Schlagwort: ‘Sweden’
My Internship at Bosch Cooperation in Tranås
- Chemical Engineering M.Sc.
- Sweden, Tranås
- Bosch Cooperation
- 03/2024 – 08/2024
Application & Finding an Internship
A fellow student told me about her internship at a company in Tranås, Sweden. There, the company develops and researches all kinds of heat pumps, utilizing power from the mountain, the water, or the air. On the company website, I found several open positions in different departments starting in spring 2024. I applied for a few positions and quickly received their answers. After 2 interviews, I got the internship position in the engineering department, which is working on the reliability of the components in the refrigerant circuit of the heat pump.
Accomodation & Living Expenses
The company is located in Tranås, a small city in the prince Småland in Sweden. I was accommodated with other international interns and thesis students in a hotel directly next to the lake Sommen. Every intern had their own private room and bathroom.The living room, kitchen, Office and laundry room was shared with the other interns. There was also a gym and sauna in the hotel, which we were allowed to use. It took about 10 minutes to drive from the hotel to the city center of Tranås and about 15 minutes to the company. We were provided with 2 cars and 1 van for us interns to drive to work, grocery shopping and other activities. It was also possible to rent company bikes, which was especially nice in the summer.
The provision of accommodation and cars simplified the preparation for the internship a lot, because I didn’t had to look for apartments abroad. Living with 13 other international interns and students, it was easy to settle in and find friends. I really enjoyed living with so many people from different countries and cultures. We often cooked dinner together and spent the evenings on the terrace enjoying the sunset over the lake together.
Everyday Life & The Internship
For my internship contract I had to work 40 hours per week, usually from 7:30 am in the morning until 4:30 pm in the afternoon with a 1-hour lunchbreak. The interns were allowed to work flexible hours and arrange their working hours themselves. During my time at the company, I worked with my supervisor on 3 big, different topics. I was able to get deep into the different topics, apply my knowledge from university and get some work experience.
The working culture in Sweden is non-hierarchical. Everyone is approached just with their first name, regardless of their title, age or status in the company. This is also reflected in the casual dress code at the office. Managers and workers are both working in comfortable and convenient clothing like jeans and sweatshirts. It is also worth mentioning that the Swedes have a very high sense of duty and connection towards their work, their team and the company. Therefore, they are often proudly wearing clothing with the company logo. Important decisions are not only made by senior managers or executives, but everyone on their team is also included in the decision and asked on their opinion on the subject matter. As an intern I felt as part of the team since my first day at work and my opinion was valued and not less worth than from other colleagues. The Swedish way of working is characterized by trust, independence and flexibility of the employes. You are able to organize your workday as you prefer, whether you want to work from your desk, a meeting room or from home.
A very important part of the Swedish work culture is the Swedish coffee break called “Fika”. At least once per day you get yourself a coffee, tea or hot chocolate and sit down with your colleagues on the couch and talk about non work-related topics. Usually someone brings some baked goods with them to share and enjoy during Fika. There is a huge variety of different swedish pastries, like the famous Kanelbullar, Wienerbröd, Chokladbollar and Blabärspaj. I was not surprised, when learned that Sweden is one of the countries that consumes the most amount of coffee per person.
People in Sweden value their work life balance a lot. During lunch time I could go to free Yoga classes, go for a quick session at the companys gym or join one of the running groups.
My colleagues at work were from a lot of different countries, so I talked Englisch most of the time during my internship. Since I shared my accommodation with other interns from all over Europe, I was able to learn some phrases in French, Italian, Swedish and Portuguese.
Free time & Tips
Summer is the best season to for a visit in Sweden, since the amazing Swedish nature with all the beautiful lakes and woods is coming alive. In Sweden, there is the so called “Allemansrätt”, which guarantees you free access to all parts of nature. You are allowed to visit ever dock on the lake, collect as much berries or mushrooms as you want and put up your tent on every island or wood as long as you don’t bother the owner. Everywhere in Sweden you can find amazing hiking trails through fairytale woods with shelters and fireplaces for camping. Even though the summers in Sweden are not as warm, you can easily go swimming in one of the many beautiful and peaceful swimming lakes.
