Christmas In Poland

Tomasz Piwowarski Dawid Szpejenkowski Marysia Przedpełska students from Anna Vasa Gimnazjum in Golub-Dobrzyń

In Poland, Christmas is the one of the most important holiday of Christianity , p receded by several weeks of waiting and reflection. P eople start preparing for Christmas at the beginning of December .

Before Christmas we do a lot of house work, for example cleaning windows or hoovering.
Hoovering

When the house is cleaned,
we start to decorate it.
W e hang up colour lights and
lamps outside .
Decorating the outside of my house Christmas decoration

There is a Christmas bunch and over it a mistletoe on the door. There are a lot of decorations inside the house too.
Mistletoe Christmas bunches

Some time before Christmas, we send Christmas cards with greetings to our family.
Christmas cards

At Christmas, in every Polish house there must be a Christmas tree. We usually decorate it a day before Christmas Eve.
Decorating the Christmas tree

The Christmas tree is usually decorated with Christmas lights, colorful baubles , small bells, paper chains, sweets, and tinsel. An angel or star is often placed at the top of the tree .
Christmas star Glass ball Paper chains Small bells

Christmas trees

Christmas tree in the Old Market in Golub Christmas tree in Dobrzyń

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, mum or grandma starts preparing dishes, which will be served on the Christmas table. They must be both meatless for Christmas Eve dinner and meat dishes for Christmas.
Preparing Christmas dishes Children help to prepare dishes too

Before Christmas Eve we prepare many cakes too. They are, like all other dishes, typical Polish food. For example:
Gingerbread Cheese cake Poppy-seed cake

Ingredients:
4 big herring fillets salted ,
2 large onions ,
6 grains of E nglish herb ,
6 grains of pepper ,
bay leaf ,
3 lemons ,
one pickle ,
one glass of sour c rea m ,
one spoon of powdered sugar,
salt and pepper .

Instructions : Soak herrings in cold water for at least 24 hours changing it every 8 hours or more often. Remove the milt, skin, bones and cut each herring into 4 pieces. Arrange onions, bay leaf, grains of herb, slices of lemons and herring in layers in a jar. Add juice squeezed from remaining lemons to the cream, add salt to taste and sugar powder . Pour the s a uce over the fillets and close in a jar. Keep it for 24 hours in a cool place overnight. Next place the herring on a dish, pour with the sauce, and d ecorat e with slices of pickled cucumber .
Enjoy your meal! ;)

In Poland there are three days of Christmas:
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
Second Day of Christmas

Christmas table

Under a tablecloth we put some hay. It’s a symbol of the manger in which Jesus Christ was born. We also leave an an additional seat for any stranger that would come to ask for shelter on that day. There should be twelve dishes . T raditionally, there is no meat eaten on Christmas Eve. There is a Christmas candle too.

The most popular dishes for Christmas Eve dinner are:
Fried carp Beetroot soup with raviolis P ickled herring in cream sauce

D umplings Carp in jelly Pastry Mushroom-rice salad

Noodles with poppy seeds Kutia D r ied- fruit c ompote

Christmas Eve dinner starts when first star appers in the sky.
Waiting for the first star

B efore the meal, though, we exchange Christmas greetings with each other by giving a piece of Christmas wafer .
Christmas wafer Sharing wafer ( opłatek ) is the most ancient and beloved of all Polish Christmas traditions. Op ł atek is a thin wafer made of flour and water .

Then we start eating. After dinner, children take presents from under the Christmas t ree . Sometimes Santa comes in person to hand the gifts, especially in the houses with small children.
Santa is giving presents Presents under the Christmas tree

Children and adults sing Christmas carols, like „Silent Night” .

Later people attend Midnight Mass to celebrate the birth of
Jesus Christ.
Midnight Mass

All houses are beautifully decorated…
To give a more festive mood we decorate streets and houses.

At First and Second Day of Christmas guests, usually family, visit us or we visit them. We spend time in friendly and family atmosphere. We sing carols and eat delicious dishes. Sometimes, especially in the rural areas of the South of Poland groups of young people dressed in traditional costumes walk along villages and sing carols wishing all the best for Christmas.

Before Christmas, students from our school made crechés, which are then sold for charity. Below we can see some of these crechés made by our classmates.

Before Christmas there is an annual carols concert dedicated to all the donors of our school. There are performances of all musical groups in our school such as Capella Antiqua and the school choir Cantus as well as soloists.
The Cantus Choir

Capella Antiqua Sol o ists

Just before Christmas, every class has its own Christmas dinner. We exchang e Christmas greetings by sharing a piece of Christmas wafer , just like during traditional Christmas Eve.
Christmas dinner in our class

In the evening we organise a Christmas dinner for the whole school community including students, teachers and the rest of the staff.
Christmas dinner in our school

So that’s what Christmas in Poland looks like .
These holidays are celebrated in special atmosphere,
first of all – family and warm.
These are only days, when nobody is indifferent to anyone , all the people are friendly to each other.

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Christmas In Poland

by guestf56cb80 on Feb 12, 2010

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