Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Culture: Swedish educator enjoys Kiwi life

By Ruth Keber
Bay of Plenty Times·
9 Aug, 2014 05:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

NEW HOME: Gisela de Hollanda, a primary school teacher from Sweden, has started to use dramatised storytelling in the classroom to integrate activities such as reading, writing, art and maths. PHOTO/RUTH KEBER

NEW HOME: Gisela de Hollanda, a primary school teacher from Sweden, has started to use dramatised storytelling in the classroom to integrate activities such as reading, writing, art and maths. PHOTO/RUTH KEBER

Gisela de Hollanda grew up in a remote Swedish village with no more than 20 houses, but now calls Mount Maunaganui home.

Ms de Hollanda moved to New Zealand in 2007, initially starting her Kiwi life in Nelson but the Swedish expat moved to the Bay of Plenty in 2010.

She spent most of her life in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg, but she grew up in an area much further north called Bergslagen.

The area is known for its natural beauty and Ms de Hollanda spent her childhood around lush forests, stunning lakes, rivers and wildlife.

"Moose and elk, little berries in the forest and the mushrooms you can pick. Lots of pines, birches and oaks."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ms de Hollanda said she grew up in a little village with no more than 20 houses and went to a school with only 13 students.

It was very picturesque with red wooden houses and white trimmings and cobbled stone paths, she said.

At the age of 20 she moved to Gothenburg to study but returned to her home for summer journalism placements at a local paper.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In Sweden the darkest day, December 13 also known as St Lucia's Day, is celebrated throughout the country.

"It's when it is the darkest time so you celebrate the light. It's from an Italian saint, so she comes with light in her hair wearing a white tunic and red sash."

It had become a tradition to bring some light in somehow at the darkest time, she said.

Ms de Hollanda said they also had another "peculiar tradition" during Easter.

"We don't have the Easter bunnies. I suppose they have now with all the commercialism, but I used to dress up as an Easter witch.

"Kids dress up as witches and go house to house with drawings and give Easter drawings to people and get candy in return. It's a little bit like Halloween but you don't say trick or trick and you give something as well."

During mid-June, where the light never really faded, people would gather for midsummer activities.

Celebrated on the Friday between June 19 and 25, people began the day picking flowers and making wreaths to place on a maypole, she said.

The maypole was then raised when people sang and danced around it.

Ms de Hollanda said compared with her northern European home, people in New Zealand more were easy going and friendly.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It's more important what you wear, what you say and do.

"In a way there is more tolerance here, in a way," she said.

Ms de Hollanda now lives in Mount Maunganui with her family and loved the "very friendly atmosphere" the Bay has to offer.

Having studied social sciences, international relations, journalism and teaching she now enjoyed doing private tutoring, dramatised story telling in schools and kindergartens called Mother Troll and teaching a small group of Swedish children their language and their culture.

There were now about 30 families living in the Bay with one or more parents from Sweden.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Sport

Sam Ruthe breaks NZ records in LA

Bay of Plenty Times

Tauranga's Sam Ruthe breaks two NZ records in LA

13 Jul 04:58 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Donations save school from brink of closure

13 Jul 12:01 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Sam Ruthe breaks NZ records in LA

Sam Ruthe breaks NZ records in LA

The 16-year-old Tauranga runner lowered his own national U17 and U18 1500m records at the Sound Running Sunset Tour in Los Angeles. Video / Athletics NZ

Tauranga's Sam Ruthe breaks two NZ records in LA

Tauranga's Sam Ruthe breaks two NZ records in LA

13 Jul 04:58 AM
Donations save school from brink of closure

Donations save school from brink of closure

13 Jul 12:01 AM
'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

12 Jul 11:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP