Fika is a Swedish custom where people commune over coffee and cake. It?s taken over the world and reading this piece from Sweden-based Therese, Filipinos could take to fika here in Manila too. – Lori
A Swedish woman named Lotta once told me, ?I?ve been to the Philippines twice and the people are the friendliest, sweetest, most humble bunch I?ve ever met. Whereas people here can be so?? she gestured vaguely, ?cold.?
Let the record show that it came from a real Swede, and not from me; although sometimes I have to agree. My own personal experience with them has run the gamut of everything from ?ice giants/Queen Elsa? to ?way harsh, Tai? to ?reserved/shy.? But at the end of the day, my most accurate description is this: Swedes are a lot like deer. Their long, lithe beauty translates brilliantly to film and print, with stunning features that supposedly inspired Hitler?s Ubermensch vision. They?re a Childcraft book come to life. You just want to get close enough to touch their corn-fed beauty and see if it?s real; but you shouldn?t. Not the way you might approach another nationality, like say, an Australian. You can?t get too familiar too fast. No sudden movements. Do not try unleashing the full wattage of a Filipino personality on them because I can promise you they?ll bolt, or at the very least, stiffen up at the prospect of contact with a stranger.
Because by their own admission, Swedes are intensely private and prefer keeping to themselves. If Filipinos have no concept ...