The grammar in Ireland is completely different from American English, UK English and of course almost the very opposite of Swedish grammar and let’s not even mention how utterly different it is from the Persian grammar. When I moved over to Irealand a year ago I translated everything from English to Swedish, from Swedish to English. My tongue used to get weird in my mouth and I would get very tired from all the translating in my head. I could fall asleep anywhere at anytime. Going from being used to read very quickly in Swedish, I suddenly found myself taking ages to read any college books due to it being written in English. Studying Journalism I was also faced with the fact that the news I had been reading in Sweden was so different here. In Ireland the news usually covers a lot from the UK, and USA, as well as countries people vacation in -for example Spain. I found myself knowing the news history in Sweden. Some big international news, i.e The Tsunami, 9/11 had being covered through different political aspects. I suddenly did not have a clue what I was talking about.
I found myself having to learn a new perspective on life, people, relations, love, language etc. I was born with one perspective, grown up in another one, and ended up in a third one.
The Persian and Swedish perspectives of life were already so different from each other. When moving to Ireland I thought that it would be the same as in Sweden. But it is not. It is very separate and in many ways it reminds more about Iran. The biggest thing was learning about a new culture and the thing that struck me the most was the bonds of family.
In Ireland families are big. You have many children and people gather around each other on many occasions. You keep quiet about the things you do not like because you respect that you are family. It is the same way in Iran. Families are big, in fact it is known that what would constitute a family is having a minimum of two children in Iran. You gather around each other and socialise with food, laughter, dancing and singing – the same way as in Ireland. The bonds of family are very important and valued to a high standard. You respect your elders and their visdom.
In Sweden however, it is very common to be a single child. You speak your mind no matter who you are addressing. There are no unwritten rules in how to behave when talking to a family member or not. It is more free, more open one may say. There is not any form of pressure on having a family. People in Sweden do not put the same, let us use the word, value in having a family life. The focus is more on having a career and getting a proper education. In a harsh way it is each man for their own. In Stockholm where I am from you keep to yourself and go on about your business no matter what. You do not have time for anyone else than yourself because you are too caught up in your own ambitions.
Comparing Ireland and Sweden, statistics on www.nationmaster.com, reveal that the average age for giving birth in Sweden is 27.9 years old and in Ireland it is 27.8 years old. They do not differ almost anything from each other, so the fact that families are bigger in Ireland we can conclude has nothing to do with people having children earlier. Unfortunately when trying to find statistics from Iran I am unlucky and the statistics are too old to include in this piece.
What I’m trying to say is that it is all linked. The views of lives decide who we are born as and who we will grow up to be. How many children will I have? I was born in a country that has no current statistics of the average age of giving birth, raised in a country where the average age is nearly 28 but families are small, and living in a country where the average age is almost the same but families are big. I love laughing, singing and dancing but I speak my mind and get myself in trouble a lot. I pick out the best pieces of my three cultures and live by them. I fluctuate between who I want to be everyday and the one I was raised to be by my environment. So, how does one really compare life?
Wow. Ser att du fortfarande har skrivandets gåva :) Intressant blogg du har.
I guess we all just have to live the life we have inside of us. Make our own choices, raise our family and instil our own morals into our family.
I’m in a similar situation where I was born in the London, have Algerian Family Heritage but live in Spain.
That’s a really interesting and well written article – thank you!
I think the life we live has a lot to do with our mental attitude. It may sound a little twee but if you are predominately happy, life is usually pretty good.
it works for me anyway…