Indian Students at Swedish universities

Sweden is a country known for its quality higher education. This year, 3 Swedish universities are among the top 100 universities in the world. Inspite of this, when it comes to studying at Swedish universities, there are not many takers from India.

Data from Statistiska Central Byrån (SCB) shows that the number of Indian students enrolled in Swedish universities in the year 2012 has dropped by one-fourth compared to year 2010.  As it stands, only 259 Indian students(male and female) has opted to study in Sweden  compared to 1100 in 2010. The main reason for lackluster demand is that Swedish universities started charging tuition fees for Non-EU students from 2011. Education at universities were free of charge prior to 2011.

Sugar beet

I have always thought that sugarcanes are the only ones to produce sugar - Until I came to Sweden. Sugar beets (SockerBeta in Swedish)  are also used to produce sugar. SUgar beet plantations can be found in many parts of skåne during summer.

Apple farm near Lund

One of my favorite pastimes during late summer-early autumn is to check for possibilties to do what is called in swedish as "självplockning" or self-plucking. you visit a farm, pluck fruits or vegetables yourself and ofcourse pay for them as you come out. And, last week it was the turn to visit glorias trädgård(http://www.gloriasappelgard.se/)  and self-pluck some apples. September to early November is the right time to visit apple farms. The trees are full of ready-to-pluck juicy apples.

Rubinola, Discovery and Aroma were some of the varieties on offer.We were told that the apples are juicier and sweeter this year compared to the previous years.Needless to say, we bought as much varieties of apple s possible along with some apple cider, apple glogg and apple juice that will last for the for the next few weeks.

 Glorias apple farm is located near stångby just outside Lund and it makes a perfect day trip if you live in skåne and enjoy the countryside atmosphere and the beautiful nature that surrounds it.

Only in Sweden

I have heard before that Swedish people are quite conscious about waste management. I got a chance to see it myself at the recycling centre (ÅtervinningsCentral in Swedish) in Malmö. You see the big line up of cars and people waiting patently inside for their turn to throw waste.You sort the wastes and throw them in the bin. There are separate bins for each type of waste like metal, paper, wood, electronic wastes etc. Impressive!!

We made a visit to Ängavallen farm, a ecological farm outside Vellinge,Skåne. Ängavallen, is a small village outside Vellinge between Malmö and Trelleborg.The farm has a butik where products produced(predominately meat products) in the farm are sold. It even has a good, cozy restaurant offering lunch. 

The owner of the farm was a very nice gentleman and he offered to show us around the farm talking about his farm and the farm animals. The farm animals are fed only organic food, are allowed to wander in the pastures nearby and have a stress free happy life unlike the animals bred for big meat producing corporations.

It was an afternoon well spent but i kept asking myself one question as i came out of the farm. If someone is so concerned about animal and their well-being, why not turn vegetarian? And, i know the answer is difficult...

Rapeseed fields everywhere in Skåne!!

Rapeseed fields are common sights in Skåne now.  

Rapeseed fields are in full bloom during the month of may.

The  young pods of rapeseed plant. These contain black seeds when fully matured.

Öresundståg: Connecting two different worlds

Oresund bridge was build in the year 2000 and connects sweden with its neighbour Denmark.  oresundståg , the railway system that connects sweden and denmark runs between  Helsingor in Denmark to Helsingborg  and beyond in Sweden through oresund bridge.

When the idea of Öresundståg was conceived, the officials were faced with several challenges. The most important were the electrical system and signalling system. Sweden and denmark have different electrical system for railway line. Sweden uses 15Kilo Volt 16 2/3 Hz line while denmark uses Kilo Volt  50 Hz line. Unlike Norway, which has the same ATC(Automatic traffic Control) mechanism as in Sweden, denmark uses a different system making it all the more  difficult  to establish common ground.

Inspite of all these challenges, oresundståg was made a reality  making it one of Europe's  most complex railway connection. Over the oresund, the trains change to Swedish signalling system in the danish artificial island of pepperholm  and to the swedish power system in Lernacken on the Swedish side before entering Malmo.

This year  Oresund bridge and öresundståg completed 10 years of service. Many events were held as part of the celebration, the most notable being broloppet , a marathon over the oresund bridge in which  30000 people participated.