Maclayhem

A move to Sweden in 2012 Tatty and her family recently moved from Scotland to Sweden. Half-Swedish and half-English, Tatty grew up in the UK and works as a journalist. This is a journal of her first year in Sweden with her Scottish husband and four young children.

Maclayhem: Thoughts from the Motherland

by Tatty Maclay

Last year was our first Christmas in Sweden as a family and we were suddenly faced with the dilemma of how we were going to celebrate in this ‘foreign’ land. Actually, it wasn’t much of a dilemma, and was easily solved thus: Swedish Christmas at my mother’s house on Christmas Eve, British Christmas at ours on Christmas Day. Julbord one day, roast goose and all the trimmings the next – what’s not to like? We even had snow, which was extremely fortunate since the promise of a white Christmas was one of the pretexts under which I had managed to lure my children to Sweden... But it did make me think about the importance of traditions and celebrations, and how they can take on an even greater significance when you move to another country. Though my mother’s Swedish, she’s lived in England for so long that her Christmases have been almost totally anglicized, so for me, Christmas means carols sung in church, mistletoe, mince pies, Christmas pudding and the Queen’s speech – with some Swedish tomtar, adventljus and gravadlax thrown in for good measure. When I asked some fellow Brits living in Sweden with Swedish partners how they celebrate, they all seemed to follow the same pattern – and it helps that the main day for Swedes is on the 24th, while the 25th is the big one for us. (One replied that he just eats curry on the 23rd, which seems a bit Grinch-y, but I guess not everyone’s crazy for Christmas). I wonder what Christmas will mean to my children, growing up as they are with a foot in two (or more) countries. Will they ever learn the words to The Holly and the Ivy, or only Staffan var en stalledräng? Will they think watching Donald Duck (Kalle Anka) cartoons is a perfectly normal thing to do on Christmas Eve? Will their Christmases smell like glögg and pepparkakor or mince pies and gravy?

Only time will tell, but moving to a new country seems to me the perfect opportunity to dump the traditions and foods you don’t like from both countries (hej då lutfisk, so long brussels sprouts...), while embracing those you do (love Lucia, gärna Janssons, and bring on the Baileys...) The result is a pick and mix Christmas which suits our mongrel family just fine. Photo © Joe Maclay / www.joemaclay.com