Om det är någon annan av de representerade nationerna på skolan, som i våra ögon borde kunna hålla samma snö och därför jul nivå som Sverige, så borde det var Kanada. Det känns därför oundvikligt att för denna följetong att inte fråga ut våra två egna kanadensare Kara Barker-Åström och Christina McKay.
Christina
När insåg du att jultomten inte finns? What?! What do you mean???
Ditt märkligaste julminne? When I was 24, I spent Christmas night watching a Balinese dance performance of the Ramayana with a gamelan orchestra in Ubud, Bali. First Xmas away from home.
Bästa barndoms-julminne? The dollhouse my dad stayed up all night constructing for me.
Vit eller varm jul? White. Massive Christmas Day Blizzard White.
Favorit julkalender? We don’t have this in Canada. However, we do have Xmas classics like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (my personal fave) and there is a wonderful Canadian film called “The Olden Days Coat”. My kids love the vintage stop-motion-animation from the Czech Republic I used to watch, like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
Plast eller riktig gran? Real. A deeply scented balsam fir from Cape Breton, please. Why don’t Swedish trees smell that much? I cannot figure this out.
Lussebulle eller pepparkaka? My mum’s rum and raisin shortbread, actually.
Knäck eller kola? Neither. My list: ribbon candy, barley candy Santa-on-a-stick, Nova Scotian “chicken bones” (cinnamon hard candy shell, chocolate inside), big boxes of Moir’s chocolates in trays (but watch out for the orange cream. Yuck.)
Kara
När insåg du att jultomten inte finns?
I was not very gullible at age four and begged my parents to just tell me the truth. I remember my mom confessing that Santa didn’t exist but not to tell my little brother or I’d spoil it for him. Okay, well what would YOU do? Of course I went directly to Mark and said ”Mom and Dad just told me Santa isn’t real. HA!”. I was a tad on the evil side, even at Christmas.
Ditt märkligaste julminne?
When our family Basset Hound ate the contents of our Christmas stockings and then barfed it all up on the carpet. No candy in the stockings and a big puddle of surprise on the floor. Merry Christmas!
Bästa barndoms-julminne?
The Christmas parties that my dad’s work used to put on! There was nothing but all-you-can-eat candy and treats EVERYWHERE and presents and a million kids milling around acting wild.
Vit eller varm jul?
White.
Favorit julkalender?
Okay, haven’t watched a single one. Sorry.
Plast eller riktig gran?
Real.
Lussebulle eller pepparkaka?
Lussebulle but it took me a long time to like them. The first lussebulle I had was given to me when I was an exchange student in Umeå. It was August and they’d been in the freezer since Christmas, I suppose. I thought they were disgusting. But my mother-in-law is an excellent baker and managed to change my mind!
Knäck eller kola?
Neither can compare to Grandma Barker’s overnight cookies, I’m afraid.
Anna-Cecilia Lundström
anna.lund-2013@live.vrg.se
Fotorättigheter tillhör redaktionen på VRGDT.
