My Summer Internship in Sweden

31 Aug 2009 | Posted By: Maria Markenroth

By: Agata Rukat

Summer 2009 has brought a lot to my life.  I spent my time watching a multitude of very interesting films from all over the world and getting professional experience in a Swedish institution.

It is considered to be quite a challenge to get an internship in Jonkoping without speaking Swedish. Despite my struggling with Swedish language courses, the result fell short of fluency. However, I still managed to keep myself occupied during this summer with a very pleasurable and rewarding internship with the promotion of the film festival. It might have been just pure luck that this opportunity occurred to me but I would rather think that those who dare to ask will get rewarded, sooner or later.

In early April I called Josefin Jansson, the Jonkoping film festival manager, and asked her about the possibility of having an internship with the promotion of this event.  The project is conducted under the Jonkoping’s municipality cultural department.

The idea of working with the promotion of the film festival was prompted by my interest in cultural events but also by my concern about the lack of information on cultural events in English. I actually wanted to prove to my colleagues that interesting things do happen here in Jonkoping but they are just poorly advertised to the international community.

Cooperation with Josefin has been wonderful, partly because of her openness to my ideas and her trust in people who work with the project. I have been learning a lot about the way events are organized in Sweden and I was able to confront it with the experience from my country, Poland.
Jonkoping Film Festival 2009 is a treasure for those who have some interest in good cinema. The festival is going to celebrate its 10th anniversary 2 to 6 September and it has much to offer to its participants; queer film night, horror film night or free entrance outdoor cinema are just a small part of it.  If you need some more information, please visit the www.filmfestival.nu. Don’t miss the festival and, surely, don’t hesitate to get yourself a nice internship in Sweden!

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Managing your finances as a student

18 Aug 2009 | Posted By: Maria Markenroth

By Amit Chaudhary

Student living can seem at once exhilarating and daunting. Probably the most difficult challenge one will face will be making sure money lasts all year long and doesn’t run out as soon as Induction Week is over.  There is no ‘one-size fits all’ bank account but here are few important things to consider:
Choose the best student account! You don’t have to be loyal to your national bank, so if you’re choosing a student bank account, make sure you shop around and compare all the incentives on offer.

Don’t be duped by account incentives!  Do not choose an account based on the freebies, gimmicks or giveaways on offer. Try and think long-term. SEK 200, on opening an account given by the bank, may come in very handy, free MP3 player or cinema tickets may sound great, but other deals (like a free student rail card or an account with a larger interest-free overdraft) may save you more money in the long run. And some incentives just aren’t as good as they seem. For example, some banks offer discounts in certain shops – when your university student card offers you these deals anyway. Added extras (such as freebies) — can you make use of the freebies and are they at the expense of the overdraft and/or interest rates?

When you open a student account, you may also be offered a credit card for the first time. This may be a pretty exciting prospect – just try not to go nuts and run up a huge credit card bill which you then spend years trying to pay off.

Interest rate, How much is the bank charging and how much are you being paid on your deposits?

Try to save this summer! Although it’s tempting to live it up in a long, hedonistic honeymoon between leaving college and going to university do try to stash some of your cash in a high-interest savings account. A little effort now could avoid a lot of financial pain later!

Learn to budget! Although all but a privileged few students will run up debts during their years of study, it’s a good idea to avoid constant over-spending. If you don’t want to end up living hand to mouth, be sure to draw up a budget which lists all of your income and expenses. After subtracting your everyday living costs, you can then decide how much ‘play’ money you have to splurge in the Akademien!!!!!

Spend your student loan carefully! If you don’t want to end up begging at the feet of the strict loan officers of the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’, then try not to blow your student loan in the first few weeks. Remember, this maybe your first real stab at living independently, so don’t blow your money in fresher’s week. Try to stretch it out over as much of the semester as you can.

Be cautious with credit cards! A few students see credit limits as targets, and blew thousands of kronors in credit card-fuelled spending sprees. Of course, it is a case of ‘buy now, pain later’! For the record, a typical credit card charges an annual interest rate of around 16 % APR. At this rate, your debts will double every 4½ years thanks to interest alone. So, although credit cards can be very convenient budgeting tools, they can be lethal in the wrong hands.

Check your bank balance often! Problems always arise when you lose track of your spending, usually in the form of fines for exceeding your overdraft limit. So, keep a close eye on your bank account. The easiest way to do this is to use online banking. However, take great care when using shared computers; make sure that you log off when you’ve finished viewing your account.

Don’t become a financial ostrich! If you’re in financial difficulty, please don’t be afraid to ask for help. Speak to your bank’s student advisor or the welfare officer at your Students’ Union. Burying your head in the sand will only make things worse, and student advisers are used to dealing with financial hardship. In particular, talk to your bank if you are nearing your overdraft limit, in order to avoid unwanted penalty charges and black marks on your credit record. Amusingly, it’s a myth that ostriches bury their heads in the sand. In the largest study of ostriches, conducted over a twenty-year period, not one head-sand-burying incident was recorded! A final few words of advice collected from various sources:

Dos and don’ts of student finance
DO: Make a weekly budget. It may seem square, but sitting down with a pencil and a calculator at the start of the year and figuring out how much you’re going to get from loans, part time work and parents and then dividing it weekly will at least give you a rough idea of how much you can afford to spend each week.

DON’T: Lend money to other students, or borrow money from other students. You may never see your money again, or you might not be able to pay it back causing unbearable tension.

DO: Pay with cash! It’s much harder to part with the cash in your hand than a piece of plastic.

DON’T: Try and compete with better off students (or more likely reckless spenders).

DO: Get a summer job! Preferably one that relates to your degree/career interests.

DON’T: Assume your student loan will magically appear, keep checking online and follow up with phone calls if necessary.

DO: Make sure you know about the taxes when you get a summer job. Claim back any you may have paid erroneously.

DON’T: Keep all your money in one, low rate current account; put a good chunk of your money into a high interest savings account . Not only does it have the potential to make you money, if you can’t physically see it in your current account you’ll be less likely to spend it.

DON’T: Be afraid to ask shops and businesses if they can offer any student discount.

Source: various articles on lovemoney.com

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From Germany via Hungary to Jönköping

04 Aug 2009 | Posted By: Maria Markenroth

By: Patrick Hofmeister

Being a professional sportsman and a serious student is mostly not an easy thing to do. I am doing a sport that is quite popular in Skandinavia, especially in Sweden, but in other countries – like in Germany -  it is a minor sport: orienteering. The sport that combines fast running and map reading is really fascinating for me and is a perfect way to experience the nature.

I chose the JIBS and Jönköping as location for my postgraduate studies hoping both to get an excellent education in International Logistics and to improve my orienteering skills to become a better orienteer. At the moment I am trying to prepare as good as possible for the upcoming World Orienteering Championships held in Hungary from 15/08/2009 – 23/08/2009, but at the same time I still have to finish my studies in Germany writing my Bachelor thesis in International Strategic Management. So, you see that it is always hard to manage studies and sport simultaneously. Due to World Champs, I unfortunately cannot take part in the introduction week which I do really regret. Anyway, I am really looking forward to seeeing you soon in Jönköping. If you want to know more about me or orienteering, you can visit my blog www.patrick-hofmeister.de.

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