It’s hard to believe that it’s already been a year since I moved back to Canada after my five months living in Malmö. It was an unforgettable time, from which came some of my greatest memories. But let’s back up a little. How did this experience start?

Preparation

Through my university program at the University of Waterloo in Canada, I was encouraged to go on a semester-long exchange abroad. My interest in Scandinavia at the time led me to choose Malmö, Sweden as my destination. I switched my Duolingo course to Swedish, and waited for the approval of both the Canadian and Swedish universities. When the message finally came, I was ecstatic. The news did come rather late, so I rushed to make housing, residence permit, and travel arrangements. Other than booking flights and trains, this took a little while. Luckily, everything fell into place, and I ended up getting an apartment at the university housing called Rönnen International Housing.

Arrival

When I left, my dad came with me to tour a few other places in Europe for around a week before arriving in Malmö on August 18th, 2023. The university provided supports right from the start to help international students integrate into Malmö, making the transition very easy and seamless. We were greeted at the train station and taken step-by-step through the orientation process, helping me become me familiar with the housing, the university, and the city. Throughout the week, there were many events to get students more familiar with the school and the city (and country), and of course I did some exploring of my own. After arriving, I did a bit of a walking tour of the city. Over the next few days, I also decided that I wouldn’t find the optimal route to wherever I need to be, but instead wander randomly in a roughly correct direction to discover more of the city on my journeys. Of course, I left plenty of time for accidentally getting lost, which I very much needed.

Landmarks

As I walked, I became more and familiar with the tourist attractions of the city. The Turning Torso is a stand-out in Malmö, literally standing significantly higher than the rest of the city. It’s an apartment building, though, so not much more to do other than just observe it from the outside. The Emporia Shopping Center too, despite being a mall, is a unique building that’s neat to visit. Both the exterior and interior are unlike anything I have seen before. From the top of the mall, you can see the impressive Öresundsbron (Öresund Bridge) which crosses the bay to Denmark. There are a few standout churches in the city, namely S:t Petri Kyrka (St. Peter’s Church) opened in 1380 and S:t Pauli Kyrka (St. Paul’s Church), both of which were visible from my apartment window on the Malmö skyline. The canals are also of course a sight to see, especially in old town.

The city also has a castle, Malmöhus Slott, from the 15th century. It was not the most impressive castle I had ever seen, but it was nice enough, and had beautiful parks around it. They turned it into a museum, which I never went into, but I’m sure there’s more to see and learn if you’re willing to spend a little. Malmö is also famous for its Disgusting Food Museum, which I also didn’t visit, but if testing the limits of your stomach is something you find fun, I would guess that’s the place for you. Besides these, I would say that the city itself is one big attraction. Walking down the pedestrian streets of old town and seeing all the old buildings, like cafés and city hall, was one of my favourite things about Malmö. Rather than walking past concrete blocks with branding, my frequent walks through old town were experiences of the history and beauty that the city had to offer. It made me excited to go out, rather than just leaving home for necessity.

Transportation

I’ve talked a lot about the sights I saw as I walked, and that’s because really, I only ever walked. Only once I borrowed a bike, and once used the bus system for an orientation event in which everyone used the bus, but besides these exceptions, the entire semester was spent walking around Malmö.

I would say that it’s a walkable city, which is mostly true, but some of my walks were quite long. For the necessities, though, I would say most things were within 40 minutes. And, as I’ve said before, you truly get to experience the city when walking through it. Most other people I know took the bus, which I personally thought was a bit overpriced. Biking was of course very popular there, but I didn’t want to buy a bike for just a few months, and I was frankly too lazy to figure out the Malmö by Bike system (though this is a great and affordable bike rental option for any visitors). The other notable transportation system is of course trains. I used the trains any time I left the country, which if you’ve been keeping up with my blogs you’ll know I did quite often. This is not so much a unique advantage to Malmö, but rather the fact that within Europe, including Malmö, I was able to reach essentially anywhere else I wanted to.

People

I learned fairly shortly after arriving that Swedes are generally relatively quiet people, which was fine by me, since I’m kind of the same. I didn’t actually end up getting to know many Swedes, maybe because of this, but also because I was lumped in with the group of international students from the beginning. This was okay though because there were quite a lot of them, and it didn’t really feel like we were in a separate bubble since Malmö itself is a very international city. Not only does it take in a lot of immigrants and refugees, but also a bunch of international students such as myself. The students that I had classes with, hung out with, and lived near, were from all over the world. As a fan of learning about other people and cultures, I really enjoyed this setting, and getting to know many people with varying stories and perspectives that were shaped by the different places we all came from.

Food

As far as food goes, I have never been one to eat out a lot. Knowing what I did about Swedish food, I decided to make it for myself with ingredients from the grocery store. This included meatballs, and different kinds of fish. I also tried a lot of lingonberry-flavoured foods, especially drinks and jam. Around Christmastime, the popular drink julmust was a must-have. Interestingly, there were a lot of good international flavours as well, such as kebabpizza, which is pizza, an Italian dish, customized by people from the Middle East (hence the kebab) in Sweden, which I suppose makes it a Swedish food. I certainly haven’t seen it anywhere else (much to my disappointment, as I really enjoyed it). Besides this, I enjoyed foods that were not necessarily highlighted as Swedish, but which I couldn’t find in Canada. They had their own flavours of Lays and Pringles chips there, and different kinds of Pepsi, for example. There were also smaller companies that offered other products I enjoyed, such as the cider, soda, and candy options. I truly believe Swedes know how to do fruit flavours better than anywhere else I have been. I really had to capitalize on all the elderberry and raspberry flavours I could find, because I don’t really see that back in Canada. On the few occasions I did go out, it was most likely a kebabrulle, a kebab wrap, of which there was no shortage.

Cost

I didn’t find Malmö to really be any more or less expensive than my experience in Canada. My rent was comparable to what I’ve paid elsewhere, and my groceries too. As with every time and place, I mostly limited my spending in Malmö to just necessities, and a few fun things here and there. I continue to be of very little use for talking about money while travelling. The one thing I can note is that the movie theatre charged double what I would expect to pay in Canada. However, I hope that if you ever visit Malmö, you go out to see the city rather than watching a movie.

Summary

There is a lot to say about my time in Malmö, and I fear I haven’t fully represented my experience in just these few paragraphs. I cannot recommend the city enough, it was easily the best five months of my life. The people I met, the things I saw and did, and the overall environment of Malmö are just a few things I have not been able to stop talking about since I came back to Canada. I’m sure I’ve driven my friends and family mad at this point. There’s lots to do, lots to see, lots to eat, and all in a beautiful city. Though many of the people you meet there might not be Swedish natives, the streets of old town carry with them the history of the city, country, and population, creating a unique experience. The way the old and the new meet in the city provides plenty of options for anyone who visits. My experience in Malmö was overwhelmingly positive. Every city has its cons, and I know Malmö does too, but I was unaffected by this. I can’t really report about the negative side of Malmö, but would rather hope that any future visitors would have as great of an experience as I did. Now, to say something I’ve said many times before: “Go to Malmö, Sweden!”