This autumn’s program for Student Göteborg kicked off on September 17th with a big welcome ceremony at the Museum of World Culture, where around 700 students participated in the evening’s activities.

It is really packed at the Museum of World Culture tonight where all new students in Gothenburg are gathered for the launch of Student Göteborg’s autumn activities. The evening starts with food and drinks, followed by speeches of Chalmers’ rector and the University of Gothenburg’s vice rector. Various art and music performances will complete the evening. Some students came in group, others came to the launch by themselves to meet and mingle with future classmates.

We meet Lucie, Bérénice and Charles who arrived in Sweden a month ago. They came from France to study architecture at Chalmers and look forward to the next nine months in Gothenburg. All three are excited about the activities the program has to offer.

− It is really nice that so much is arranged for the students! says Charles. While Lucie looks forward to the football match between IFK Gothenburg and IK Sirius, Lucie chooses to focus on art and the museum tours arranged in October. Boat trips also seem to be fun, everyone agrees.

We leave the trio and meet Ophelia, who has come here from Shanghai, China, to read a two-year Master in Strategic Human Resources Management at the University of Gothenburg. She admits that she doesn’t know much about Gothenburg yet, but has signed up for many welcome activities to get to know the city in an exciting way.

– I am very happy to be here and feel a very warm welcome from Gothenburg. Student Göteborg and other activities organized by the university help students explore the city as well as meet and mingle with persons that one would not have met in other circumstances, says Ophelia.

Student Göteborg started in 2006 with the aim of making it easier for new students to get to know each other and discover all the city has to offer. The program organizes welcome activities and creates meeting places for national and international students. Student Göteborg is an investment from the Trade and Industry Group at Göteborg & Co in collaboration with the University of Gothenburg, Chalmers and the student unions.