Posts tagged lund

 … and we also brought it to Lund.

Fat Thursday -  is a traditional Polish and German feast marking the last Thursday before Lent and is associated with the celebration of Carnival. Because Lent is a time of fasting, the next opportunity to feast would not be until Easter.

Therefore we met at a friend’s place and dedicated the whole afternoon to eating sweets. We prepared a bunch of pancakes with all kinds of delicious fillings you can imagine, baked a lemon-chocolate cake and the traditional faworki, which are French dough fingers served with lots of powdered sugar.

Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday, also called “Fettisdagen”, in Sweden and people celebrate it with eating “Fettisdag bullar”, also called “semlor”. This is a round bun with the middle part scooped out and replaced with almond paste and whipped cream. The top of the bun is placed back on sprinkled with icing or powdered sugar.

You can have your own Fat Tuesday – invite friends and bake these traditional Swedish buns. It’s easy…..

Ingredients:

> 1/2 c. (100g) margarine or butter
> 1 1/4 c. (3 dl) milk
> 5 tsp (25g) yeast
> 1/2 tsp salt
> 1/2 c. (1 dl) sugar
> 1 egg
> 1/2 tsp Hjorthorn Salt (Baker’s Ammonia)
> 4 c. (9 dl) all purpose flour

> Almond paste, whipped cream, powdered sugar

The buns:

1. Melt butter in a pan, add milk and heat until luke warm.
2. Crumble yeast in a small bowl. Add a little of the luke warm butter/milk mixture and mix.
3. Add the rest of the butter/milk mixture, along with salt, sugar, egg and most of the flour.
4. Work the dough until it is glossy and smooth and no longer sticks to the bowl.  Let sit under a baking towel (or hand towel) for 30 minutes.
5. Take the dough to a bread board and knead until smooth.
6. Take an amount about the size of your hand and roll into a ball.  Flatten down, fold over, and roll back into a ball multiple times and set aside.  Once you have made balls out of all the dough let it sit under a towel until it doubles in size, about 30 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 225-250C (450F).  Bake the buns for 5-8 minutes, until golden brown.

The filling and topping:

1. Cut the top off of a cool bun and set aside.
2. Scoop out the middle of the bun and discard (or eat).
3. Fill the bun with your almond paste mix.
4. Top with whip cream.
5. Place the top of the bun on top.
6. Sprinkle some powdered or icy sugar on top 

This recipe makes about 12 buns, but can vary according to size.

Then, just sprinkle with smiles and enjoy with friends.

For all of you who love quotes, starting today we will have some nice Swedish sayings and quotes with beautiful Lund scenery as a background. Does anyone special come in mind when you read this quote? Then feel free to share it :)

If you are interested in the Latin American culture and you want to learn more about the issues Colombia is facing, IMPUNITY is the greatest way to find out more. This is an important and critical film that lifts questions concerning justice, human rights and rule of law in Colombia, and it has received a number of awards and vast media attention!

For those of you who are in Lund, today this documentary is played in KINO, the cinema on Kyrkogatan 3. The documentary starts at 7pm and one ticket is 90kr (40 kronor for members of UPF-Utrikespolitiska föreningen Lund).

Don’t miss it!

Hard decision, especially when you need to decide about where to live before you actually arrive here in Lund. But it’s good that you have us. So not difficult. Keep on reading, then you know why.

We collected some information about student housing, housing in general and living at one of the Nations here in Lund. There are many ways to find your “home sweet home” away from home, but you need to become active for that.

Some preparation to find housing

Check Student Housing Lund

http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/international-students/apply-fees-scholarships-housing/housing

Check Lund International Housing Office

http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/o.o.i.s/24817

Check housing agencies

http://www.lunduniversity.lu.se/o.o.i.s/24816

BoPoolen

http://bopoolen.nu/?lang=en

here you can actually post your own ad, saying you need accommodation. It actually helps, believe it or not! Some of our friends got a lot of replies and it was easier to find a place to stay. Especially when you’re not the one sending the 100^th  e-mail and waiting for a reply that might never come. This is a safer way. Who has an offer will contact you. It’s a bit like dating. You show you’re available, but you wait for the offers to come to you.