©Irma Staskiewicz
©Irma Staskiewicz
©Irma Staskiewicz
On the weekends I often visited one of the citys around Tranås. I really enjoyed my trip to the small town Gränna, where the sugar cane was invented and stroll past all the candy shops with all the colorful candys displayed. I spend a few sunny afternoons sitting in small cafes in Eksjö surrounded by old pastel colored timber houses. But also, bigger citys like Linköping with the medieval cathedral and Jönköping at the lake Vättern are definitely worth a visit.
From Tranås, you can travel to Stockoholm in 3-4 hours by using the train. I had a lot of fun walking around the old part of the town “Gamla Stan”, visiting the famous Vasa Museum and going for a night out in big city like Stockholm.
Gothenburg is known for its archipelago, several scattered islands on the west coast of Sweden. I had a marvelous time while driving with ferries from island to island. On one of the islands, we rented a kajak and paddled along the coastline for a few hours, of course with a few stops for Fika and a swim in the sea. In the evenings, we visited different bars and listened to swedish metal and rock music.
One of my highlight during my time in Sweden was my canoe trip on the lake Ansen. We rented a canoe for a few days at one of the several canoe rentals. We drove through the national park, enjoyed the beautiful nature and stopped on one of the many islands to build up the tent and sleep for the night. I can highly recommend renting a canoe or kajak and going onto the lake, even just for a few hours.
Another one of my highlights was our trip to the island Öland during Midsommar, the national holiday at the summer solstice. At Midsommar everyone is celebrating all day wearing flower crowns in their hair and dancing around a tree, decorated with flowers and leaves. Since it’s the longest day in the whole and it’s not getting dark, you stay up late and party all night.
©Irma Staskiewicz
©Irma Staskiewicz
Conclusion
I spent a fantastic and wonderful summer during my internship in Sweden, experiencing the incredible nature and landscapes. All the Swedes I met were open-minded, super friendly and made me feel very welcome. The work ethic and culture is much more relaxed than in Germany and you meet your colleagues at eye level, regardless of their hierarchical level and enjoy a coffee and cake during Fika. I am thankful for all the beautiful experiences, memories and new friends I made during my time in Sweden.
My experiences at Volvo Technology
- Energy Engineering M.Sc.
- Sweden, Göteborg
- Volvo Technology
- 10/2024 – 05/2025
Masthugget Church Viewpoint East ©Marc Müllenbach
Hello, my name is Marc. I am a German studying Master Energy Engineering at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, and participated in a research stay funded by the Erasmus+ Internship program during my master’s thesis at Volvo Technology – one of the most Swedish companies imaginable – in the second largest city Göteborg, Sweden. Getting this opportunity, to work on practical research in a company, was very difficult and almost did not work out. I started applying more than a year ahead, but this was way too early for most cases. In Sweden, there are no mandatory internships of up to 6 months; Swedish students gain practical experience during their summer break. Yes, you heard right: all students have a 2-3 month study-free period during the summer, without the need to prepare for exams, since they finish them before Midsommar (the summer solstice). Their internship culture comes from the fact that students do not receive their student funding during vacation, so many rely on summer jobs to survive financially until the next study period. Because internships are limited to these three months, companies don’t know about longer internships, especially not outside this period, as is common in Germany. Another aspect is that thesis work usually starts in January, as Swedish studies are separated into four periods, and are mainly carried out in groups of two—eliminating most chances if you want to start according to the German semester dates and alone. However, you would not be reading this if I hadn’t made it despite the low chances. I applied a lot, sent unsolicited applications to companies, connected with people on LinkedIn, and sent dozens of requests for an internship with the opportunity to follow up with a master’s thesis, which is usually the catch in Germany. The position was acquired via an unsolicited application to an industrial PhD student in cooperation between Chalmers University of Technology and Volvo Group, which led to the position at Volvo Technology. Other research internships would have been possible at Chalmers, but the research topic and work environment at Volvo were the best option.
