When I was little, I remember that sometimes we used to decorate the tree on Christmas Eve. Now I definitely like it to be standing in my house long before Christmas. I usually decorate my tree during the first week of December!

Some of us have real Christmas tree (prawdziwa choinka), some have fake Christmas tree (sztuczna choinka).

I love the real one and the smell of it…

Choice of ornaments (ozdoby) is huge. I think that the most popular are glass ornaments (ozdoby ze szkła, bombki). Although I really like straw ornaments (słomiane ozdoby) and ornaments made out of different fabrics (wykonane z różnych materiałów). They can be made out of material (tkanina),  sponge (gąbka), wire (drut). Wood ornaments (ozdoby z drewna) and ceramic ornaments (ceramiczne ozdoby) are very popular as well. Sometimes we hang little stuffed toys (pluszowe zabawki) on the tree as well.

In my house we used to hang few real apples on tree (I grew up on an orchard farm). And of course you need candies (cukierki, słodycze).

For the top of the tree we can use a star (gwiazda) or anything else we can think of. Sometimes people put an angel (anioł) or a glass ornament in the shape of icicle (w kształcie sopla lodu).

Lights on the tree can be clear (przezroczyste) or colorful (kolorowe).

One last thing I forgot…chains (łańcuchy) and ribbons (wstążki)…and gifts under the tree (prezenty pod choinką).

Click here to view the embedded video.

I wish you all wonderful Christmas!

Wesołych Świąt!

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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It is high time to send Christmas cards or emails to all your family and friends. If you are a relative to someone who lives in Poland, or maybe a friend or an employer or your neighbour happens to be Polish, than maybe you would like to try and write your Christmas greetings in Polish?

The most universal ones are as follows:

Zdrowych i radosnych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia oraz szczęśliwego Nowego Roku życzą …


Wish you a healthy and full of joy Christmas and a Happy New Year from…

Wesołych Świąt i szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Here is a more private version:

Niech czas Bożego Narodzenia upłynie w atmosferze radości i miłości, a Nowy Rok spełni wszystkie Wasze marzenia. 
Wszystkiego najlepszego życzą…

Let this Christmas time be full of joy and love and the New Year makes all your wishes come true. All the best from…

Take a look at the video how to pronounce  these wishes:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…) 

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Wirtualny Kraj allows you to browse various locations across Poland and go for a (virtual) walk across many cities – both major and those less known.

You can visit museums, various tourist attractions, churches, universities and even go inside Sejm, the Polish parliament (see below).

There are also some weird choices – like shopping malls – but judging by the number of visitors to those, they seem to be as popular in the virtual world as they are in the real world.

The site is a great way of exploring new destinations and potentially planning your next trip. So, if you find some time over the festive period, why not give it a try? The site has an English version too, although it didn’t always work for me.

Here’s my top 10 destinations on the site:

1. Sejm – the Polish Parliament

2. Kraków

3. Hel 

4. Malbork Castle

5. Silesian Observatory

6. Książ Castle

7. Tatra Mountains (Kasprowy Wierch Mountain)

8. Kalwaria Zebrzydowska (a UNESCO site)

9. AGH, Kraków

10. Sanok folk/etno museum

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The “opłatek” is a thin wafer, made of flour and water. For table use, it is white. In Poland, colored wafers are used to make Christmas tree decorations. Formerly, these were baked by organists or by religious and were distributed from house to house in the parish during Advent. Today, they are produced commercially and sold in religious stores and houses.

On Christmas Eve (wigilia), the whole family gathers and waits impatiently for the appearance of the first star. With its first gleam, they all approach a table covered with hay and a snow-white table cloth. A vacant chair and a place setting is reserved for the unexpected guest.

The father or eldest member of the family reaches for the wafer, breaks it in half and gives one half to the mother. Then each of them breaks a small part of each other’s piece and, after a warm kiss, they wish each other long life, good health, joy and happiness, not only for the holiday season, but for the coming year and for many years to come. In my family we used to have really big Christmas, with about 25 – 35 people. We would brake few wafers in smaller pieces, so everyone can have their own. Then we would go around the table, wishing everyone a wonderful new year. Each person would brake a little piece of wafer from everyone.

