There are many lovely Swedish traditions, but let me introduce you to one that really got my attention when I first heard about it – FIKA (pronounced fee-ka). As far as I understood, you can say that fika is a coffee break, but it’s actually much more than just a coffee break. The reason it’s more than just a coffee break is the fact that it’s considered as something really important to Swedes and they take it really seriously. So seriously that there’s actually scheduled time for fika at many (most?) work places since it’s considered to be productive part of the day. Also, the word fika is both a noun and a verb.

Fika can happen at any time of the day and besides coffee there are also accompanying treats like muffins, sweats, breads, cookies, cakes… You can fika not only with your colleagues at work, but also with your family members or friends at home or cafe.

I actually like the fact that you can simply take a pause in the middle of the day to enjoy and socialize a bit with other people without it being considered as laziness or unproductiveness (at least when it comes to work). :)

 So, how do you like fika? :)

Vesna ♥