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Message board > Christmas in our country
Christmas in our country
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renca
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Christmas in our country
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Hiay,
I have been reading the interesting posts about the different dates of holidays in our countries and it came to me that I don�t know for sure how Christmas is celebrated in - for example Poland - although Poland is neighbour to the Czech Republic. Could you write a couple of words about how you celebrate Christmas - we all know what Christmas looks like in English speaking countries- but it would also be interesting to learn about other countries directly from the natives.
Here in the Czech Republic the celebration starts on 24th December, during the day we are supposed to fast, but not many people do nowadays, we decorate the Christams tree with glass balls, chocolates, garlands and candles. Late in the afternoon is the dinner - traditionally we eat fried carp and potatoe salad and lots of special small cakes that we bake only for this occassion. After that we open up our presents, some people sing carols or go to church, but nearly every family watches the telly! We are obsessed with fairy tales on TV. The next two days are public holidays and we visit friends and relatives, go skiing in the mountains and watch the telly again. And we eat and eat and eat. How about you ?
Cheers from Renata |
20 Dec 2008
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Damielle
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In Argentina we decorate our christmas Tree on December 8th. Then, on early December 24th we start getting ready for the evening: we go shopping for food, for clothes, for food and drinks (if you haven�t done it before). Some women also go to the hair dresser�s to look really well that evening.
Then we meet for dinner. We eat chicken, meat, or fish with salads, french fries, smashed potatoes, etc. Then we eat something for dessert such as icecream or fruit salad. We drink sider or champagne after this meal. Drinking very cold beer, sodas, wine is usual because it is really hot here. We drink a toast at midnight and then open up our presents. Children ususally get toys and begin playing with them. Some families begin dancing. some stay talking, some visit other friends or relatives. Young people usually go dancing to discos at 2:00 or 3:00 am until almost midday.
For Christmas or the New year�s eve meal, there are lots of people who eat an "asado" meal:
 can you smell the grilled meat ???!!!
On the following day, we get up really late and stay home to eat the left overs or have a picnic somewhere nice or go to the river and eat some sandwiches or our very well known "asado", for example. We usually enjoy the day and get an important suntanning (some get a serious sunburnt)
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20 Dec 2008
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marzenka
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Hello renca! It�s a good idea to start this topic. In Poland, we start to prepare for Christmas several weeks before Christmas. In November and December, you can watch beautiful Christmas expositions in shops or on market-squares, many cities and towns are decorated with garlands, Christmas balls, lights etc., and there are big Christmas trees in the city centres. Then, people start to buy! I think, that shopping has become a part of our celebration. On 24th December, we are also supposed to fast and I think Polish people do it. Many people decorate their Christmas trees several days before Christmas, but some people decorate it on 24th December. We eat Christmas dinner at about 5 or 6 in the afternoon - there is a tradition that we wait for the first star and then we start to eat (kids love this tradition as they observe the sky and wait for the first star). When we gather at the table, we share the holy wafer wishing the best, then we pray and eat :) There are a lot of traditional Polish dishes which are prepared only for Christmas, I think carp is the most popular (as we still fast - we don�t eat meat on this day). When we finish our dinner, we pray again and then we give out and unpack our presents. Some families sing carols. At midnight, a special mass (we call it �pasterka�) takes place in each Polish church and a great number of Polish people gather there to pray and sing carols. Polish people tend to spend Christmas in front of TV set and in a family circle. It isn�t popular to go somewhere for Christmas and the majority of people stay at home. We have two days free: 25th and 26th December. We meet our families, relatives and friends. We eat a lot! And after Christmas, we start to prepare for New Year�s Eve... 
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20 Dec 2008
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Anna P
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You had a great idea, Renca! Here in Rio we celebrate the holidays with a fantastic 85 meter tree floating in our beautiful heart-shaped lagoon, the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. You can see it - and take a virtual tour in this site: www.arvorenatalbradescoseguros.com.br
Feliz Natal! |
20 Dec 2008
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renca
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Wow, that�s interesting - parties, floating trees, our Christmas seem a bit boring :( |
20 Dec 2008
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intra
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Quite an exhaustive view, Marzenka ;))) I would only add something about the food we eat. As it has been mentioned, we don�t eat meat on Christmas Eve, but as tradition has it, there are 12 dishes on our tables, such as carp (or any other kind of fish), beetroot soup, "pierogi" (dumplings with cabbage and mushroom filling), stewed dried fruit, and the like... My family always have mushroom soup with millet instead of the beetroot one and of course cakes like cheesecake, poppy seed cake, gingerbread, etc. On the table there should be one more plate left empty in case there comes an unexpected guest. And we put some hay under the tablecloth to remind us where Christ was born. And the funny thing is that animals are said to be able to speak human voice during that special night :) Merry Christmas to you all!! |
20 Dec 2008
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manuelanunes3
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In my country, on Christmas eve we eat at midnight, boiled cod fish with boiled potatoes and cabbages, and everybody eats this because it is a tradition.
On Christmas day people eat different things from roast turkey to roast lamb or so. Desserts are "Bolo Rei" a round cake with dried fruits inside and other fried cakes.
Kids usually open their presents on 24th in the evening or on 25th in the morning.
Have a nice holiday! |
21 Dec 2008
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Vickiii
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In New Zealand it is the beginning of summer.
We put out cookies and a bottle of beer for Santa (although some people frown on this with the drink driving rules....)
We have Santa watch - when the parents get sick of the kids they say, "I think I saw Santa flying over the Punga tree". All the kids run to bed and pretend to be asleep.
In the morning all the kids jump out of bed and go empty their santa sack (a pillowcase in my house instead of a stocking - not sure why!) of presents and go try to drag parents out of bed. Parents beg for half an hour sleep and a coffee so kids go play with Santas parents - wander outside and find �evidence� of the reindeer, sometimes foot prints, once it was a bit of the sled broken off and floating in the pool - with crash marks in the hedge - Believe me I was very worried about santa that year!
Then parents are finally dragged out of bed to ensure neighbours aren�t woken before dawn. A present opening frenzy ensues, with dad under the tree handing out presents to the people who bought them to give to the person they bought them for. The ritual shake, nono please don�t shake it... smell, try to guess. Delight when they get it right, delight when they get it wrong. Open it and sounds of oh ah this is perfect and everyone is happy.
Lunch is usually lamb, chicken, ham (often all cold) salad.
followed by Pavlova, yuuuummmmmmmmm, pavlova - invented by a kiwi regardless of what the aussies say!
then a dip in the pool, or a trip to the beach followed up with bbqed christmas lunch and more pavlova mmmmmmmm pavlova.....
Application of �painaway� sunburn nuetraliser before bed.... and go to bed on a sugar high ready to leave on holiday the next day.
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21 Dec 2008
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