Fika!

I’ve always been motivated by food, particularly treats. For my sixth grade science experiment, I tested out different types of baking sheets to see how they’d affect my chocolate chip cookies. (All my cookies looked super sad, regardless of the sheets.) I can’t say I’m talented at baking, but I am quite the dreamer. When I was in the ninth grade, I wanted to have a baked goods stand. I had a slogan and everything. After my mom and I ate fresh malasadas filled with haupia cream in Hawaii, I tried several recipes, but mine were never so delicious. I’ve dreamt up plans for my own bakery/coffee shop. (I’m motivated by coffee as well. My old ski coach used to tell me that I should work out in the morning and then treat myself to my favorite coffee afterwards. Then, maybe, I’d be able to get myself to the gym.) I’ve researched baking classes near Colby–none of which I’ve ever made an effort to go to–but I have never shaken the urge to go to pastry school.

So, where better for me to be than Sweden, where fika, a short time to socialize, relax, and enjoy coffee and a snack (typically some sort of baked good), is an ingrained part of daily life? My host sister tells me I fika more than the average Swede, so it might not be so daily, but alas, I am only here for four months. You can’t blame me. I intend to enjoy many fikas and to hear many stories, because, besides eating, I do love good stories.

It’s time I catch you up on some of my favorite fikas.

  1. Hotel Quarantine & a Friend’s Kindness: When we first arrived in Stockholm, we had to be isolated and tested for Covid-19. Our meals were served to our rooms and DIS (my study abroad program), gave us a box full of traditional Swedish baked goods. The problem was, I had no tea or coffee. I talked to a woman on the phone that lives in Stockholm, (I was in her sister’s wedding when I was very young because my mom was a bridesmaid), and mentioned this, and the next day she called a tea and coffee service to my room. I would call this my first real fika in Sweden, even though I was alone.
  2. Ice Ice Baby: My World of the Vikings course went ice-bathing (so super thankful for the sauna), and afterwards we enjoyed cinnamon buns and hot chocolate.
  3. Cold Feet: I went skiing in Åre with my host family, and we, of course, needed to warm up after a few runs. We went into the lodge for semlas and coffee.
  4. The Smelly Neighbors: After a walk with my host parents around our neighborhood, we stopped at a local bakery for a fika: coffee and semlas and cinnamon buns.
  5. Writing on the Wall: I ate the best white chocolate cheesecake at Kaffekoppen with my host mom and her long-time friend in Gamla Stan. We were downstairs in the café, where the walls were cement and names were scrawled all over. It was so cool. (I also had a hot chocolate. So. Much. Chocolate.)

I appreciate fika for reasons other than my greedy tastebuds. Swedes are stereotyped as being reserved and withdrawn, but fika feels like an open door to getting to know others. As someone who has always been reserved, it feels like the perfect setting for learning more about my classmates, family members, and professors.

Here are some of my favorite fikas and the people I like to have a fika with!

If you are at Colby, go enjoy a fika at Mary Low. Buy a gift card and invite a friend! 🙂