Moat of the old city fortifications, Bazarbron ©Marc Müllenbach
Finding a suitable accommodation without being registered as a Swedish student brings further problems, since you are not eligible for student accommodations. Some shared living opportunities always exist but are highly requested and not available in sufficient quantity. Some international students even live in hotels or cabins for the first year. In Swedish metropolitan areas, housing agencies require you to be in the queue for several years. Even colleagues at my workplace, who were in the queue for up to three years, were not able to find suitable accommodation (for their living standard) and ended up buying instead. I found mine with a lot of luck on Facebook (which is widely used in Scandinavia and also serves as an online marketplace and for international exchange). The accommodation had two rooms, one bedroom, and one living room/kitchen. The monthly costs were approximately €450 per person, with all additional costs included. I lived there with my girlfriend, who also studied at Göteborg University. For grocery shopping, I highly recommend using “Too Good To Go,” which offers a full bag of vegetables close to expiration for under €5—this saves money since vegetables and fruits are noticeably more expensive compared to Germany. Monthly expenses for groceries were roughly €200 per person, including all food and household costs and eating out every two weeks. Since the canteen at Chalmers was €6 (student) or €8 (visitor), and at Volvo Group €10, I decided to always prepare my own food, which is popular in Sweden. There are always spaces with microwaves and cutlery. For transportation, you can use rental bikes for €30 per year (Nextbike/Sty&Ställ). Since I needed to get to the other side of the harbor to Göteborg Lundby, I bought a tram ticket, which was €60 (student) or €75 (non-student) per month. Even though I was a student, I couldn’t use the student discount for many occasions, since in Sweden your student status is verified by a “Mecenat” app account issued by a Swedish university, which I did not have.
Volvo Group, Gropegårdsgatan 10 ©Marc Müllenbach
Everyday life during the research stay was a 40-hour workweek, starting at 9:00 and ending at 17:00. It is common to have a one-hour lunch break at 11:00, which I always spent with coworkers. Since I started in October, I was the only student at the company until January, when two other thesis workers joined, as is usual during this time. From Volvo, I received a laptop for my research work, which was mainly self-guided and supervised by weekly meetings with my supervisor. I highly enjoyed short coffee breaks with colleagues around 14:00-15:00, called “fika,” to discuss technical topics or daily life. There was one 30-minute fixed slot per week where the whole department met, and one colleague always brought sweet pastries or cake. The department worked great as a team, and I think this weekly contact, as well as spontaneous meetings on other days, helps with teambuilding. I also enjoyed that Volvo Group is an international environment, and you can get into contact with everyone on a casual basis since in Sweden you always call people by their first name; titles and positions do not mainly define your personality.
Vrångö Island ©Marc Müllenbach
During the winter, I came home from work when it was already dark, but there are many options available. Monthly sports membership at “Fysiken” cost €33 per month (3-month period) for students, including gym, courses, team play, and climbing/bouldering. I used to go every second day and made friends during climbing and basketball. It seems much easier to make international friends, as Swedish students usually already have their friend groups. Getting into those groups takes time and is comparable to making friends in Germany. With friends found that way, at the company or through international university programs such as ESN, you will definitely find people to spend time with—though more likely internationals who will leave after six months. However, Göteborg is a city where you can spend your time at many places, such as bars with after-work discounts and pub quizzes, museums, or at the ice hockey arena watching “Frölunda HC.” Around February, you will get home when it is still bright outside and can spend the sunset at famous places such as “Skansen Kronan.” On weekends, I recommend visiting the local historical
amusement park “Liseberg,” the islands in the archipelago near Gothenburg, one of the beaches, or hiking around lakes such as “Delsjön.” Trips around Sweden to Stockholm, Malmö, Helsingborg, or even Oslo in Norway are easy to do on a small budget. ESN also offered a one-week trip to Swedish Lapland, which everyone recommended to me, but I was quite
occupied by research work and also took vacation to visit my family over Christmas.
