I was very appreciative of the student who met me at T-Centralen and escorted me to my accommodation.  I do not think I would have been able to locate the building by myself, plus I found comfort in knowing someone upon arrival.  The introduction days were well planned.  It was nice to meet all the Erasmus students and to become acquainted with KI.  I also really liked the guest speaker on the second day.  He was very engaging and his presentation was interesting and interactive.

The cost of housing was higher than I am used to, but I expected high prices in Stockholm after researching the cost of living here.  In the beginning I liked the housing arrangements.  It was nice to meet students from other universities and educational backgrounds.  The room was also a good size and I greatly appreciated that UAC and SSSB provided furniture and some of the bedroom essentials.  Unfortunately, bed bugs became a serious problem on my corridor near the end of my stay.  They even found their way into the common kitchen.  When I reported the presence of bed bugs in the kitchen, UAC was very helpful and allowed me to change rooms after proving I had rid my belongings of the parasites. 

I participated in a few events hosted by Global Friends and really enjoyed them.  However, it would have been nice to have the arranged activities a bit more spread out throughout the semester.  I attended the Skansen tour as well as the Thanksgiving dinner.  Additionally, I attended the mingle they hosted in the first few weeks of the term. 

I did not join the student union while at KI, but I did attend the “Bad Taste” sittning hosted for new students, which I greatly enjoyed!  Also, I attended the welcome gathering for exchange students and guest researchers at City Hall.  For other social activities I made good use of the booklet of coupons provided for exchange students in the welcome packet at the introduction days. 

I wanted to study abroad for a number of reasons.  I was hoping to travel and experience life in a new culture.  Additionally, this program allowed me to gain experience in a research lab.  I chose my specific program based on the department that was offering a position.  The information I received about Karolinska from the website and from EuroScholars was good, but the research description was quite vague, and therefore the project I worked on was not what I had expected.  Additionally, I wish I had received a decision about admission into the program a bit earlier.  It was difficult to make arrangements with my employers and home university since I did not receive a response until the end of March.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed my semester in Stockholm.  I was able to meet wonderful people from all over the world and gain hands-on experience in a research laboratory.  Stockholm is a beautiful city and I found it quite easy to get into a comfortable daily routine here.  I felt very safe while here, and had a wonderful time experiencing some Swedish culture. 

My study environment was a bit different from the majority of the other undergraduate students because I was only researching in a lab during my stay.  However, I greatly appreciated this experience.  I had to adapt to the new study environment, and though I found it difficult, it was very good for me.  Since the topic of my project was quite new to me, I spent a great deal of time reading.  I shared an office with four others and had to learn to focus in the presence of conversation and other distractions, unlike my usual silent study environment.  My supervisor was very helpful in introducing me to new protocols and answered any questions I had.