Växjö Universitet

I stayed in an off campus residence that was located between the university and downtown. The walk or bike (all international students are allocated bikes) to school was along a path by a beautiful lake. The walk or bike ride was always fantastic except during snow storms! The residence itself, used to be part of a mental institution - so the rooms were very hospital like. Most rooms except for a few were quite small, but has nice big windows. Also our kitchen and commons rooms were much larger then the on-campus residences - which were great for parties. The main thing I had to get used to was the common bathrooms and showers (men and women together!!!) Of course there were seperate stalls but it still took some getting used to i.e. someone could be in the stall next to you shaving or brushing their teeth while you were taking your shower. All in all I really got to enjoy my residence. At first I was a little dissapointed because I was not on campus and did not even have a sink in my tiny little room. But once I made friends it really did not seem important anymore.

The corridor I lived in was very nice and clean. This of course depents on the people living in it. Some people moved out of their room because the corridor was so dirty! I had my own shower and toilet and this was really good! It gives you a lot more privacy! The rooms were very spaceful, you could have a visitor over easily! There was enough light and were enough windows in the room which I think are very important. You had the chance to decorate it your own way and that made you feel more at home. Living together with other international students and Swedes was very nice and it meant you had a social life directly. Depending on your presence in the common room or 2 kitchens which you share. In these rooms everybody had breakfast, lunch and dinner, then you meet your neighbours and have a chat. Then you also get to know where there are parties or other activities as bowling or something else. Sometimes you organise a dinner or parties with all the corridor which is very nice too!

The accommodation where I was, was a room in a corridor with another 12 rooms, half of the students were swedish and the other half international. We share the kitchen and the living room. I like this system where you have contact with other students and I don´t care share the kitchen and the living, I like to live with othe people. On the other hand I found that the price was really expensive but this is due the fact that Sweden is a more expensive country than Spain.

Everything is organize by the Interntional Office. You don t have to handle your accomodation except if you want to stay for a little bit more than expected. I stayed until September and i had to found a new room for only two weeks because of the arrivals of the new semester exchange students.

Växjö Universitet is very well organised. It has its own housing officer. She is a wonderful person that does a real good job at finding housing for international students. International students will live off campus, but that is not a problem, because you live together with other international students. And your neighbours and your neighbours neighbours will be international students too. If you are willing to study at Växjö Universitet, housing is no problem whatsoever.

The university has two sections of housing. One section is in the downtown area (where I lived), and the other is on-campus. I truly enjoyed living in the city. It was easy enough to get to campus, and it gave me a feeling that I was really a part of daily life in a Swedish community. It was close to all the shopping and restaurants as well. I can also say that the housing everywhere in Vaxjo is of the highest quality!