The ceremony is over, we all sit down to a tasteful, though meatless supper, after which we sing kolęndy (Christmas carols and pastorals) and open gifts from under the tree, until the time for Midnight Mass, also know as “Pasterka“.

Sometimes, the opłatek is sent, in a greeting card, to loved ones away from home. I get it every year from my family in Poland:)

Do następnego razu… (Till next time…)

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For retail stores the Black Friday is the ultimate tester of the merchandise selection and time for last minute changes. It is the single highest volume sales (najwyższa wielkość sprzedaży) day in the entire year. As the day passes, the stores get more and more messy . Customers start seeing empty delivery cartons all over the place. The shopping is so intense there is no time to keep the display floors shiny and in perfect order they are usually in. There are long lines of cars just trying to get to the parking lots.

This is what I see here, in the States. Do people have Black Friday in Poland? I do not think so. At least I have never experienced it when I used to live in Poland…It’s been few years, so maybe something has changed. I remember shopping trips before Christmas, but never “one day craziness”.

One more thing I have to mention is the returns. It is not as easy to return the item in Poland as it is here in the States….Even if you do have the receipt – it may be a problem. Some companies in Poland are definitely getting better about it though. One of my friends from the USA visited Poland couple years ago and went on a shopping spree. She bought a lot of things, mainly clothes, in different sizes. She thought she will be able to try them on and return sizes or items she did not care for…Well, she was really surprised when she went back to the stores. They gave her a really hard time and she was not able to return most of the items. It is really too bad, but it happens. So maybe this is the reason people in Poland don’t go crazy with shopping before Christmas…maybe not. I’m sure they buy a lot things and spend some crazy money on gifts.

And here is a questions to readers that actually live in Poland: do Poles have Black Friday or not? Let us know what you observe nowadays in big cities and smaller towns, villages.

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For those for whom Christmas is a religious festival Advent is a very important time with special meaning and customs. It is the time for special prayers in churches for the coming of the Savior. Essentially for Christians this is a time for peace, self introspection and prayer. It is a time to quietly prepare body and mind for Christmas.

For most Polish people the most important day of Christmas is… Christmas Eve (Wigilia). The origin of the Polish word ‘Wigilia’ comes from the Italian, “vigiliare”, and means watching out, waiting, be ready. For that special night there are a number of traditions and singular celebrations but the most important and certainly the one that makes this day so different is meeting our closest family in the evening around the table. For many people in this modern, fast world it is one of the few days when families meet, often traveling from different parts of Poland and lately from around the world to be with their families. There are hundreds of customs on that day, impossible to write about them all, but here are the most important to know and follow if you are invited to a Polish Christmas Eve supper.

Polish people traditionally gather at the table when the first star appears in the sky. And believe it or not, I do not remember a single cloudy night without the stars! The table is set with special Christmas Eve food which is made only for this evening. Up until recently there were no meat dishes, but a few years ago this strong tradition was changed by the Pope and now it is not obligatory. But this tradition is so strong in Poland that it is difficult to find families with meat dishes on the Christmas Eve table.

There is always one extra place set. This is for the symbolic, unexpected guest as on that evening no one should stay alone and hungry. Some say this setting is also to remind those who are no longer with us.

The dinner is started by sharing a piece of blessed wafer (opłatek). Everyone goes around and shares with all the guests wishing everybody the best. (This traditional wafer sharing also takes place at work on the last day before Christmas break, between politicians, and at all meetings that take place just before Christmas.)

The table should be set with 12 different dishes to remind us of the 12 Apostles. Tradition has it that you must try each one. The most important are the carp dishes served in hundreds of ways – most often fried or served cold in jelly. A very important dish is czerwony barszcz soup served with homemade dumplings filled with cabbage or mushrooms (pierogi or krokiety). As a drink there is special dried fruit compote that tastes like prune juice. To this day I remember that we (kids) used to hide coca – cola under the table, because we did not want to drink juice…You will always find herring on the Polish Christmas Eve table as well as mushrooms (served cold in vinegar), cabbage dishes, a number of vegetable salads and many other delicacies unique to Poland and local ethnic groups. Dessert is usually made from poppy seeds, often mixed with raisins.

After the dinner we were allowed to open all our gifts!

