MINI-GLOSSARY OF POLISH CHRISTMAS TERMS

We have asked our friends and students to tell us what they associate Christmas with. And we have received many answers: family, fireplace, gifts, snow, Christmas tree, gourmet food. There are various associations and experiences, and we have already written about Christmas (check here) and about Christmas Eve traditions (check here). This year we have compiled a small (and subjective) glossary of Christmas terms so that you can show you knowledge in your Polish classes or at your family gatherings.

CHOINKA,
a Christmas tree, which should traditionally be decorated on Christmas Eve morning, i.e. 24th December. However, these days the tradition is hardly ever maintained and we can enjoy the sparkling lights and beautiful decorations as early as 2 weeks before Christmas. Choinka can be kept in the house until 2nd January, which foreigners usually find surprising.

                                         check here for more interesting facts about Polish

OPŁATEK,
Christmas wafer, which is thin, white flatbread made without any yeast, symbolises friendship, love and forgiveness. We start the Christmas Eve supper by sharing it and wishing each other all the best.

SIANKO,
hay, a bundle of which is symbolically put under the tablecloth on the table on Christmas Eve to commemorate the birth of Jesus in the stable of Bethlehem.

TALERZ,
a plate, not an ordinary one but an empty one, symbolically awaiting an unexpected guest. This custom refers to the fact that Mary and Joseph were looking for shelter the night Jesus was born.

ŚLEDŹ,
herring, the fish that simply has to be served during the Christmas Eve supper. It may be savory or sweet, served in wine or spices, with sour cream or simply with oil. It’s always delicious and healthy

.                                                       to make (robić ) Christmas herring

KUTIA,
or kutya, a Christmas Eve culinary masterpiece, popular in Eastern Poland, Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania. It’s a sweet dessert made with wheat (or pęczak, a type of pearl barely), honey, poppy seed, walnuts, raisins and almonds. It’s goes very well with strong black tea.

KOMPOT Z SUSZU,
dried fruit compote, has smoky flavour and is good for your digestion. It is served at the end of the Christmas Eve supper and is very nutritious, it is also an excellent alternative to fresh seasonal fruit, the lack of which we feel at this time of year. It is made with dried fruit, such as prunes, apples, apricots, pears, figs and raisins. And it tastes even better when we add some cinnamon, cloves, lemon zest, ginger and nutmeg to it. Delicious!

                                    to make (robić), to prepare (przygotować )dried fruit compote


PASTERKA,
starting at midnight between 24th and 25th December,  is a special mass commemorating the time when the shepherds waited for Jesus to be born. It is also one of the first ocassions to kolędowanie, i.e. singing Christmas carols. And then? Then we slowly walk back home with snow crunching under our feet... If there is snow, of course...

With or without snow; spent in Poland or abroad; with herring and kutia, or without these traditional Christmas Eve dishes, we wish you all Merry Christmas!

                                          WESOŁYCH ŚWIĄT!

A FEW WORDS ON MIKOŁAJKI

POLISH MEMORIES OF ŚWIĘTY MIKOŁAJ (Saint Nicholas)

Gray November has finished. It is time for a truly winter month, which not only brings snow, but also always puts us in a holiday mood. Although there is still some time left until Christmas, it is hard not to notice all the Christmas decorations in the streets, shops, restaurants and shopping malls as well as hear the Christmas songs played everywhere. In Polish classes more and more often foreigners ask about Polish Christmas customs and traditions.
There is one night and one morning at the beginning of December that every Polish child, and adult as well, looks forward to. And that is Mikołajki (Saint Nicholas Day), which is a name day of every Mikołaj (Nicholas) and a time to celebrate the day of Święty Mikołaj (Saint Nicholas). Remembering the generosity and goodness of the bishop of Myra we give each other small gifts on the night between 5th and 6th December.

Check out our  FB page for more idioms and interesting facts about the Polish language.

 

 

 

IN THE SHOES AND UNDER THE PILLOW

The gifts may be left in two places: in the shoes (which have been cleaned and polished by the owner) standing beside the bed, or under the pillow. Not only children but also teenagers often wake up at night to check whether Saint Nicholas has visited the house and left some trifles. No one expects a lavish gift on that day, it would be hard to put it under a pillow or fit into children’s shoes anyway. Sweets, small toys and trifles that may be useful in everyday life or at school are common gifts (a Polish course may be an ideal gift for Mikołajki, check here for details ).
However, instead of a gift or lying right next to it under the pillow or in your shoe, you might find a rózga (twig). That is a sign that you should work on your behaviour and improve if you want to avoid a „gift disappointment“ at Christmas.

AT SCHOOL AND AT WORK (A CUSTOM NOT ONLY IN POLAND)

Another nice custom related to 6th December (check here to see how to write dates in Polish) is celebrating Mikołajki at school or work. Everything starts with drawing the name of a person we are going to get a gift for. Then we have some time to think of a proper gift and buy it (at school children often make the gifts themselves). Next we put the nicely wrapped gifts with name tags attached to them into one sack. The gifts are distributed in a friendly atmosphere and the receivers often wonder who their Mikołaj has been this year, since anonymity is the greatest thing about Mikołajki.