In Poland, traditions are really important and are rooted in the daily life but mainly during events and celebrations. As a very religious country, Poland puts a lot of importance on Christmas and its celebration. Firstly, cities are very well decorated as soon as November comes to its end. We can see a lot of lights and a huge Christmas tree enlightened, like in the Old City in Warsaw, that we can see on the picture. If you want to see some beautiful decorations, you should go there because it is the best place if you want to be in the Christmas atmosphere, and with a little bonus, some snow! When it comes to Christmas eve, Polish people celebrate it with their family and go to the mass on the 24th. Before eating, it is a Polish tradition to share the white “oplatek” which is an ostia consecrated by the priest and everyone shares their wishes to every member of the family, while sharing a piece of oplatek. I did this tradition with my family this year and it was a really great moment. Then, it is time for the dinner, and it is a common thing that in Poland, there is always a lot of food because according to some people, during the communist era, Polish people didn’t have enough food because of the communism politics, so now they always make too much to eat to never miss some. As I said, there is always a lot of food and it depends, but there are usually around 12 meals which are traditional Polish meals. For example, there often is fish soup, a carp (that they keep alive in the bathtub until the Christmas eve, it is a really original and a little bit strange Polish tradition) or mushrooms. Also, there is the tradition where Polish families come to the Christmas dinner with a wheat sheaf and then braid it as a sign of fecundity and prosperity to hang it up above the entrance door. We can see that Poland as its own traditions that Polish people try to make last in time, but the main objective of Christmas is really to spend some time with your family celebrating the joy of being together.
- Mathilde Palanque - Poland
