Fika is both a Swedish verb and noun (pronounced “fee-ka”) that roughly means “to drink coffee/tea/squash,” usually accompanied by something sweet.^[1]  Full Definition

I’m not sure what happened but the other day I have a few minutes to kill while waiting for a meeting early in the morning near the little coffee cafe on campus at Clark University.  I quickly had a flashback to my time in Sweden and what became my favorite thing to do while there, have a FIKA!  I would get up early, explore the area around Vaxjo and look for a great spot for a coffee and chocolate croissant.

Some days, I had the luxury of my FIKA lasting a few hours while other days it might have been 10 minutes outside the 7/11 on campus as  Linnaeus University but I somehow enjoyed them equally.

Perhaps it’s the mindset of the “FIKA” and the idea of disconnecting from the daily grind and connecting with whatever and whoever is around you that is so appealing. Whatever it is, I had a great little FIKA with my coffee, croissant and newspaper for those 10 minutes!

I’m gonna’ have to find a way to work a FIKA into life more often.