Another thing I remember is that we used to cover the table with a thick layer of hay and few pieces of blessed wafer, upon which table linen was spread, always white. After the dinner we would pull the hay and the wafer out from under the cloth and bring it to our animals (I grew up on a fruit farm and we also used to have animals). If the animals ate it, we were told that they will talk to us. We waited and waited, and waited…and it never happened. But still, it was a nice tradition.

Poland has many different regions and each has their traditions and customs on that day. No one knows them all. Some unfortunately are being forgotten and can only be remembered by the oldest family members but the most important – the gathering of all the family at the table in an atmosphere of reunion, putting aside the bad things said and done and sharing wishes for the fortune with health and prosperity for everyone has remained unchanged and we hope it will never be forgotten.

At midnight Mass is held to declare to the world that Christ has been born to the world. We call it ‘pasterka‘. It brings together many believers and even though it lasts till 1 a.m. or longer, entire families are present to celebrate this exceptional night together. In my family, if you did not go to pasterka, you had to get up early next day and go to the morning mass. So of course we went at midnight, so we can sleep in next morning.

People believe that the way you spend this day will affect your entire year. So beware of being angry as you might end up being angry all year!

But the most symbolic part of Christmas is, of course, the Christmas tree. Usually it is dressed on Christmas Eve (or a few days before) and kept in the house till the January 6th, to the day when the Three Kings arrive at the manger. Many people who love the special charm of this tree keep it till mid January. Today many Polish Christmas trees are made of plastic but their quality is getting better every year and often these artificial ones look nicer than the real ones. Of course there is no special pine scent as from a real tree but one plastic tree over many, many years seems more ecological for some people. I still prefer the real one…

Christmas is celebrated over two days in Polish church tradition. The first day is one of the most important holy days in the Christian world and has been celebrated since the 4th century. Families go to Masses and after Christmas dinner walk from one church to another to see displays that represent the Holy Family and the new born Christ. It is a day spent with families and the closest relatives. They meet, have dinner, and sing popular Polish Carols.

The second day of Christmas is also a holiday in Poland to remind us of Saint Stephen who is considered the first martyr in the Christian world. He was stoned to death for his belief. Many of the traditions celebrated on that day are now forgotten and today it is a most popular time for weddings as Advent was not really suited for a wedding party so many couples wait for a second Christmas day to make this very special ceremony unforgettable. This day is also often set aside to meet friends or to just enjoy and relax in the Christmas spirit in the quiet of our own home.

Books have been written about Christmas traditions and customs. I know that this little blog will not cover the entire subject but I hope it has raised some interest and made you eager to learn more about our rich Polish traditions and to take part in them as well. It is a wonderful time of the year and being with Polish people at Polish holiday tables will be an extraordinary experience.

Wesołych Świąt!

Do następnego razu! (Till next time…)

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And oh yeah, you shouldn’t be able to dig yourself out from the mountains of gift wrap that easily either.

Since it’s already Christmas where I’m at, I wanted to wish you all Wesołych Świąt Bożego Narodzenia. I hoped you found what you really wanted pod choinką (under the Christmas tree), or in a stocking, if you’re doing it the “western” way.

I hope you’re spending Święta with your loved ones, whether it’s in Poland or abroad.

Or, if you’re not the Christmasy type (and I admit, I’m not) then have a blast shopping – poświąteczne przeceny (after xmas sales) start tomorrow (at least in the US).

So, one more time – Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Wesołych Świąt!

Oh, and one more thing – don’t become a Christmas statistic – stay safe, don’t drink and drive. I want you to be able to read this blog next year too, you know?

See you all here po Świętach!

Post from: Polish Blog

The first one is from Kim in Boston, and I think it’s absolutely perfect what she does for Christmas. I wish I could duplicate her holiday dinner, but alas, in my current location it won’t be possible. Read on, this is brilliant:

“My husband is Polish, we live in Boston. I surprised him our second married Christmas with a Polish feast I had researched and cooked. We read the Christmas story from Luke. We do a reading about the importance and symbols of the Polish Christmas traditions then break the blessed wafer with any guests we have. I set an extra place at the table and place straw under the tablecloth. Like his family, we include meat and do a smaller variety of Polish dishes but with my own twist – mushroom/barley soup, several varieties of pierogi, meat filled cabbage rolls, prune stuffed pork roast, beet salad, kraut w/polish sausage, rye bread, fruitcake, chocolates and cookies.

