Hej,

I’m Ivan Alvarez and I came to Sweden last August to join in the atomic physics project which is pretty interesting. Since I arrived I’ve been feeling great working in those labs, there you can explore, understand and learn quite a lot about the experiments and of course the physics involved, as a matter of fact I´ve learned how to do researching works and I´ve gotten a lot of lab-work experience mostly in vacuum and optical systems (there you have quite nice stuff like the ion source and Lasers). 

The University is really nice, especially the environment and people. Something lovely is that you can take coffee or tea almost every time with other people because that’s the way it works here and they love to do it! It is called Fika and as I understand it’s kind of a brake in which people usually take hot drinks and/or pastries and believe me they know how to do it.

My life in the city is good, I´ve met a lot of nice people and we became friends mostly with other international students which are more than I expected, in here the environment is really friendly there are a lot of places to go in town and in the surrenders like coffee shops, restaurants, parks, lakes, museums, the islands and much more.  Other amazing thing about Gothenburg is the cycling routes and the green areas, they are everywhere.

What was really wonderful for me is the winter and the snow who comes with it, it´s so beautiful to see all white in the city as in the forest. The environment gets cold for sure but is ok if you have a good jacket and like to go out and explore for a great view (and why not play a bit with snowballs or making a snowman). Actually when I arrived it was not cold at all because I came at the beginning of the fall when the trees start to look orange and red what is also amazing, the view gets really colorful before the winter. Now in spring the sun rises again to warm up (I never thought to enjoy a few minutes under the sun because I just like it) and the amount of activities is increasing with it.

I just have to tell you, Sweden is a great country with kind people and beauty environment, you will love it if you come to take a look for yourself.