Fika is a new phenomenon in my life here in Sweden. Swedes, I'm told, are generally very busy, but take time out of a day several times a week to have a Fika (coffee break) with friends, coworkers, or family. It's essentially them saying, "yes, I'll spend these next few hours getting to know you or catching up on life with you." I love it! Fika can be used as a noun or a verb. When I meet Swedish students on campus, I generally try and have a second meeting with them to continue getting to know them, so I'll ask them to fika with me. I'm also well aware that frequent fikas could pose a threat to my figure. Every time you walk into a cafe here in Uppsala, you're greeted by a glass case piled high with cakes, pasteries, cookies and pies. Perhaps I'll start the tradition of the "skinny fika" because I'm trying my hardest to resist the urge to order "chlod caka" (chocolate cake) and just stick to my coffee!
However, when it comes to serving sizes, I think the Swedes are on to something. Most serving sizes are relatively smaller than those in the U.S. (like most of the world, really). You can generally order a decently sized salad or sandwich for lunch and it fills me up. Some of the guys on our trip, however, have had to order multiple dinners to satisfy their appetites. While meals may be small, desserts are not! Every time I walk into my favorite cafe, cafe Linne, I'm tempted to order one of the giant chocolate dipped meranges at the front counter! Yep, these Swedes have their priorities in order!
This week in Sweden has been so different than my first week. The second day we arrived in Uppsala, I got some virus that seemed like the swine flu. In fact, as I was tossing and turning in my hostel bed battling a fever, I was half-convinced I really did have the swine flu. I began thinking how I'd have to call our Campus Crusade overseas staff and have them evacuate me to a nearby hospital (which sounds a lot more glamorous in third world countries than European countries). I got panicked and began to get real sad that if i had to leave the project, then I'd have to forgo my vacation to Italy afterwards with my sister and roommate. After that, I decided I would make myself get better. Since everything overseas always takes longer, so did my recovery. Our project settled into these really cute apartment hotel rooms that are bright yellow and have these amazing windows that open up and flip out. My roommate is Eden, a staff girl from UT, who is orginially from Ethiopia (that fact will come in handy for future posts). Our little room has a kitchenette, table and chairs, a bathroom/shower all together, 2 twin beds and a tv. I know it really well because for the entire first week, most of my siteseeing of Sweden was through my bedroom window! Whatever virus I had completly wiped out my energy level so I literally laid in bed all day and ate whatever my team brought me from the grocery store. I was really thankful for the tv in our room to entertain me. And these Swedes are pretty caught up on their American tv shows. Most American shows they show here are just a few weeks behind those in America so I got to watch House and my favorite day was when Jon & Kate Plus 8 came on. As the weekend approached, I began to get some of my energy back. Our team spent Saturday in Stockholm on an exhausting tour of the city. This week has been a completely different story. Not only has my health improved, but the weather has, as well. Our first week it was extremely cold, rainy and windy. Monday and Tuesday of this week it was bright, sunny and warm. Here's a quick tidbit about the sun here. In the Land of the Midnight Sun, the sun rises at 3am and sets at 10pm. Thankfully, Eden brought thick curtains from America so our room is like a tomb in the morning. As soon as I step outside, though, the sun is high in the sky like noon back in America, but it's only 9am! Crazy. I'm SO thankful I'm not here in the winter when my Swedish friends tell me the sun rises at 10am and sets at 1pm! How do they do it? So this week's weather was gorgeous for most of the week, which, I'm finding, not only affects the Swedes' mood but mine as well! I got to have lunch at some of the Nations (like student clubs or sororities/frats in America) with my American girls and meet some Swedes. This is a large part of how we do ministry here. Having lunch at a nation can be exciting and interesting because you never know what you're going to eat or who you'll meet! Friday, Mindy and I ate carrot soup and cabbage slaw and met some girls from Finland. Some of these conversations can turn into further ones and friendships form. I've met a few Swedish friends so far, and it's been fun to learn about their life and culture and what they think about spiritual things. All in all, I feel like I'm actually doing what I came here to do: not stay in my bed all day, but hang out with American girls and help them grow in their walks with God and talk to Swedes and find out what they think about God. So yes, this week's been so much better!
