Saturday 26 December 2015

Christmas in Poland

So, I didn't really notice that I haven't written anything for a long time. As it is december, I have to say that I feel pretty obliged to write about christmas traditions in Poland. I will write down a list of some things that are essential in polish christmas ;)

1. I think I should start with typical Polish obsession about cleanliness: the most important part for Poles is to have their house or apartment sparkling clean. It is believed that if the house is clean inside and outside on christmas, it will remain clean throughout the whole next year. I don't know if it's true, but my mother definitely believes in this supestition ;)

2. The second most important thing on christmas: snow. When it's not snowing it is not real christmas! In my opinion, the weather is very important for the majority of Polish people and every year they spend a whole month waiting for the snow. Maybe it is like this because we all want to feel again like children and our christmas memories are always strongly connected to playing in the snow with other kids. It is well known, that we're all dreaming of a white christmas ;)

3. Twelve dishes. In Poland on Christmas Eve we always eat 12 dishes, most of them made of fish. Everyone does the same traditional dishes every year and everyone is waiting to eat them. What migt seem weird for some people is that Poles don't eat meat on Christmas Eve.

4. OpÅ‚atek:  a the traditional wafer that we break and exchanges good wishes for health, wealth and happiness in the New Year. This is supposed to be a deeply moving moment, but many people consider it as fake and weird tradition.

5. We leave an additional plate on the table, which is supposed to reuite us with those who cannot be with us. Although, it is also a plate for people who may come to our house on Chistmas Eve.

That's all for now. If I come up with something else I'll write about it in the next post. Merry Christmas everyone!




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