International Mom Story - Eike Einmann-Simpungwe
I’m Eike from Estonia and I’m currently living in a small town next to Copenhagen. My husband is a Zambian. We met when I was volunteering. We got married in 1 month's time from the time we met and we have been together for over 10 years now. I’m coming myself from a mixed family so cultural differences have always been interesting for me. I knew that the world is bigger than the place I was born in so traveling has always been part of my life.
I wanted to see the world and this is how I ended up volunteering in Zambia. I came to Denmark in 2009 to train to be a volunteer. 2010 I went for 6 months to Zambia. When I returned, the NGO offered me to work in a promotion office so this is how we came to Denmark. We have 2 kids and one is one the way. Both our kids were born in Denmark.
So we are an Estonian-Zambian family living in Denmark.
I’m working as a graphic designer and illustrator and my husband works as a machine operator.
We have lived here for over 10 years but still feel cultural differences from time to time. All cultures are influencing our family. First of all, we speak 4 languages at home. Mostly we speak English at home when we are together. My husband speaks Bemba with kids and I have also picked up some of it. I speak with kids Estonian and my husband can also understand general things. At the home, we don't use Danish but we all speak danish outside of the house. So proparate babylon :D
All 3 countries are very different in the matter of cultures. We have agreed to make our own rules in our home and try not to get stuck so much on traditions. My husband is a very open-minded and flexible person so we found quite a fast rhythm in our family. In our home, my husband is the head of the family and I'm the neck. That's the best way to describe it. As we are Christians we base our values on our religion which makes things easier for us.
Also, we feel cultural differences when raising kids. To be honest Estonian and Zambia way of raising kids is more similar to Estonian and danish. Although we are so close countries. And then it's of course food. We eat quite diverse I would say. We have something from each country, something we love.
Overall we are happy but of course, we miss something from our countries. Like our families, friends also miss some specific food or some traditions.
To find Eike out more about her work, check out her website:
Find her amazing work on Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/eikeeinmann/
To listen to Eike’s podcast on My Kids Think I’m Cool, But Podcast
Hit the button below.
