…..Sverige ar bra!

…..the day of arrival, the forest floor was covered with blueberries and lingon berries.  Then gradually, the air got colder and autumn was here.  The trees turned from yellow to red, scattering their colourful leaves on the ground as if they were trying to form a beautiful mosaic on the ground.  Soon enough, the first snow came, falling quietly and gently from the sky like tiny petals of the pale lavenders.  The snow-capped mountains, with wild reindeer grazing peacefully as I skied past them and the nights I stood in awe at the magnificent sight of the ever-changing northern lights across the black velvet sky.  Slowly but surely, it got warmer and the once dead and bare earth is revitalized with a burst of budding flowers and fresh green grasses.  The sun shines bright in the horizon, never taking its break…..it’s the land of beautiful open landscape, the land of the midnight sun.  These are the wonderful memories of my overseas industrial attachment in Sweden.

I was fortunate to have a chance of doing a semester of exchange programme at the Lulea University of Technology in the academic year of 96/97 in Sweden, followed by a semester of industrial attachment programme in the same country.  Sweden is famous for her beautiful range of furniture patented under the name of IKEA, the blooming mobile phone industry of Ericsson, the packaging company Tetrapak, the list goes on.  I was attached to the renowned Swedish automobile company - Volvo Cars Corporation - and coincidentally, my job with the company, being a research project in nature, led me back to the grounds of the University.  Even as an undergraduate, green in the field of research, I was assigned to work on a project to investigate the deformation characteristics of a modified model of the Volvo 850 steering wheel all by myself.  (It was a joint-project between the company and Lulea University).  To my relief, I got a lot of help from the ever-patient professors in the university who are experts not only in the field of finite element analysis, but also in translating Swedish documents to English ones.

This brings me to the point about the language in Sweden.  Although Swedish is the official language in the country, most Swedes can speak fairly good English as it is often taught in schools as a second language. Since most American and British movies and television shows are not dubbed, Swedes have a good exposure to English.  I think that is the main reason why my command over the Swedish language never improved, because my Swedish friends always spoke to me in English and I never got to practice what I learned in my introductory course in Swedish.

Apart from the difference in language, the chance to work with the Swedes also opened my eyes to the difference in cultures, leading to the different manner in handling things from the Scandinavian perspective.  For example, apart from the relevant training, I had free play of organising my time to work at a comfortable pace to meet the deadlines of the different phases of my research work.  That is one way the company shows its genuine trust in the engineers and it also reflects the country’s strong belief in personal freedom and one taking one’s responsibilities in life.  Also, there exists a very flat hierarchy in the organisations and be it in the university or at work, everyone is on a first-name basis.  That took me a while to get used to.

By nature of the fact that Lulea, the town that I stayed in during the course of my attachment, was up in the north of Sweden and very near the Arctic Circle, the cold, snowy days stretched for a period of six whole months, from October to late April.  The temperature dropped to as low as -30° over Christmas.  That, being a difference of over 60 degrees from Singapore, is really an experience of a lifetime, not to mention trying to bike to work on a long stretch of snow-covered or even ice-covered roads.  It is just impossible!

Like many students who get to go on exchange or attachment overseas, travelling is one major highlight of the programme.  I too had a great time backpacking Europe during the holidays.  After all, the most expensive part of getting to Europe has already been paid.  Moreover, since I was under 26 years and had stayed in an EC country for over six months, I was entitled to Interrail passes which are cheaper alternatives to the Eurail or Europass, so why not?!

Having the chance to work and study in Sweden has been an enriching experience and I know that these experiences that I have gained, apart from the technical aspects of my work, are invaluable; and the friends that I have made will last me a lifetime.  Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to those who made this memorable experience possible, or perhaps I should do it the Swedish way, “Tack sa mycket!"