HI THERE FROM THE OTHER SIDE!
I’m Kah Yong a Year 2 Accountancy Student from National Univeristy of Singapore (NUS) and I am currently having my exchange over in Lund University, Sweden! I will be doing a blog entry about the essential amenities around this small neighbourhood we call Lund. As I am staying in Palsjoang, one of the student accommodation facilities in Lund University, this information will be even more useful for individuals who are looking to apply to this venue to stay in.
Alright so I believe that 3 of the most essential things that a student would want to find out when on exchange are as follows:
- Transport
- Supermarkets
- Entertainment
Accommodation should quintessentially fall under this category but…..these information can easily be found on the LU accommodation website: . If you are interested in finding out more, you can head on over there and there would be rental information and subsequently, the key collection and payment details would be provided through your emails once the accommodations are confirmed! So without further ado… let me begin on this post covering the vital details of transport, supermarkets and entertainment around Lund!
Entertainment
Before I move on to cover the transport and supermarket information, I thought this article would flow much more smoothly if I were to cover the attractions first! I would cover the interesting things you can do in this particular area of Sweden. I would not cover the main attractions that you can easily find online when you Google but instead, my main focus would be to just cover some of the things that I have discovered by myself over the past 2 months here, that cannot really be found online! So here goes!
Sports:
If you are an aficionado of Sports such as that which requires equipment like a bow case, here’s a fun fact for you! Sweden is one of the top ranked nations for floorball and ice hockey. I have personally caught a floorball match that took my breath away. Not exaggerating about this as the scoreline was a high scoring 4-4 draw between Malmo and another team which I can’t remember the name(it’s not really important!). It was a derby match between both teams and it was a thriller. Anyone who is interested to watch the matches can easily get them from http://ticketmaster.se.
Food:
Typically, this particular area of Sweden can be a tad bit boring at times. During winter, shops can close as early as 5pm and 4pm on a Saturday and Sunday respectively. Even the food outlets are no different! But there are some places that I would like to recommend for a good meal. Not surprisingly, they are mainly Asian cuisines to quell the Asian hunger in us! I would highly recommend the dumpling outlet in Lund Central and the Noodle shop(yes it’s called the noodle shop) in Triangeln!
Garden in School:
Typically barren during the winter months, Lund University actually houses a pretty garden that should be a feast for your eyes during the spring to autumn months if you happen to be there. There is a greenhouse, pretty quaint buildings and obviously, the park itself to admire. Great for a good jog and short walk if you are bored in your room or with school life.
IKEA:
YES, IKEA originates from scenic Sweden. It is a must to make a trip down to IKEA to witness how this furniture place is like and try their hotdogs and meatballs. I understand that Singapore has the same thing but experiencing IKEA FIKA(café break) is still an experience in Sweden regardless so do try them out! They have an assortment of tea varieties for you to try as well and they are all free flow after buying the sachet. The desserts are not free flow buy hey, what is FIKA without cakes and desserts?
StudentNations:
I am not a personal fan of joining the club because I have joined quite abit of CCAs within NUS and would definitely prefer to travel around other countries or cities within Sweden. However, if you are interested about studentnations and night parties, you can apply for a membership in one of the student nations within Lund University. They are the direct translation of CCAs within Lund but in a more relaxed and less rigorous manner.
Transport
As I have mentioned, this post would be more relevant to my area around Palsjoang but then again.. my area is just a stone’s throw away from the Lund University School of Economics and Management – which is essentially where most NUS exchange students would be enrolling themselves in during exchange! So ultimately, what I would be mentioning would still be highly relevant.
First things first, a huge recommendation would be to download this application from the App Store: Skanetrafiken. Regardless of where you are in within Sweden, this app allows you to have real time information on the different routes you can take from the nearest bus/train station from your location to your designated bus/train station! The information provided is highly accurate and definitely credible so do download this application if you want to access transport even more easily around in Sweden!
Secondly, from the area in Palsjoang, there are 2 bus stops which you can easily find as they are along the roads right outside the hostel area. 1 bus stop contains bus 6 (John Ericssons Vag station), which takes you directly to Lund Central where you can access a small shopping district – filled with clothings, food and cafes where information can be found online.
The other bus stop(Ole Romers Vag) contains bus 20 that brings you to Lund Central as well! However, it does not operate over the weekends so do take note over that aspect! Similarly, there are direct buses to Malmo as well, which is a much larger city to access. Buses 170 and 171 in yellow take you directly to Malmo Station.
The bus fares to Lund Central cost 22.5 SEK, which is around $3.50 whereas fares to Malmo costs 45SEK, $7. Transport within Sweden is expensive but after travelling to places like Scotland and London, Sweden still seems relatively cheaper when it comes to this aspect. Trains however, are really expensive and I will come to that.
Lund Central and Malmo contains the main train stations that bring you to further cities like Goteborg/Stockholm and to the nearest airport which is Copenhagen Airport. The cost of travelling to the different cities differ based on distance but essentially, you would be travelling to Copenhagen station a lot and it costs $21. The ride to Copenhagen takes about 30minutes so do take note of this!
One essential tip on transport in Sweden is that if you take a train and subsequently a bus, you are able to have a free change of transport. Just show your ticket to the bus driver and you would get a free ride. However, if you take a bus then a train, the exchange fare does not work!
Supermarkets
Leaving out those at the station area near Lund Central, there are 3 essential supermarkets that you have to know as a dummy guide to staying in Palsjoang. They are namely – ICA, LIDL and WILLYS. (Pardon I don’t have pictures of these places!)
ICA is the NTUC/Cold Storage version of a supermarket within Lund. The nearest ICA outlet from Palsjoang is about 5 minutes away and it is especially convenient to travel there. The prices however, are much more expensive as compared to LIDL and WILLYS. However, the variety of food is definitely large enough and able to provide you with enough groceries for you to cook a meal that whets your appetite.
In comparison, LIDL and WILLYS are about a 15-20 minute walk away. It might sound arduous because of the time you have to spend to get there but ultimately, you will get groceries at a cheaper price. The variety at WILLYS is comparable to ICA but the food products are much cheaper. In contrast, LIDL has a smaller variety of groceries.
So if you want to save money by eating in, I hope these information that I provided are valuable and helpful!
Thanks for taking the time to read my post and I greatly appreciate it! Life in Lund University is really relaxing due to their curriculum and if you are thinking about having an exchange here, rest assured you would not regret your decision especially if you are a wanderluster like me!
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