Maya Jakobsson, junior

By Michelle Klanke

Swedish exchange student Maya Jakobsson celebrates Christmas with her family. On Dec. 24, the Jakobsson family begin their Christmas celebration by waking up at 7 a.m. 

They go swimming because there are not many other people in their family, so they get the pool to themselves. After that they make dinner and Jacobsson’s extended family come with her 25 cousins. 

At 3 p.m. they watch the Donald Duck Episode “From All of Us of You,” which is a tradition in Sweden. After that they eat dinner and the sweets they baked the day before. 

When it is only the Jakobsson family, they read the Bible before opening their presents. 

During December, most Swedish kids have Advent calendars with chocolate or self-made from their parents. In addition, the Swedish television makes every year a new Advents calendar series, where every day they release a new episode. 

Jakobsson’s best Christmas memory is when she celebrated Christmas with her mom’s side of the family in Bolivia, because she has a huge family and it didn’t snow since it is on the other hemisphere. 

“We don’t celebrate like Halloween or things like that as much as they do in the US,” Jakobsson said. “So we typically start like months before listening to music and like, starting decorating our houses and things like that.”