In conclusion, I liked Swedish culture before, and this trip increased its attraction. Sometimes it was tough to receive the same rights as locals, since you always need digital proof such as Swedish student status (“Mecenat”). For foreigners, it is also impossible to buy at a local food market or farm since “Swish,” the Swedish version of PayPal for payment, requires a Coordination Number for a Swedish ID, a Swedish bank account, and BankID. There are also several special days with traditions such as St. Lucia around Christmas, Valborg/Walpurgis Night and Swedish National Day in spring, and Midsommar in summer. However, my girlfriend and I decided to continue our time in Sweden and enjoy one or more summers at the coast and in nature, where Sweden has much to offer.
My experiences in Sweden – enriching on a professional and personal level
- Construction and Robotics M.Sc.
- Gothenburg, Sweden
- Volvo Group
- March 2022 – December 2022
My decision to seek out an internship abroad was motivated primarily by the opportunity for professional growth. I was motivated to join my host institution- Volvo group in the department of Volvo trucks, for digital and flexible manufacturing plant, for several reasons: Firstly, it is a completely international organization, bringing together diverse collaborations between researchers from all over the world. I was very excited to gain diverse, international, and interdisciplinary perspectives on manufacturing and computer vision as I believed this could offer me a new kind of comprehension of global opportunities. I was also looking forward to building connections with colleagues from my host institute and experiencing first-hand how they approached their work and how their daily working life looked like. Secondly, the fact that the institute was in Gothenburg, Sweden appealed to me as I felt that the new context could offer me unique insights into the research field of Digital productions in real scale industry.
On a personal level, I also believed doing my internship abroad could provide me with the challenge and room for growth offered by new and different surroundings and the opportunity to meet new people. I knew Gothenburg has a beautiful historical center and I was excited to explore the architecture and history of the city. After several months of lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I found the prospect of new experiences especially energizing and fulfilling.
During my internship I was entrusted with a research project on Computer vison for overhead cameras and AGVs and received the opportunity to work as a researcher with doctorate students and professors from Chalmers University, Gothenburg. Research projects provided me with extremely enriching and fulfilling experiences, in which I learned even more than I could have imagined.
Within the scope of the multiple projects, I explored different methodologies to be able to quantify effectiveness of ARTags- Apriltags, ArucoTags considering light effects, occlusions, speed of detection and tracking. This entailed discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each tags with my team members, critically reviewing and presenting about previous research and learning to practically apply the methods. I worked on strategies for image fusion from multiple cameras and segmentation models as well as computer vision for distributed systems.
Besides cultivating fundamental research competencies, I also developed various soft skills. I cultivated professional and communication skills by interacting with colleagues on a daily basis and working closely together with team members. In doing so, I learned a great amount from my colleagues and their experiences. I both received the opportunity to hold presentations but could also attend lectures given by my colleagues to directly learn from them how to communicate ideas and research findings in an optimized way. I also learned when it was important to ask for help from others and became more confident in taking initiative and contributing my own ideas to the project. By juggling between different tasks and projects, I was able to improve my time management skills and set priorities to become more organized. This also helped me to optimize my work efficiency but also recognize my limits and learn to communicate if I wouldn’t be able to finish a task in the allotted time.
I very much appreciate the large amount of support I received from my host IAESTE and Volvo. I met with my supervisors at least twice a week, sometimes even more frequently and they took a lot of time to guide me and integrate me into the working group as much as possible. My supervisor also often asked me for my opinion and my ideas, which I cannot thank her enough for. Being able to voice my own thoughts and viewpoints proved to be an invaluable opportunity to self-sufficient and independent creative thinking.