Facebook Groups

 it helps to enter the different groups in Lund, where students sometimes post available accommodation. Here are some examples:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/190453774095/#!/groups/252806554789951/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/190453774095/#!/groups/ESNLund/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/190453774095/#!/groups/internationalstudentslund/

Blocket

http://www.blocket.se/

Those links will help you to start your search. Reminder: Once you start gathering information, you will probably be at the same time totally confused, because of all the different types of housing. That’s why we created this post for you. By the way, it has a good reason why we chose exactly those suggestions. You’ll know why in a minute. Just continue reading again.

Living in Student Housing

Klostergården is one of the student houses let by the IHO (International Housing Office). Most apartments are studios for one person (they can be furnished for two… but we don’t recommend that unless you really, really, really love the other person). Thus, Klostergården is perfect for students who enjoy having their own space. It’s in a very nice residential area and close to the city, Netto and Stadsparken, but you sure need a good bike to get around to the nations, Delphi, Gerdahallen, LTH etc.

Delphi is one of the most famous dorms for its constant parties and also for the great rooms it offers. This dorm offers the biggest rooms, with shower, and a corridor kitchen.

Living in Private Housing 

You can find private housing opportunities especially on BoPoolen. It’s a public website where you can find offers. You can create as well an account and a profile that you are looking for something. That’s how Andreea and Lena found their home sweet homes. They live together with their landladies. Lena has as well another flatmate – King Fluffy, the cat. Lena lives in Nöbbelöv, which is in the North-West of Lund, 10 minutes away from the city centre. She lives in a big house in a very cosy and friendly area. The landlady is Polish and very nice. When you move in somewhere and will live together with the landlord or landlady it is always tricky in the beginning, until you get to know each other, but as soon as you live here longer, everything is perfect.

Andreea lives in Östra Torn. Her advice for you is to find a flat where the landlords don’t have kids. As the walls are so very thin, you need a quiet family to live with. However, if you need a place asap, take whatever you can get and if you really don’t enjoy it, you can move later. Be careful when signing your contract, not to be trapped. Sometimes landlords trick you into having a 3 months’ notice in case you want to move, for their financial security. Push to have only 1 months’ notice, so you can escape in case you don’t enjoy the place.

Living in the Center (Nation)

In Lund are around 13 different Nations and if you are lucky enough you might get accommodation (room/studio) in one of their corridors. Living in such a corridor is one of the best and liveliest ways of getting into student life because it involves living with local Swedish students, while enjoying the particular atmosphere of the Nation. The renting costs depend on the Nation and on the offered type of accommodation (around SEK 2800 – 4800). Students who are active or show a strong interest in being active at their Nation are strongly prioritized and will easier get a room. Most Nations are close or in the city centre and I would say it is one of the best living options while studying in Lund.

You are wonderful but single, so it doesn’t make sense, right?

Well, you can find your answer in the video below. :))

For those of you who don’t already have a cat or a pet, what does this tell you? To never get one? Let’s not dramatize so much…

To end on a cheerful tone:

“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours”

As we promised, here comes a delicious recipe, to start a sweet weekend: Tiramisu. It’s very easy and quick to make.

You need:

4 egg yolks

1 pinch of salt

80gr sugar or sugar powder

500gr mascarpone

1 package of ladyfingers

Coffee (espresso)

Amaretto (one shot)

High speed stirrer 

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks, the salt and the sugar until the sugar dissolves.
Then add the mascarpone and mix the composition at high speed for 5-10min.

Make the espresso (2-3 cups) adding a shot of Amaretto and 2 spoons of sugar.

Then quickly dip the ladyfingers in this espresso bowl and place them in a pan. Be careful not to soak the ladyfingers, just moist them.

After you made a first layer, you need to add ¾ of the cream you made.

Next, add another layer of ladyfingers dipped in the coffee.

On top of it, add the remaining cream and spread it evenly.

Then also spread the cocoa powder.

Now the hardest part comes: put it in the fridge and WAIT about 2 hours. Some recommend refrigerating it for at least 4 hours, but we think that’s just too long to wait :D

 The secret is to smile while making it and then enjoying it with your friends.

Just don’t expect them to talk for a while. Just enjoy their reactions: mmmm, yuuummmm, awww.

See you in Hallands nation tonight? :D The best place for Friday night!

Oh, and stay tuned cause we have a delicious post for you later.

If you are still undecided about volunteering, we thought of making it a bit more visual. Check out the “Unicef photo of the year 2011”, showing children from all around the globe living in the toughest poverty possible.

Thinking you can make a difference, do you still have to think twice about volunteering? You don’t have to be there, you can help from wherever you are!