I haven’t talked much about life in Sweden on MostNorthern, but that’s going to change! All through December I’m going to be showing you what my life is like as an expat here in the cold north. (Well, it isn’t actually so cold right now UNFORTUNATELY. I thought winter had come to stay the other day, but then the temperatures climbed up and the rain set in.)
I made little videos all day long today, and you can find them on my stories over at the MostNorthern Instagram. (They’re also in Highlights under Life In Sweden.) I didn’t take a lot of photos today, but I will over the next month, and I plan to collect the daily stories at the end of each day and put them into one video to upload here.
Gröt For Breakfast
So for breakfast today, Saga and I took gröt (porridge.) Saga has her baby stuff and I have havregryn (rolled oats) made up with water. Porridge is an excellent breakfast choice for the not-well-off in Sweden. A big bag is less than 20 kroner (about £2) and lasts a couple of weeks.
I’ve read that Swedish oats are a healthier type of oat, and they do have a much more ‘rustic’ taste. Apparently the Nordic climate is perfect for oats which means they’re of exceptional quality.
We Didn’t Leave The House
When I had the idea of doing this daily blogging/Instagraming I had visions of having a snowy wonderland to show you. Tragically, winter hasn’t arrived properly yet, and it’s all gloom in this neck of the woods, but because it’s raining all the time, it sadly isn’t that gorgeously atmospheric gloom that’s perfect for wandering in, as you’ll see in my Instagram stories.
Ska vi ta en Fika?
For those of you who haven’t been introduced to the concept of Fika, pull up a chair. Fika is like a teabreak (in England you tend to have one at about 11am and one at about 3pm) but you can have it whenever and wherever you want. There’s no time constraints on Fika and if you fancy one, you say ‘Ska vi ta en Fika?’ I suppose the English equivalent would be ‘Shall I put the kettle on?’ The Swedes normally have a cup of coffee (I take tea) and a kanelbullar (cinnamon bun) or something to that ilk, and talk about whatever’s on their mind.
With it being almost Jul though, pepperkakor (gingerbread) is eaten in vast quantities, and that’s what I munched through today. In England gingerbread tends to be quite dense, but in Sweden it’s extremely thin and snaps easily. It’s really good though and deliciously spicy.
The Moomin Mugs
If you were following along on my Instagram stories, you would have seen me use two Moomin mugs today (and Sebastian use one too, his is The Groke.) They’re made by Arabia and can be found here.
Northern Fever 