Christmas Eve in Poland

On December 22, 2001, my husband and I moved to Warsaw, Poland.  When we landed in the airport, I quickly realized that I was no longer “home”.  A foreign country 3 days before Christmas – I was excited and terrified all at the same time.  Although we celebrated with my parents before leaving, it was bittersweet to think that we wouldn’t be with our families on the Holiest night of the year. 

Before I met my husband, he travelled and worked in multiple European countries.  He had worked in Warsaw, Poland previously and still had friends in the company.  His first day in the office, a good friend invited us to spend Christmas Eve with them and their family.  I was very nervous since I didn’t speak the language, but as it turned out the night was unforgettable – full of wonderful family traditions. 

We arrived at our friend’s house around 5:00 pm to coordinate when the 1^st star appears in the sky.  This is to represent the Christ Star, when the star appears, the festivities may begin.  There were 22 of us gathered for the evening together.  The Grandmother then took a thin wafer Oplatek and broke it in half, giving half to the next oldest person, some words were spoken.  This is such a nice tradition – each half of the wafer is broken off and given to another member of the family and then they wish each other a life filled with happiness, joy, health and a blessed year.  The wafer continues to be broken until everyone has had a piece; we were included in this – so heartfelt and loving. 

Next we moved onto the food, everyone sat at the table.  I noticed that there was one empty spot, I thought we were still waiting for one more person, I was wrong.  In Polish tradition, an extra place is always set at the table for any unexpected guest.  This is to represent Mary & Joseph with “No room in the inn” – at Polish tables, there is always room for the unexpected guest.

The food…..On Christmas Eve, no meat is served – just vegetables and fish.  There were 12 different dishes to represent the 12 disciples.   We were served salads, Borscht (beet soup), vegetables, pierogies, herring, salmon, fish cakes, minced fish, fish in jelly, the Christmas Carp (don’t laugh – they pick out their Christmas Carp like we pick out a Turkey) – it was amazing.  Luckily, I love fish so I was in heaven – even the Carp was good!  We were then served 3 different types of desserts. 

After dinner, the children opened presents and the whole family sang Christmas Carols. 

Although I missed my family, I wouldn’t have traded my Polish Christmas Eve for anything – the experience was amazing, the traditions are wonderful and the love in the room filled the air – even with the language barrier.