Finding accommodation in Gothenburg was most likely one of the most difficult parts of my stay abroad. It was very difficult to find an apartment through online websites from Germany – most of them were in Swedish, many proved to be scams and non-existent and the rest were very expensive. My host institute and IAESTE Gothenburg helped me. My advice would be to start searching for accommodation as early as possible and ask for help from others who are living there.
All of my colleagues at the Volvo trucks are very welcoming and friendly, allowing me to feel completely included and happy during my time there. I gained the opportunity to meet and spend time with many new people. I learned a great amount from them and cherish the memories I have with them. I did get the chance to meet many local people outside of my internship and I was still able to explore a large amount of the city life and surrounding areas with my colleagues, which made me feel more connected to the place I was living in.
© Gaurav Makwana
In my free time, I would meet with friends from my work and explore the city. I enjoyed going on bike and scooter rides, exploring islands, visiting different historical sites, going to local cafes and restaurants to enjoy FIKA culture, finding the tastiest croissants and travelling to nearby cities or villages. Gothenburg is also close to the sea so I would strongly recommend to head down to all islands and go hiking and swimming there in some of the bluest cold waters you can find. I found the public transport system in Sweden to be very useful for short trips and affordable.
The living costs were in my experience higher in Gothenburg, as compared to Germany. I am therefore very grateful to Erasmus+ for giving me the opportunity to pursue an internship abroad and financially supporting me.
I attended an intercultural seminar and found this to be very helpful to get into a mindset that allows you to make the most out of your time abroad. It also teaches you that any difficulty or hardship that you face in the process can be a valuable learning opportunity. For these reasons, I would recommend it to other students, especially those who have never been abroad before or are looking to gain new insights and perspectives onto their upcoming journey.
My studies and previous research experiences provided me with foundational tools and background knowledge that I could draw from throughout my internship. By being able to apply these skills and competencies, I was able to strengthen and build on to them. This allowed me to cultivate essential research skills and grow confidence in putting them to practice.
Due to the rewarding and fulfilling experience I had during my internship, I feel highly motivated to pursue my studies and to maximize the insights I gain from my courses and professors. The experience also incentivized a future career in Computer vision and Digital manufacturing. Through my internship I realized how important it is to approach a digitalization topic from different angles and perspectives in order to fully understand it and to be able to implement efficient and safety policy measures aiming to mitigate the problems. This taught me how diverse the field can be and how important it is to think creatively and maintain an open mindset for learning from others, regardless of the stage you are in in your career. This reinforced and strengthened my motivation for pursuing a career in global Digitalization strategies.
In summary, while my expectations that I would learn a great amount about the field of Computer vision and develop professionally were fulfilled, my experience abroad also turned out to be very enriching on a personal level – far more than I had anticipated. During my time in Gothenburg, the new people I met, the unique and historical surroundings of the city and the positive and challenging experiences I was confronted with paved the way for growth and self-development. It also made me more open and adaptable to setbacks and helped shift my perspectives to ones in which I could more easily cope with and learn from mistakes.
I believe challenges during an experience abroad are inevitable but that they ultimately prove to be valuable learning opportunities. As eliminating them is not an option: to reduce problems, I believe it is important to plan as much as possible. In my opinion, however, it is more important to anticipate that unexpected outcomes, both good and bad, are bound to come your way and that the way you deal with them will shape your experience.
If you receive the opportunity to do an internship at the firm like Volvo for Research, I would highly recommend to grab the chance. Volvo for Research is a very open-minded and welcoming institution, tailored towards international cooperation. It is a place that fosters growth and openness. I am very thankful that I was able to spend my ten month internship there and would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor and colleagues at the Volvo trucks, as well as to those at RWTH Aachen supporting the Erasmus+ traineeships abroad.
Go abroad. Go to Sweden.
- Business Administration and Engineering: Materials and Process Engineering B.Sc.
