One of the things I quickly learned about Swedes was how much they love their coffee! Even though I was never a coffee drinker before going to Sweden, I decided to cave in and immerse myself in the full Swedish experience. Swedes use the term fika to describe their custom of taking a break during the day to sit with a friend and drink kaffe (coffee) alongside a Swedish pastry. Culturally, this is really important to people here because it helps establish a proper work/life balance. In the U.S., society has ingrained in us never to take breaks, as that is seen as a waste of time instead of doing the work that needs to be done. However, in Sweden, taking a ten-minute break allows people to stop thinking about work for those few moments. This helps improve quality of life and also allows people to be more productive in the workplace.
In Stockholm, I was able to combine fika with one of my favorite things on this planet: cats! I went to a cat cafe and just spent the lunch hour playing with cats while having some kaffe och kanelbullar (coffee with a type of Swedish cinnamon roll). Even within my first week, I had a wonderful time experiencing Swedish traditions firsthand!
