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The most wonderful and magical time of the year is just around the corner!
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Ooooh, Christmas! Who doesn't love the atmosphere of this time of year?
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Are you curious how Christmas looks like in Poland?
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How do we celebrate?
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Today I'll tell your about our most important traditions
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W\without which we can't imagine a Polish Christmas.
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Katowice Christmas Market
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Cześć! I'm Weronika from Wellcome Home and today I'm welcoming you from our glittering and sparkling market square of Katowice.
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Just look around!
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The city seems to be ready for Christmas.
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But today it's very cold outside so let's go inside.
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INTRO
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Why is Christmas so important for Poles?
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Christmas in Polish is BOŻE NARODZENIE
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It literally means the birth of God.
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Let's pronounce it again: Boże Narodzenie.
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Although for Christians Easter is the most important
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for most of us Christmas is the most precious.
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We usually spend Christmas with our loved ones
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eating together (well, mostly this...)
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and visiting each other.
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The time is really special and so are our traditions and customs.
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During this time nobody should really be alone.
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How long does Christmas in Poland last?
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It may be surprising but Christmas in Poland lasts 3 DAYS!
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Everything starts on the 24th of December
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and ends on the 26th.
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The 24th of December is Wigilia - Christmas Eve.
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On that evening we all seat together,
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have a specially prepared dinner,
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and share presents.
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The dinner is called KOLACJA WIGILIJNA.
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The traditions on that day are very unique
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and I'll talk about them later in this video.
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Important! That day isn't a bank holiday
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but most of us work shorter hours,
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even shopping centres and grocery stores.
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Many of us also take a day off
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so it's better not to leave any important business tasks to that day.
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The 25th of December - BOŻE NARODZENIE
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is the first day of Christmas
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PIERWSZY DZIEŃ ŚWIĄT
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On that day we usually pay a visit to our family and have a dinner.
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This day is a bank holiday.
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The 26th of December is the 2nd day of Christmas
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DRUGI DZIEŃ ŚWIĄT
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That day is also a day off!
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We usually spend it with our closest family
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at home, watching movie, playing games,
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eating the leftovers, and regretting that we ate too much.
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Santa Claus Day
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Before Christmas even starts
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we have another very special day
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especially for kids.
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On the 6th of December we celebrate Santa Claus Day - MIKOŁAJKI.
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A Polish Santa Claus - MIKOŁAJ - comes to kids with little gifts and sweets
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(only of course for good and polite ones).
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The naughty ones can expect a lump of coal.
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Our Mikołaj, St. Nicolas, was a bishop
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known for helping poor people
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and had nothing in common with the American Santa Claus.
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Of course, this tradition is also fading
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and the Santa Claus is rather associated with Santa Claus, not our St. bishop.
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And now let's talk about our most important Christmas traditions.
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Christmas traditions
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Advent
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Advent is the time before Christmas
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and it lasts 4 Sundays before.
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Every Sunday we light a candle (in advent wreath) until all four are lit.
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During that time kids get an advent calendar
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filled with chocolate and they can eat only one sweet a day.
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In the evening there are also special masses, RORATY.
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Kids go to church with lit lanterns and it looks very beautiful.
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Advent has its traditions also outside of Poland.
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For example in Germany or Scandinavia.
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You may have heard about saffron buns from Sweden.
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Gingerbread
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Later in this video I'll tell you about our traditional dishes
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but right now I'll tell you about the gingerbread.
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PIERNIKI
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These traditional cookies should be made (or baked) a few weeks before Christmas
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as they have to age.
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Only then they are the best.
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Many of us still bake them at home.
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It's a great fun for kids who help to cut them out and to decorate them.
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The most beautiful ones are hung on the Christmas tree or given to friends and family.
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To check out our favorite recipe
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check the link below.
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Christmas tree
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CHOINKA is a must in every Polish home.
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Either natural or artificial one
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should only be decorated on the Christmas Eve morning.
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Well, the Christmas tree isn't a Polish tradition.
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It came to us from Germany between XVIII and XIX century.
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Before, we decorated our houses with evergreen branches and mistletoe hung from the ceiling.
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Right now, no home can be ready for Christmas without a Christmas tree.
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Decorations
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Although the Christmas tree is set up quite late in our homes
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the decorations are set up in the beginning of December.
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The first ones can of course be seen in the cities
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but our homes and balconies are also decorated.
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We love to decorate our homes, patios, trees with Christmas lights.
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The decorations stay with us till the 2nd of February
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when the holiday of Presentation of Jesus to the Temple ends the Christmas period in Poland.
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Christmas carols: in Polish called KOLĘDY
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Right now we mostly sing them in church
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between the 24th of December and 2nd of February.
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I'm not gonna sing them now
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but you can google some of the most popular ones.
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Cicha noc
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our Silent night version
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Gloria in excelsis deo or Julajże Jezuniu
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Let's go back to the 24th of December.
