Things to Bring to Sweden! A Guideline INTRODUCTION: This document is solely written to serve as guideline for students who are about to come to Sweden. To begin with, Congratulations on getting the admission! Now it s time to organize and minutely plan your journey that will save you from lot of hassle the day you actually arrive here. I know there is a lot anxiety about how to manage all things; what to bring, what not to bring, how is the market there, what things are cheap and what are expensive. Well, this document tries to address all of these common issues and will help plan your journey more effectively. Why to bring things when you can buy them here? All the things that you use in Pakistan or whatever you can possibly imagine are available here in Sweden; it s just about the price that you have to pay for it e.g. most of us won t be comfortable paying Rs 4000-5000 for a pair of Jeans. So, the idea is to try to bring all of your common usage items from Pakistan. For the ease of understanding I have divided the document into multiple categories with different items/things so one can pick the things of their interest easily. CLOTHING & GENERAL ITEMS: Here is a list of items, the requirements vary from person to person but you will get the picture. ITEM Quantity 1 Jeans 4 Warm Men Tights, and chest warmer 3-4 3 T-Shirts 4 Dress Shirts 5 Dress Pants 6 Dress Suite 6-7 1-1 1 7 Tie 8 Trouser/night suite 9 Shalwar Qameez 10 Jae Namaz and Quran 1 11 Sweater Full Sleaves Winter Jacket 1 1 13 Summer jacket/hoddie 14 High Neck 15 Shoes/Joggers 16 Flip Flops/Chappal 1 17 Shorts/Boxers 6 18 Socks Warm 5 Clothing & General Items Comments, bring more if you desire you NEED to wear them in winters Normally you wear T-shirt with sweater/jacket on top It depends on your styling, bring more if your wear them often Mostly Jeans are used, you might not need them the whole year This you might need at your degree awarding ceremony Your choice Used when you are in house or during sleep at night Mostly worn on EID day and during Jumma prayer Bring them they will be handy A warm Jacket to Protect you from snow (-0C). A jacket made of parachute/polyester with fur or feathers inside is recommended rather that Leather Jacket. In winter leather jacket wont work here. A light weight jacket for casual wear Wollen, depends on how frequently you wear Fine quality water proof joggers with THICK soul To wear it at home
19 Socks Normal 5 0 Vest/undershirt/Bunyan 3-4 1 Towels Muffler 3 Leather Gloves 4 Cap 5 Hair Brush/Comb 6 Sunglasses 7 Optical glasses 3-4 8 Leather Belts 3-4 9 Hankerchief 30 Umbrella 1 31 RainCoat 1 31 Hagers for clothes 6-7 31 For Sewing 1 Good Quality Preferably with fur inside Good for Summers This should Suffice They come handly in summers Glasses are very expensive in Sweden! So bring 3-4 extra optical glasses Good Quality. It rains a lot here Soi Dhaga (with black and white Nalki) and some spare small buttons for shirts and pants KITCHEN ITEMS & MASALAS: As most of us are not accustomed to cooking at home thus readymade masalas play a very handy role here in Sweden. Masalas are expensive here, roughly 3-4 times the prices of that available in Pakistan. Bring as many readymade Masalas of Shan Foods/National Foods as you can depending on what taste of food you like.just remember to buy the Double Pack of Masalas, check the expiry date before buying and keep the packing intact. You don t need to bring more than one small packet of salt, red pepper or black pepper since they are easily available at a very affordable price. Among kitchen items bring Spoon and fork (1) each Glass (1) Plates () Here is an advice for people who are travelling in a group, bring a non-stick pan, a pressure cooker. Someone who is travelling alone will find it hard to bring these thing along with other items, but if you can manage it will help you. SLEEPING ACCESSORIES: Things to bring: Pillow (1) Warm Blanket/Quilt (1) Bed Sheet (1 or ) Note: You can also get these items from IKEA store, which is the largest manufacturer of furniture and house hold items in Sweden at a very affordable price.
MEDICINES: Cold/fever Tablets Headache tablets Stomach Acidity tablets Pain killers Bandages/Cotton Cray bandages for elbow, knee and ankle Other Medicines that you consume Desi Medicines if you use! Note: Don t carry them in your hand carry, you won t be allowed them in plane and Always carry your drugs/medicines with a doctor s prescription. You might be asked at the airport to leave your drugs if you don t have a proper prescription. So better be safe than sorry! SHAVING KIT AND ACCESSORIES: Razor (4 Packs x 8 Blades) Blades are expensive in Sweden. Shaving Cream/foam (1-) Cold Cream(1) After Shave(1) Shampoo (1) Soap() Haircutting Electric Machine Tooth paste /Tooth Brush Body Sprays(-3) Perfume Chap Stick/Vaseline (1-) Scissors (1) Hair Oil Nail Cutter DOCUMENTS: All Academic documents/ Degrees Original + two photocopies All other Professional Document that you may require NIC Original Admission Letter (keep this with you when you travel) Passport International Driving License Insurance Documents, If you have any Your Picture in different sizes Note: Carry one copy of your documents in your hand carry, Immigration officer may inquire for that. If you feel leave one copy also at your home, just in case you may require them at home when you are here in Sweden
MONEY MATTERS: If you can manage to get Swedish krones (SEK) bring 5000SEK in cash and rest in EURO or Dollar whichever you feel comfortable with. There is no hassle in exchanging money; you can find FOREX on every airport and in Sweden. BOOKS: Books are expensive here (No Piracy Allowed!!), so if you can find your text books buy them and bring, believe me it will help you a lot. You will easily be able to find the softcopy from any senior in your program but it depends from person to person if you are comfortable reading the PDF version or printed version. Printing is not so cheap here. E.g. For communication engineering click on the link below to find the list of text books: https://student.gate.chalmers.se/en/studies/masterprogrammes/communicationengineering/pages/boo klist.aspx ELECTRONIC ITEMS AND ACCESSORIES: Your Laptop & a Bag (laptop charger with pins or else bring a convertor) Portable USB hard drive for backup Important data burned on CD (Software s + your data) Windows CD, you can get a registered version from your Library Rewritable DVDs (7-8) Mouse Mobile Phone + Charger Camera SOME ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: During travelling make sure you book your luggage for the right destination. Keep your documents and money very safely. 8 to 10 KG weight is allowed in Hand carry NOT including the Laptop bag. Put your documents in your Laptop bag. Put QURAN Pak, money and other items that you desire in your hand carry. Bring some biscuits, peanuts, some dry fruits or sandwiches to eat during the journey. Some flights do not give you halal food or it may be the case that you don t like the way food is cooked. Put all your liquid and Metal items in your luggage, don t carry them on-board. You won t be allowed Hair cut is expensive, so come in short hairs so that you can make -3 months without haircut Sweden has two port plugs everywhere so if you re Laptop has 3 pin cable then being a convertor or an extension. Keep your Cell phones charged and your charger in hand carry. Bring as much Shan/National Masalas as you can carry, they will help you a lot. Wish you a safe journey, and one more thing DON T FORGET TO ENJOY!! Very few people have this opportunity what you have, make most out of it!!
ACKNOWLEDGMENT: This document is compiled by modifying the earlier version that was published in year 009 by our seniors. The material is totally based on experiences of different students overtime and which were initially compiled by Syed Ahmad Zoha, Najam Nazar and Qamar Tauheed. I also want to acknowledge PSA Linkoping document things to bring in the compilation of this document. Ali Raza Chalmers Student Accommodation Committee -010