October 9, 2020
Special Fika Moment!
FIKA TIME!!
When you start to live in Sweden, you will listen a lot about the word FIKA! Yeah, maybe some of you have heard about it before. Other than Ikea, Swedish people like to have Fika. Basically, Fika is a break time during the day to enjoy a small dessert with coffee or tea. Of course, you can eat and drink whatever you want. However, Fika culture means more than just eating and drinking, it is time for you to socialize with your friends, classmates, or even your lecture. I remembered the first day after a roll call mandate with my program, our lecture invited us to go outside and had Fika together. It is a nice experience to talk with people, get to know them better, and enjoy the weather in summer.
From that time, I can say that I love it and get used to having Fika during the day. In my program, we spent most of our time outside the class. We sometimes have a field trip, an excursion, or a seminar outside the class and it is very good to have Fika time. One time we had Fika on the campfire at Vidingsjö Motionscentrum after did an activity in cold rainy weather. So, yes it is so important to have time for Fika 🙂
Also, I have a Fika culture with my corridor friends every Sunday evening and it is so great!
I lived in a student house that the university offered me before I arrived in Sweden. I choose to live in the corridor because is cheaper. But I need to share the kitchen and the common room with the other seven people. At first, I am super nervous to live with many people in one corridor. Honestly, it is my first time to live in the corridor. I heard from my friends or read some blogs about their bad experiences live together with “stranger”. So, when I moved here I really try to know all the residents in my corridor Although, I always need to remind myself to respect their privacy and their time. But after several weeks, I got to know them very well and they are so nice!!
In the second week, we decided to make a welcoming dinner together. We were so busy preparing our own signature dish from our countries. I made a simple vegetarian spring roll, which I made all from the scratch. My friends from India made a butter chicken, the other cooked biryani rice. One of them made the Köttbullar (Swedish meatball), he even made the meatball by himself. In the end, we were really proud of our foods, and that day we full of laughed and delicious foods. This dinner is important because we discussed rules in the corridor and our responsibility for the trash week.
Then following the week, we thought it is a great idea to have Fika Culture in our corridor. So, every Sunday there will be a person who hosts the Fika. He/She can serve any desserts or food with tea, coffee, chocolate, or any drinks. Usually, some days before Sunday the next host will write her/his name on the whiteboard and we need to choose the time that we are available. During Fika, we love to share our experiences during the week.
I can say it is a great time to share your feeling if maybe you have a really bad week or you feel not very motivated. We like to discuss when we having difficulty or sometimes just share funny stories. From Fika’s time, I learned a lot about another culture and new languages. Often, we play cards or games and basically just have a great time together. A very simple way to enjoy Sunday lazy afternoon!
Warm greetings from my corridor’s friends!
