The International Coffee Breaks are digital & free of charge events, hosted by the SASUF Student Network every 4 weeks. We aim to encourage cultural exchange and relationship building between students from South Africa and Sweden, by creating this opportunity to meet, learn, discuss and network.

The events are open to everyone - but especially aimed at students from any of the 40 South Africa Sweden University Forum (SASUF) Partner Universities.

Each session will focus on a specific theme and the open discussions are moderated by a student representative.

All of us come from different countries and different backgrounds. This is something positive. It is an opportunity to gain new insight and a broader perspective on life and society. But there is a risk to it. What happens if we don’t know the procedures and cultural norms of each other? We may misunderstand each other. It is therefore important that we take this into consideration. Cultural clashes may happen, and that is fine. What we do with them is what matters. Do we try to understand each other or do we part ways? We have to decide.

We in the SASUF student network encourage all of you to take the time to gain new insights and broaden your perspectives. It may not be the easiest thing you have done, but we believe it will be a beneficial experience. South Africa and Sweden undoubtedly have different social and cultural norms. We behave differently and value different things. Still, SASUF is a testimony that we can believe in the same things. Therefore, once again, we in the SASUF student network would like to encourage all of you participating to be open to this new experience.