Well where to start what UISS represents? It is not simple, because there are so many things to describe… But let’s start from the beginning. The decision to go or not to go wasn’t easy for me, because if you work under standard conditions you have 5 weeks of vacation and 3 weeks seemed to be quite a lot of time to spend at a school, but I don’t regret any second of it. I am happy that I decided to be student one more time.
Morning classes are full of studying but you don’t feel that you have to do it. You study and prepare yourself because you want to. The methods of learning Swedish have a great variation – studying from the book, listening to speeches and conversations, working in the group with your classmates, playing games and son. This all depends on which teacher you have and your level. For example we were in the library, visited the court, watched a TV show and a movie and all that made the class more interesting. You will choose the afternoon class based on which topic you are interested in and you can improve your Swedish in many different ways in one of the afternoon classes as well. I attended the class “The Swedish Film”. It wasn’t only about watching movies. After every movie there was discussion about where in the movie you could see ‘Swedishness’ and which impact it had on Swedish society. We got a chance to visit one of the most beautiful cinemas I have ever seen, Slottbiografen, and watched Smulltronstället directed by Ingmar Bergman there.
If you are scared that you will be alone after your classes, trust me, you will not. The UISS staff is well prepared and they organize activities such as social evenings, a crayfish party, a musical evening, etc. … and it is up to you and your mood if you want to be part of those activities or if you want to explore Uppsala and Sweden on our own. But in the end UISS is not only about studying and improving your Swedish. You will have an opportunity to see Sweden from many spectacular views due to activities and trips, and you will also meet many new people from all over the world and that makes UISS special.
It is one of the experiences you’ll have to try in your life!