- Sweden, Helsingborg
- RKW Sweden AB
- April – October 2022
Ah, what a great summer…looking back now, it feels more like a big vacation than a semester of working. Maybe because I did so many great after- work activities, maybe because my internship itself was nice or maybe because now this time is over and it is winter in Germany. 🙂
I arrived in the middle of April and at first, things started off medium well. My room, rented by the company, was in the basement of a villa with quite a few alcoholics in the building. They were all nice to me, but this was something new and scary to me. Over time and with changing apartment mates it got better, but the first months were a bit hard because I did not feel at home there. Here we already have a few learnings about Sweden; first, almost nobody in Sweden rents apartments, so rental websites are a bit weird and mostly people in unstable points of their lives or students rent apartments. Also, Sweden has super strict laws and crazy prizes when it comes to alcohol, you are for example not allowed to drink alcohol on the street.
Let’s get to a more fun topic, work 😉 For me, working at a Swedish location of a German company was great. The atmosphere was good, the people were really nice and everyone spoke English well. Another great thing about Sweden is, how far it is in all terms of equality. If I was a woman or a man, the site management or the little intern, I felt like everyone was equally important and valuable. This is not the case in all companies or countries and so it was very interesting to have the many times stressed and not so relaxed German part of the company in comparison to the Swedish part I was working at.
If you want to experience a great working atmosphere, try working in Sweden. 🙂
One thing about the chill atmosphere, which almost irritated me, was the amount of Fika (coffee breaks) they take. Sometimes 45 minutes per day made me feel a bit unproductive, but many of my colleagues there were very comfortable with that. Another thing I had heard about before, is the swedes awkwardness when it comes to small talk. My own experience was, that if you have any connection to the person, small talk is fine and they will be really nice. They won’t go out of their way for you, like speak English during the entire lunch because you don’t speak Swedish, but someone will try to integrate you a bit. If they don’t know you at all, they will try not to talk to you at all, in public for example.
I did have a bit of problems in the beginning to get involved socially, but through my hobby sailing, some colleagues and Facebook, things slowly picked up. Facebook is actually one of my biggest recommendations for anyone going to Sweden. If you are trying to rent an apartment, inform yourself on clubs or social groups. If you want to find friends, look there. What works really well is hiking groups. I found that the people there are usually very open, come from everywhere and on top of that you are exploring the area. What happened to me is that one girl saw one of my hiking plans in one group, texted me and we became friends. We even made a trip to Stockholm together in the last weeks of my time in Sweden!
Now let’s come to my specific Skåne recommendations:
© Kuhlmann, Selma
-Kallbadhusets, beautiful saunas at the sea, where you can switch between bathing in the cold sea and sitting in the sauna. Very relaxing and not very expensive. (about the price for a cup of beer in Sweden;))
-Venn island in the middle of the Öresund, a beautiful place with fun yellow tandem bikes for exploring the nature.
-Kullaberg. An awesome hiking spot northern of Helsingborg.
-The bakery två systras in Helsingbog. They have a lot of awesome traditional Swedish Fikabröd like Kardemummabullar or Vaniljhjärta. My personal cake favorite: the Budapest.
-The Vasa museum in Stockholm. We were also a bit unsure of going because it does cost some money, but it was all worth it. Such an interesting and greatly made museum!
My conclusion: Go abroad. Go to Sweden. Start somewhere new. Learn more about yourself.
Building a metro tunnel under the city of Göteborg
- Business Administration and Engineering: Civil Engineering M.Sc.
- Göteborg, Sweden
- Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau AG
- 06.04.2022 – 07.10.2022
1. Application/Finding an internship
During the pandemic and especially the lockdown I decided that I want to do an internship abroad. A fellow student recommended me an internship with Wayss & Freytag Ingenieurbau AG in Göteborg, Sweden. Because I always wanted to explore the Scandinavian region, I knew that would be a great opportunity. After two video calls with the responsible site manager, I got the positive feedback to go there during the summer semester and directly applied for the Erasmus scholarship. For the internship I would recommend applying at least 3 months ahead. It is important that you apply for the Erasmus scholarship at least six weeks before the internship starts. For that scholarship you need to do an EU survey and an OLS language test. The most critical part is the Online Learning Agreement (OLA), where you need signatures from all parties involved.
