Luckily for me, when arriving, my family took this as an opportunity to have a short holiday for a couple of days in Sweden, so I didn't arrive alone making travel less difficult. Therefore, I didn't need any extra assistance arranged by KI. We arrived at Arlanda and took a coach (flygbussarna) to the central station. From there, we then took a taxi to my accommodation.

I applied through KI housing, it was easy to apply and the site had useful information on the different possible accommodations. Unfortunately, I was not able to access pictures of what the accommodation looked like to get an idea of where I would be living, this could be improved.

I was placed in Jägargatan, which in a lovely part of Stockholm. It is not far from grocery stores and transport and is in a ideal location not far from either the Solna and Huddinge, KI campuses and one train stop to the city centre. I really enjoyed my time there! The cost of housing was affordable and the standard was good.

I participated in social activities arranged by the KI language classes and by those arranged by global friends, who are a group focused on arranging social activates for international students at KI. There opportunities such as museum trips, trips to Skansen, ice skating etc. allowed me to have fun opportunities with friends and to make also new friends. These events are sent via email to all exchange students so are easy to join. They are also often free! Through my course, I made some good Swedish friends, who were friendly and welcoming and I made a wide range of international friends through my course and my flatmates.

I chose to go on exchange because it's an easy way to be able to live and study in another country, something I really wanted to do. I chose KI because of it's good reputation and because it's in Sweden and the capital! This meant the chance of learning a new language and living somewhere new and experiencing a new culture.

The exchange information given by KI informative. Before going on exchange, I received emails and even leaflets sent home from KI. My home university were also helpful as I could email or call if I was having any difficulties with the application. However, the KI website was a little confusing. For example, the academic calendar dates.This made booking potential home return flight difficult. The navigation of the site could be made more transparent for incoming students.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time and exchange period in Sweden.The university is a great standard and the city is beautiful with some much things to do. Stockholm can be very expensive and dark in the winter but it was less snowy than I though. I literally thought I would need specialised clothing and equipment just to get out of the house! But it's fine. I enjoyed learning about Swedish culture and a wide range of other cultures through other international students in my course and through my flatmates. I would do it all again!

I took part in an intensive three day Swedish language course, which was offered but not run by KI. The course was helpful as it was at the start of the exchange period. so straight away you are able to meet new people who were also KI international students. The three day course was hit and miss in terms of learning Swedish, it depended on the teacher, but two out of the three days were very good and I learnt some helpful basics.

After that, I participated in an informal language course at KI, by KI students. It was good as you could learn some Swedish and have fika, coffee breaks in between. I participated in it for two semesters and it helped with my conversational Swedish. At the end of my exchange period, I was able to understand conversational Swedish and communicate in everyday situations in Swedish.

The way courses are taught at KI are different from my home university in the way that they are arranged. In KI the courses are intensive and taught one after the other, then a final exam after each module. Whereas, at my home university and in the UK this is not common. We have simultaneous modules and then our final exams in the summer for each module.

Also at KI, you may have long days e.g. 9am to 3pm. This was difficult to get used to at first, but then I began to enjoy being more focused in studying one topic at a time, even having specific lunchtimes. I still think, for me, it is more difficult way of studying but it was good to experience a change in learning styles.

Exams conditions in KI are more relaxed than in England. You have the opportunity to repeat the exams many times until you pass and the repeat grade is not capped. Also, at KI you are given a long time to complete and check over your exams. And in the exam hall before the exam starts, you can chat to your classmates and even bring food into the exam hall. This was really strange to me at first as in England you can't talk once you step foot inside the classroom and even a bottle of water must have it's label removed to prevent cheating!