Tag archives for fika break

These little things I love about you

I was sitting on the waterfront of Strandvägen and couldn’t believe that it was 20°C and that it was in Stockholm and that spring has finally (finally!) arrived. I had a book with me but I couldn’t concentrate on it and was just discreetly observing people walking in the streets, sitting near the water, laughing, talking, eating sandwiches.

On the other side of the water was the Radisson and further on the left Djurgården and you could see the beautiful building of Nordiska museum. So I was sitting there and when I was closing my eyes all I could see was the red color of my eyelids.  And all I could think of was: “I love Stockholm, I don’t want to leave!”. It’s almost the end of my Erasmus year and all my international friends are leaving in a couple of weeks.

A woman was standing on my right side, several meters away from me and was looking at the water. Suddenly a little boat arrived navigated by a smiling man with a big brown dog on the bow of it barking. The boat moored in front of the woman, she jumped on it and they went away.

People on the waterfront didn’t even glance at them and I thought that I have had never seen anything so special turned to be such a casual thing and that Stockholm is special because of these small things. So here what I’m going to miss about you, Stockholm.

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Some Crazy Coffee Habits

In North America we think we take our coffee seriously. Whether you brew your own at home or pick up something at the local Starbucks, it is a morning staple for most people. Cafes on every corner are common, offering coffee to go to suit a more fast-placed lifestyle.

But, the truth is, us North Americans know nothing about coffee drinking. In Sweden, it is more of a cultural practice, a time-honoured tradition, and a social entitlement that brings people together.

The coffee habits I have observed since I have been here still amaze me to this day. A typical day of coffee drinking can include, coffee at home before leaving for work, coffee when arriving to work, fika break mid-morning, coffee after lunch, fika break in the afternoon and even possibly a coffee after dinner.

Coffee is an institution in Sweden. Photo By: Pixelthing (CC BY-SA 2.0)

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