It’s hard to describe how important watching Kalle Anka (Donald Duck) at 3pm on Christmas Eve is in Sweden.
Jacoby…seriously. It’s a big deal. Go sit down and watch.
That’s better.
Having experienced four Swedish Julaftons now, I can attest. Donald Duck and Christmas are a thing.
The annual broadcast, shown in Sweden since 1959 consists of Jiminy Cricket presenting about a dozen Disney cartoons from the 1930s to the 1960s, only a couple of which have anything to do with Christmas. There are “Silly Symphonies” shorts and clips from films like Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and The Jungle Book. The special is pretty much the same every year, except for the live introduction by a Swedish host and the addition of one new snippet from the latest Disney-produced movie (This year, it was a scene from Wreck-It Ralph Breaks the Internet and a scene from The Incredibles II).
The first year we lived here, we went to Jönköping and watched it at Björn’s mom’s house. We have done that every year…until this year. In a manner of speaking, Jake spent Christmas at Björn’s mom’s house before he even lived here.
This year, we had Julafton and watched Kalle Anka at home in Skövde.
But it was hard to not think of the Juls we had spent at Björn’s mom’s house. That defined Christmas in Sweden to me…and Christmas in general to Björn.
We did miss Björn’s mom’s Christmas tree, decorated with hand-cut paper hearts.
And also the weird straw pig that lived underneath the tree.
Björn’s mom also had this display of her collection of Dala horses. Jake tried to fit in.
“Ugh…these guys are a bunch of stiffs!”
Like his mini-me, Jake posed with the row of Tomten, too.
This Julafton was wonderful…but I miss the holiday in Jönköping.
The Daily Abyssinian...and Singapura 