On Christmas Eve we exchange a Polish gift – book, crystal, ornament…use our Polish names, listen to Polish music and so on. On Christmas day we have a traditional American Christmas with stockings and ham and turkey. We open the remainder of our gifts Christmas night.

We also began the tradition of inviting friends over for Sunday evening suppers during Advent for a “Polish Christmas Eve”. Everyone has loved it, in spite of my husbands family being offended – it’s not traditional and I’m not Polish and blah, blah, blah!”

Sadly, I don’t understand her husband’s family’s reaction, certainly not in the Christmas spirit. But that’s just goes to show you how fiercely protective Poles are when it comes to “their” traditions and customs.

The second entry is from Kaz in Malaysia (Malezja), and I also like what she does – a combination of Polish and tropical celebration:

“We do both, which is interesting in equatorial Malaysia! J, my Polish hubby, was adamant that we wouldn’t have wet tissue; i.e. carp! But it’s Christmas Eve dinner, Portuguese Eurasian food (roast chicken, curry, rice), salads, pates, mulled wine, fake fireplace. And we go truly international for dessert…NY baked cheesecake, crepes suzette. I should take photos, shouldn’t I? Oh, and we had Mikołaj with the kids, and are looking forward to post-breakfast Christmas Day for the family loot-swapping!”

Mary in the UK, on the other hand, is a very lucky lady, as she can have both – one year the full thing in Poland, and the next – a mixed English/Polish Christmas in the UK:

“We tend to do both when we’re in the UK and have more of a Polish Christmas when in Poland.
Oddly, I only do the church thing in the UK.We don’t have the 12 dishes and the only person who’ll eat the fish with Mr K is my dad.
We do try to have different things each year through and people tend to enjoy it. Or they dsay they do anyway!

Presents are still a 25th thing as is the usual Christmas dinner (which I miss every other year.)
It does tend to spread things out because we see our extended family on the 26th!

So, that’s how we do it. It’s generally an amalgamation of traditions because neither of us wants the other to feel home sick.”

Ladies, thank you so much for all your comments and suggestions. They sure gave me something to go on. I still don’t know how exactly I’m going to go about it, but at least now I think it’s not as impossible as it had first sounded to me.
It’s been already decided however, that nasza Wigilia (our Christmas Eve) would be moved to Christmas Day, but other than that, if we pay no attention to the calendar, we should be fine.
Now I just need to figure out where to get opłatek. Hmmm…
P.S1. And forget about the fish. I can’t stand carp. Nienawidzę karpia.

and P.S2. And I think it’s safe if I say that I’m speaking for everybody here, Miss Kaz, we’re expecting photos of your polsko-malezyjskiej Wigilii!

Post from: Polish Blog

I wrote about Mikołajki last year, and I’m sure you remember that I think it’s a totally unnecessary tradition. I would much rather hold off for a bigger and better present on Christmas.

And how is your writing of Christmas cards (pisanie kartek świątecznych) coming along? I’m very proud to say that I only have a couple left to send out. And after that’s done, I’ll finally have enough time to sit and ponder how I’m going to throw a traditional Polish Wigilia (Christmas Eve dinner) in this foreign land.

And actually, I have a question for those of you with Polish spouses: how do you celebrate Christmas? Do you do it the Polish way? Or the “foreign” way? Or a combination of both, perhaps?

Do you do the whole Wigilia bit with 12 different dishes and hay under the tablecloth? With opłatek and gifts on the 24th?

Barszcz – one of the traditional Christmas Eve dishes.

I am asking because this year I was drafted to prepare tradycyjne polskie święta – a traditional Polish Christmas. And frankly, I’m worried. Very worried. My utter lack of culinary skills combined with the utter lack of Polish products here is a very bad combination. So your suggestions regarding how I can solve this problem will be much appreciated.

And descriptions of your traditional polskie święta na obczyźnie (Polish Christmas in foreign lands) will be very helpful as well.

So please, don’t be shy and do share! I’m sure we all can learn something new and interesting from each other.

Post from: Polish Blog