Arrival

Here we go, the start of my exchange semester! I started my journey at 1:30 in the morning to catch the bus to the central station where the Flixbus to Copenhagen was waiting. From there I took the high-speed train to Linköping. After almost 14 hours it seemed surreal when I received my first text message "Welcome to Sweden ". As I boarded the bus heading to university the driver greets me with a smile and says, "Welcome back home". I just smile back, thank him and find myself a seat where I can drop all my luggage. What a welcome :)

Reaching campus, I make my way to the Studenhauset (my first Swedish word) where I am happily greeted by the international office who provides me with information, maps, and my corridor keys. To bring my journey to an end the university provided small buses to drop me off right in front of my home located in Ryd, a student living area less than a 10-minutes bike ride from campus. What a fantastic service I must say.

Travelling during the university’s arranged arrival days for exchange students is a smart move. Here the office hours for the international office are open longer than usual providing extra flexibility in your travelling plans. What is nice as well is that there

will be a LIU student, clearly identifiable with his LIU clothing, placed at the Linköping central train station. They will able to tell you which bus to take to reach the campus and give you additional information leaflets.

Tip: Don't underestimate the time it takes to get to the individual buildings on campus. The campus has one main road where the buildings are situated on both sides. It takes you more than a ten-minute walk to reach one end to the other. I did the mistake in not considering this time and almost came too late to the introduction presentation of my Swedish course the following day, getting a nasty blister in my new shoes in the process from the running. I was unable to wear closed shoes for over a week. Unlucky me.