2. Accommodation & Living expenses
The accommodation was provided by the company. It was a small but very well-equipped apartment in Frihamnen. Even though Frihamnen is on the northern site of the river, I liked the location because the city center is reachable within 10 min bike ride and the public transport is very good. The apartment complex is called ‘waterfront cabins’. They have long- and short-term renting. When visiters came from Germany, they could book them via Airbnb for an affordable price. Otherwise the living expenses are higher than back home. Especially living costs are from what I have heard quite high and for foreigners difficult to get. For renting an accommodation, Sweden is dividing into first and second hand contracts. As a foreigner you can only get second hand contracts, which basically means temporary sublease. The daily expenses are a bit higher, but obviously depends on where you go. For grocery stores I enjoyed going to Lidl. Not only for some German stuff, but also the price/performance is great. From my point of view going out is quite expensive. Clubs usually cost at least 200 SEK (= 20 €) entry fee. Also eating in restaurants or having some drinks in a bar is pricy. As a reference point: 0,4l beer costs in between 45-90 SEK. Again, it really depends on where you go.
3. Everyday life/ the internship
The German company Wayss & Freytag is building a metro tunnel under the city as part of the “West Link” (Västlänken) project in Göteborg. Västlänken is one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Scandinavia. During my internship I was stationed as a project engineer on the construction site in Liseberg. The tunnel line of this site is going to be around 300m long. One of the biggest difficulties is a river going through the construction pit, which makes a lot of heavy foundation works necessary. For that I was mainly supporting the site managers and sometimes the supervisors in the production. I was responsible for the short-term planning as well as different documentary and design tasks. The team I worked with was young and super friendly from the beginning. I got along with them very quickly and we started doing stuff after work and on the weekends immediately. That helped a lot to get along in a new country with a new language. Because the joint venture partner is a Swedish company (NCC), it was roughly 50% Swedish and 50% German speaking coworkers. That made the cultural exchange super interesting. I really enjoyed the work atmosphere with all the colleagues, even though the work attitude/ethic between German and Swedish people may differ. The company also organized afterworks or Friday-breakfasts on a regular basis. One highlight was the summer party. I think those events are helping a lot for team building purposes and gives you a different connection with your coworkers – besides it was very fun. 😉
4. Free time/tips
After work I usually did sports (paddle, running or boulder) with coworkers. During the warm summer months, we sometimes went for a swim in one of the beautiful lakes or the ocean. On the weekends I tried to explore the surroundings of Göteborg. Whether the archipelago near Göteborg or the stunning nature inland, there is so much to discover. Kayaking, hiking or go fishing were only a few activities. Some of my German colleagues started kite surfing or sailing. The opportunities of outdoor activities are just amazing. Göteborg as a city has everything you can imagine. There are clubs and bars, museums, parks and a lot of nice cafes. We often went to the street food market in Lindholmen for a ‘Fika’. If you are looking for a bar with affordable drinks, Tullen’s or Café Magazinete is recommendable. TaKeT is a rooftop bar with an amazing view over the river and one of my favorite places in a sunny afternoon. For weekend excursions, Göteborg is located in a triangle between Oslo, Copenhagen and Stockholm. All three destinations are reachable within 4 hours drive. There is a fast Flixtrain connection to Swedens capital. For Copenhagen and Oslo distance buses are recommended, as they are usually cheaper than train connections. One of the biggest highlights was spending traditional Midsummer in a Swedish summer house. The amount of daylight in the summer was an excellent experience.
© Johannes Bennewitz
5. Conclusion
In summary, I can say that I absolutely benefited from the internship in many ways. Not only to getting to know the Scandinavian culture and the way of how a big infrastructure project works, but I also made a lot of new friends. For me personally I loved Göteborg as well as the Swedish nature and I will certainly be going there many more times in the future. I can highly recommend the internship program at Wayss & Freytag and I’m proud to be part of the Västlänken project.
