Student blogs

Saying goodbye to the city I grew up in, my family, friends and moving to a country I’ve never even visited before was not the easiest step to take. Luckily, KI and its student union made this step exciting, fun, and memorable by planning out an intro week packed with activities and events. The week was so busy that you had no time to think about the fact that you’ve just moved and left home. Interested in what it was like? Keep reading, here’s a summary of what my first week at KI looked like!

Monday:

How I met the first people from my course

My day began by figuring out how to get to campus Flemingsberg. Just when I thought I would miss the pendeltag, I made it right in time to get on. By chance I entered with a group who spoke English and looked around my age. So, I began a conversation that sounded like this: “Hey, are you guys Karolinska Institutet students?” “Yes.” “Bachelor’s in biomedicine?” “Yes!” And that’s how I met my first group of classmates.

A warm welcome by the reception committee, fika, and a tour of campus Flemingsberg

We headed towards the campus together and were led into a lecture hall. There we were greeted by MU which is the reception committee. This is a team of students whose role is to welcome students to KI. They introduced themselves, made us all laugh, and presented the plans for the intro week. We then got fika and a campus tour. 

Lunch at campus Solna and a campus tour

After that we headed to campus Solna where students gathered on the grass and mingled as we waited to get hotdogs. We got another tour around campus Solna and saw where the labs are, the locations of the student union office, the exam hall, and the gym. 

Pub at MF (the student union)

In the evening we came back to campus Solna to a pub where I met more people from our course. The pub ended when the Swedish song called: “Stad i ljus” began to play. I had no idea what was going on, but everyone gathered together as soon as they heard the song. We all put our arms around each other and formed a big circle. Eventually people broke off and started dancing in the center. Though this song is meant to mark the ending of the night, a group of us decided to it was too early. So, a few friendly Swedes led us to a nearby pub where chatting and laughter continued.

Tuesday:

Wellbeing and studies at a global university (part 1) and fika

Tuesday began at campus Solna in a lecture hall. I’ll admit, it doesn’t sound like the most fun intro activity, but the presentations were quite helpful. They explained what all the university offers from academic writing support, to the wellbeing centre, the student union, etc. They also introduced us to Swedish culture so, of course, we got time for fika and enjoyed their traditional cinnamon rolls (kanelbulle) with coffee. These breaks gave the opportunity to mingle with even more people.

Pub crawl with our amphiox teams, ending the night at a club

Towards the evening we met at MF where the pub crawl began. This time I met a group of people outside of my course. For the pub crawl we were divided into teams, the teams for the amphiox games. (All new students are considered amphioxes, which are spineless, heartless creatures.) The teams headed to different pubs, led by members of MU. Because the teams are a mix of people from many different programmes I got to meet lots of new people. In the end we all reunited at the final destination; a club.

Wednesday:

Wellbeing and studies at a global university (part 2) and fika

This was a continuation of yesterdays lecture. We were given more information on other important things like how to get to a doctor if you’re sick or injured. There was also a bigger focus on the need to stay active during your studies, and an explanation of all the KI gym has to offer. And of course, we had fika in between.

A welcome to KI’s gym at campus Solna

After that we got the opportunity to go to the gym and try out its equipment. A contest began of who can row the fastest, some stayed to watch, others began playing different sports or tried out the other gym equipment. The gym was filled with students playing basketball, table tennis, and badminton. I grabbed a racket and joined a group of three girls playing badminton – it was definitely a fun way to meet new people.

Stockholm stroll

This was another event organized by MU, and again we were divided in our amphiox teams. We had a long list of random challenges we had to complete around Stockholm. These had to be documented in order to collect points as a team. They were fun, a great way to get to know people and Stockholm better.

Dinner in the city and a spontaneous meetup with 2nd year biomedicine students

After the stroll we got hungry, and since one of my friends needed to buy a pan at IKEA, we decided to eat there too. It was a relaxing way to end the day, chatting over a portion of Swedish meatballs. As we slowly got ready to part ways and get back home, a second year student wrote in our biomedicine group chat. He spontaneously invited the first years to a pub in Stockholm where we could meet a few second year students. We decided to go meet them and it was a great experience. They answered all the questions we had about the course, the university, and Stockholm. Very fun, friendly and helpful people that I’m still in touch and they are still very helpful.

Thursday:

Picnic at campus Solna

Unfortunately, I had to pay a visit to Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency) a bit before the picnic began and arrived on campus towards the end of the event. (I missed the free food!) Still, I came in time to find students from my course and we hung out and made plans to meet up at an apartment before going to the MF party.

MF party

The MF party was of course fun, and again an opportunity to strengthen the connections made with the people in our course and meet new people from other programmes. Different circles were formed with people dancing and pushing each other in the center. And, of course, the night ended with the song “Stad i ljus.”

Friday:

Welcome ceremony at Aula Medica

This event was held in the famous Aula Medica. During the ceremony we were welcomed to KI by two of our digital ambassadors Paula and Hidde, KI’s president Annika Östman Wernerson, the student union president and vice president, and several other important figures at KI. Afterwards, we got in line to pick up our KI backpacks and enjoyed some fika. Once I had a kanelbulle I began to walk around the fair at Aula Medica and explore the numerous stands each presenting different organizations, clubs, or courses you can join as a KI student.

A magical walk through Stockholm

As the event came to an end, I met two new friends from my course and we decided to head towards the city to do some more shopping for household things. We ended up walking through the old city and were stunned by the beautiful view– a rainbow over Stockholm.

Saturday:

Amphiox games

The amphiox games were a collection of activities all around campus Solna. Everyone had to arrive dressed up in their teams theme (mine was octoberfest.) The two photos to the right are an example of one of the activities where we had to run around a bat 10 times then run to pour 10ml of water into a bucket. I would love to explain all the other activities, but I think better than me describing them you should have a look at MU’s instagram account: @mottagningsutskottetmf. They vlogged the entire intro week!

Amphiox fulsittning and after-party

The fulsittning was an amazing experience. It’s an informal dinner that comes with a bunch Swedish traditions, eg. a lot of singing of Swedish songs. Fulsittnings also come with rules (rules that make the sitning more fun.) Again I’d recommend checking out MU’s instagram to see what it’s like… the afterparty too was really fun.

Sunday

Sunday was assigned to be a rest day. Monday was still quite a relaxing intro day though… and included lunch at the top floor of a hotel with a beautiful view!

Is that it?

No! Don’t think that this “welcome to KI” only lasted one week- we still had to have our amphiox gasque (which is a formal sittning), and a bunch of kollo events organized by second year biomedicine students. I also got the opportunity to attend a “Welcome to Stockholm” event (for free!) at the Stockholm City Hall, followed by a pub in the Nobel Prize Museum.

….I’d have to write quite a few more blogs to capture what the “welcoming period” at KI looks like! There’s so much going on, you’re left in disbelief when you look at the calendar and its already mid-October?!