end of every class which is really cool.

Body Balance: This class is really great when done early in the morning. It really wakes your body up. It is not as challenging as yoga but does contribute to flexibility.

Aerobic Dance: this class is based on learning a choreographed dance and repeating it at high speed for one hour in sync with 100 other people. It’s cool when you get it right, but really annoying when you can’t keep up!


(This is not a fully comprehensive list.. there are many more classes, I just haven't been to them yet!)

Beach Volleyball: I was amazed when I saw that IKSUhas an indoor beach volleyball court! It’s really fun to come in from -20 snow and ice and then play beach volleyball in the sand! Of course..not everyone comes to play volleyball...

Swimming: There are 2 pools in IKSU. There is a 20m  divided into lanes for all purpose swimming and there is a smaller one called ‘Bottenviken’ which is 5 degrees warmer and is used for aqua classes. It’s quite funny.. Most of the time you are in the pool they either play Andrea Bocelli or pop music. It’s really relaxing and a great place to clear your head. There is even a hammock if you feel like being lazy!

Gym Area: The Gym area is really impressive. There are 3 floors filled with state of the art equipment. I love that most machines have their own personal television and air-conditioning. Some even have recorded motivational videos for when you are working out which definitely help you push further. Don’t be intimidated by the machines. There are instructions on most machines which explain how to use them. With every gym membership you get one free consultation with a personal trainer, so I would recommend asking him/her how to use something to be fully confidant. 

IKSU also organize many outdoor trips throughout the year, some well worth going on. They are quickly signed up for so go for it to avoid being disappointed!There is shop called ‘Sarek’ inIKSU where you can rent any equipment you might need. It’s quite cheap, to rent everything you need for cross country skiing is only 75sek per day which is great value.

Students can avail of discounts on various types of memberships. For more information:   http://www.iksu.se/bli-medlem/priser/olika-medlemskap/?lang=en      Most people I know chose the gold card.

Overall this is a fantastic facility and you are privileged to be able to use it.  Have fun!

Louise J:)

Nydala

We have a lake. At a walking distance to almost all the student neighborhoods. It’s a real gift – a perfect leisure and recreation venue. It has a sandy beach, barbeque spots, ducks, ducklings, piers, fish, and even a floating sauna! And now that it is frozen, it has become a natural ice-skate ring. You will probably spend much time here as well, whether for action or rest. It also has the perfect locations for spotting the northern lights. Make it a part of your life…

The Corridor

Corridor is the most common habitat of an Umeå student. They are not-like-a-dorm dorms. Freemovers get to choose a room in these corridors on their own through the website of Bostaden, the housing company of the town, while the exchange students are offered to select one from the list of the International Office.

When I had been hunting for my room as a freemover, my primary criterion was the location. I wanted to be close to the campus and the ski slope in Mariehem. I didn’t really care about being close to the down town. Coming from Istanbul, I had enough of experiencing the urban.

So there was Berghem, right across my department building and a few minutes walking distance from the slope. I booked a room, but then said, “Why not Mariehem? It’s better to be closer to the slope. You can always walk to school with fresh legs in the morning, but will you have the same strength to walk back home in the evening after having skied for 2-3 hours?” So I booked another room. But was still not satisfied with something. It was the linear corridor layout of the rooms.

Having had no interest in Ålidhem, as it was quite far from the slope, I booked the room on Fysikgränd since the floorplan was developed as a hall. It just looked more like a house. After I moved in, I got gladder with my decision, as I found out that Ålidhem was the real heart of the student life in Umeå. And moreover the proverb says “don’t buy a house, buy a neighbour”. I was very lucky with that as well. Easy-going, fun neighbours with a mixture of internationals and Swedes.

My room.


The common kitchen.