Written by Gimmy
26 Jun 2015
Milan, 26C, partially cloudy
Bongiorno!
I have a motto for life – “the more I move, the luckier I get”. Perhaps I become a more interesting person, or maybe I become more open minded.
Several Master’s programmes at Chalmers have double degree exchange deal with Stuttgart University and Shanghai JiaoTong University. I thought how cool would it be to spend the second year of my Master’s in Germany (drinking beer and eating bratwürst)… especially for an Automotive Engineering student at Stuttgart.
But I turned down this opportunity… for several reasons.
1/ The Swedes, young and old, speak English near native level… it is easy to forget that I am studying in Europe. You might not be able to say the same about all German professors. Was ist das?
2/ The Swedes are pretty open to immigrants… the Swedes are generally open to different cultures, religions, sexual orientations, etc. I don’t feel like an alien in Sweden!
Third, my mother told me to stay in Sweden.
4/ I changed my mind. I am satisfied with Chalmers education. “if it isn’t broken, why fix it?”
5/ I met a girl from Italy at Chalmers… Life is full of unexpected surprises. I tried to find an internship position, but failed. When I devoted my life to the machine shop, this happens.
![IMG_3524](https://studyinsweden.se/transformations/2015/06/IMG_3524-902x677.jpg-1920x.jpg)
I spent the weekend in Milan with her majesty Eva. I also managed to catch up with Camilla, a Polytechnic Uni. of Milan exchange student I met in Canada. What a beautiful city. Why would anyone leave Italy for Sweden?!! The Milanese explained the education in Italy is much more “theoretical”, whereas Sweden focuses more on the “practical” aspect.
![IMG_3539](https://studyinsweden.se/transformations/2015/06/IMG_3539-902x677.jpg-1920x.jpg)
Eva is striking luck up here in Sweden. She managed to settle a one-year biomedical engineering master’s thesis project at a local artificial limb company. I think her “receipt for success” is her über proactive approach to opportunities.
After taking lessons from her, I managed to grab a part-time lab technician position at the Chalmers combustion dept. starting in September. Looking forward!
![IMG_3587](https://studyinsweden.se/transformations/2015/06/IMG_3587-902x677.jpg-1920x.jpg)
Midsummer at IKEAtemporary exhibition in Milan
I am rather sad leaving the summery Milan, even though I had a year’s worth of mosquito bites in just one weekend.
Greatest life lesson – ALWAYS remember to bring mosquito repellent!
![IMG_3513](https://studyinsweden.se/transformations/2015/06/IMG_3513-902x539.jpg-1920x.jpg)
“the further north I move, the luckier I get!”… back to the wonderful Swedish summer!
Lövvvv,
gimmygöteborg