If you are an international student spending December in Poland, you may frequently find yourself admiring outdoor Christmas ornaments and decorations during this time of year. Christmas carols are playing in shops, people are all over the place hunting for gifts almost like bees in a hive, and maybe there is a short moment where you stop to ask yourself: How do Polish people celebrate Christmas? Well, if you are curious, I come with an answer.
Polish Christmas traditions
Polish people take Christmas quite seriously. That is why when December arrives, the majority of us already begins our preparations – we start cleaning our home, planning who will be hosting Christmas this year, looking for gifts, and, even more often these days, organising a Secret Santa. There are a few Christmas traditions that are a must in every Polish household during this time.
1. Christmas tree
Whether you decorate it in your own style, maybe you start at the beginning of the month or three days before Christmas Eve – there is no Christmas without a Christmas tree. We keep it in our houses until the Three Kings’ Day.
2. Twelve-dish Christmas Eve supper
On Christmas Eve (24th of December), we prepare 12 dishes, which symbolise the number of the Apostles. However, in reality, each family prepares different dishes based on their personal preferences. The most common ones that you can find on the Christmas Eve table are: beetroot soup, carp, sour cabbage with mushrooms, dumplings with cabbage and mushrooms, “ear-shaped” little dumplings, poppy-seed cake and, of course, gingerbread.
3. Sharing the Christmas wafer
The tradition that most Polish people find extremely awkward is sharing a Christmas wafer with your family members prior to starting the Christmas Eve supper. Everyone has to share a small piece of the Christmas wafer with each family member and give them their best wishes. When everyone has finished, we can then sit down and enjoy the food.
4. The first star
The first shining star on the dark sky signifies the start of the Christmas supper. What is also quite interesting, we always leave an empty place at the table for an unexpected guest.
5. Christmas gifts and carols
After the supper, we often sing carols together and begin unwrapping gifts from our loved ones. We also end the day with the Midnight Mass. If you are not already asleep after all the food you’ve eaten, that is.
Merry Christmas! Wesołych Świąt!
[Cover photo: pexels.com]