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Wigilia is very special day for all of us,
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full of warmth and goodness.
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We believe that on that day nobody should be alone
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so major Polish cities organise free dinner for those in need.
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In our homes we cannot forget about an extra plate for unexpected guest.
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Under the tablecloth we put some hay
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that symbolises the poverty in which the Jesus was born.
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We can only start dinner when the first star appears on the sky.
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First, we read the Bible,
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the story of how Jesus was born.
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Then we exchange greetings and share opłatek.
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Let me tell you more about opłatek, as this is a very special thing for us.
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It's type of a very thin and white wafer
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that we buy especially for Christmas Eve
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We share and break opłatek with every member of the dinner and share wishes.
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After everybody shared wishes, we can finally seat at the table.
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After the dinner we share presents places under the Christmas tree.
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At midnight we attend a special mass to celebrate the birth of Jesus
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and it's called PASTERKA - a midnight mass.
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We also believe that at midnight animals start to talk, really.
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Christmas dishes
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Oooh, Christmas dishes! They're so delicious.
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Of course in every family they may vary, but there are some staples that cannot be missed.
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Traditionally there should be 12 dishes on the table.
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Let's talk about them.
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First dish that we commonly have is soup:
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either mushroom soup - ZUPA GRZYBOWA
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or BARSZCZ Z USZKAMI
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a borscht - clear beetroot soup
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served with small dumplings filled with mushrooms.
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They are called ears - USZKA - as they recall the shape of ears.
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Other soups on the Christmas table are: ŻUREK
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a sour soup made of fermented rye flour
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or fish soup.
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Important! On that day we don't have any meat, only fish.
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In any Polish home you can't miss carp
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(in Polish it's also KARP).
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Either fried or cold in gelatine.
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We also have some other fish like zander, cod, bass or salmon.
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Many Poles also like herrings marinated in vinegar or served in a cream sauce.
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There absolutely must be sauerkraut cooked with peas or mushrooms.
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At any Polish table you can't miss pierogi.
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Filled with cabbage, mushroom or mix of both.
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Remember: pierogi is already a plural form, it's not pierogis.
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In many Polish homes you'll also find GOŁĄBKI
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cabbage rolls stuffed with rice and mushrooms.
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When it comes to beverages, we prepare a drink
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made of dried and smoked fruits:
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apples, pears, plums, oranges, species, and sugar.
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It's called KOMPOT and you either love it or hate it.
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Christmas sweets
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Any Polish gathering cannot be celebrated without a cheesecake - SERNIK
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Each Polish family has its recipe to delight the guests.
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However, for Christmas we also have another cakes and sweets, especially with poppy seeds.
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The most popular ones are KUTIA and MAKÓWKI.
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Kutia is made of poppy seeds, nuts, dried fruits, honey, and wheat.
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Makówki, instead of wheat, includes challah bread.
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We also bake caked in many different shapes willed with poppy seeds.
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And I already mentioned that Christmas without pierniki - our gingerbread cookies - is not Christmas.
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The dough for the traditional pierniki should be made at least 3-4 weeks before Christmas.
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Have the Christmas traditions changed recently?
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Christmas traditions - although slightly different in every house - are very important for us.
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And they pass from one generation to the next.
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However, we live in a globalised world
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influenced by the Western cultures
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and some of them have changed recently.
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How, you may ask?
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Less and less people wait to Christmas Eve to put up Christmas tree and other decorations.
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In some houses and even in the cities
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you can already see decorations in November. It's quite mad!
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Also, less and less people sing traditional Polish kolędy.
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They prefer to listen to American Christmas carols.
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On the radio you can hear kolędy on the 24th, maybe 25th of December.
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The rest of time is filled with the sound of "Last Christmas" theme.
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Presents on the 24th of December were traditionally brought by:
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ANIOŁEK - Little Angel
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DZIECIĄTKO - Little Jesus
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GWIAZDOR - Star Man
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Now they are brought by the Santa Claus - the American one, not our bishop.
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Our culinary traditions are also changing.
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We live in a fast world and don't have time for long preparations.
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So more and more people decide to order food with home delivery.
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Christmas, although very cosy and magical, can be tiring.
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Some people decide to use days off in a different way.
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They are off skiing or to a warmer place for holidays.
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Well, not all of us love to spend their free time with the entire family.
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Let me know which traditions you're familiar with
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and which are new for you.
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Which you find the most surprising and which you like the most?
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I'm really curious to hear that, Guys!
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No matter what we sing, eat, and when we put up a Christmas tree,
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the time of Christmas should be always filled with joy, peace, and gatherings.
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I hope your Christmas will also be like this.
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And remember the most important thing:
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better wear a looser outfit on those days.
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When attending a gathering in Polish home
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you can never ever refuse another piece of cheesecake.
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Wesołych Świąt!
