Englishman Reacts to... All about Polish Christmas traditions! 🎄 

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Actually we've had some people that came unexpected to us on Eve's dinner. So this empty place was used couple of times. It's not only because we've got used to it...

Basically just show up at any Polish family home at 24th and you need no invitation :D we always leave one place for a unexpected guest, so chances are, people will actually invite you in anyways :D

Do domu moich rodziców przyszedł kiedyś samotny i jadł z nami w wigilię.

Actually, a lot of the christmas traditions come from old slavic pagans. The empty seat for example- it was meant for the ancestors.

Yes, fish in the bathtub was a staple until recently :) People usually bought fish in the morning on Christmas Eve. Today it is less common because animal rights activists etc. so this is no longer common. But 20 years ago, by default, fish had to be in the bathtub.

Polish Christmas traditions are much richer than could be presented in this short film. Christmas Eve is a very festive time. After dinner we sing Christmas carols. I've never had carp in the bathtub in my house😊. My grandfather used to catch fish on Christmas Eve and then prepare them himself. Dinner, of course, without alcohol

You can't forget about Christmas carols. Singing together brings the whole family together.

Of course we had fish in the bath since it was typical in most if not all polish houses, especially during PRL period

About gifts it changes from region to region. For example here gifts are brought not by Santa (gifts from Santa are December 6), but Baby Jesus. Children go to different room looking for a star and adults place gifts under the tree. When star is up they ring a bell and kids run back. Then one person gives gifts, but after reading for whom that gift is you need to sing a carol to get it, so whole gift giving process can last a long time

Ten wspominany przez wszystkich karp pływał w wannie bo te 20-30 lat temu był w Polsce sprzedawany niemal wyłącznie jako żywa ryba. W tamtych czasach to byl jedyny sposób na dostarczenie społeczeństwu dłużej ilości świeżych ryb w krotkim czasie kilku przedświątecznych dni. W polskich sklepach z tamtych lat nie było wystarczająco sprawnych i wydajnych chłodni czy lodówek, a i transport towarów był daleki od ideału. Biorąc pod uwagę, że martwa ryba szybko się psuje dostarczanie jej konsumentom w stanie żywym gwarantowało jej możliwie wysoką jakość. Ten karp w wannie był atrakcją dla dzieci (chyba każdy próbował karmić karpia okruchami chleba) i przykrym obowiązkiem dla głowy rodziny. Pamiętam swoje rozterki i wyrzuty sumienia gdy pierszy raz musiałem zabić karpia. Bardzo to przeżywałem. Od lat kupuję ryby marwe, porcjowane - to lepsze dla mojej psychiki 😉 Wesołych świąt!

she forgot to add that on Christmas we sing carols, especially in families where there are instruments

To understand the custom of keeping fish in the bathtub, you need to go back to the times of communism in Poland. It was hard to buy fish for the holidays back then, so sometimes we bought it in advance (alive) and kept it in the bathtub to keep it fresh. It will be difficult to understand such a custom for someone from G.B. Not many do that anymore.

Christmas Eve has not officially been a fast day for many years, but many people maintain this tradition

12 dishes is not a problem if you start some days earlier and all capable family members assist. Practically, the only dishes which should be done not earlier than on the Eve is fish and soup. Very often, if you host your parents, children, siblings or friends, they deliver what's needed, according to agreement done somewhat 1 mont earlier.

In 1995, I was invited to a Christmas Eve dinner by a friend as an "extra place setting". I thank him very much.

about the carp in the bathtub During the times of communism, live carp were imported to Poland earlier and since there was no place to keep the carp, it was simply left in the bathub, alsow many people in the countryside did not have refrigerators.

It's not quite what this woman says. First of all, the Christmas Eve tradition is much older than Christianity in Poland. It was not until long after the adoption of Christianity that the religious ideology was adapted to it. Originally, the empty chair and plate was for deceased ancestors. But even in later times it was intended for absent family members, for example for those who were sent into exile or imprisoned for fighting against foreign authorities. I hear this explanation with Joseph and Mary for the first time in my life! Secondly, traditions vary from region to region and even vary from family to family. In my family, not only did we not eat meat on Christmas Eve, but we did not use ANY animal products (e.g. butter, eggs, cheese, milk, etc.). The exception was honey. Thirdly, she went too far with not drinking alcohol ;)

3:00 yes, Wigilia is meatless and without alcohol. All dishes are mostly with fish, or mushrooms or some sweet dishes. 😊 5:00 it's about being sneaky to put presents under the tree 😂 6:30 this empty place is of course according to Bible. Some people say that we cannot say no if someone comes to us on Christmas Eve asking for help. Some people say it's for our family that died and their ghosts are with us.

Yes, there was a carp in my buthtub every year when I was a child. When someone wanted to take a bath carp was taken out of water to a big plastic bag filled with water. That was also the way in which carp was packed in shop or market and transported to the home, where he was transfered into a bathtub

I wish you Rob,and your wife,to spend Christmas Eve in a Polish home. Merry Christmas.

Przed zniesieniem postu, nie jadło się mięsa w wigilię, teraz to już wszystko zależy od zwyczaju jaki panuje w rodzinie. Z alkoholem wygląda zapewnię podobnie, jednak u mnie zawsze było mało alkoholu, może dzięki temu nigdy nie było kłótni przy wigilijnym stole.

My friend from Norway, who often visits me in Poland, once said "If you want to really know the character, personality, tradition and what Poles are really like, you should come to Poland and spend Christmas Eve and All Saints' Day, November 1, with a traditional Polish family." He said he would never forget it

7:05 - Empty place is not only for memory. If a lost traveler visiting us, we get in and seat on this empty place. In this day we can't refuse his, what ever by are... Some time, journalists check this tradition and visiting alien homes incognito.

Zanim sie siądzie do stolu też jest modlitwa i czytanie fragmentu z pisma Świętego o narodzeniu Jezusa. Potem dzielimy się opłatkiem tzw. dzielenie się chlebem. A pyyste miejsce jest dla kogoś kto mógłby się niespodziewanie zjawić. Przyjąć kogoś w gościnie. Oraz to miejsce upamiętnienia zmarłych z rodziny.

Część Rob, zdrowych i wesołych świąt dla Ciebie i Twojej rodziny. Pozdrawiam serdecznie 👍

Rob, życzę Tobie i bliskim wesołych Świąt.Wedlug tradycji zawsze przygotowujemy dodatkowy talerz dla przypadkowej osoby. W tym roku zaprosiłam owdowiałego samotnego dziadka, sąsiada.Wzruszył się tak ogromnie, że popłynęły łzy. W tak ważne Święta nikt nie powinien czuć się samotny. Będą kolędy przy akompaniamencie gitary, smaczne potrawy w Wigilię /24 grudnia/. Piękne i wyczekiwane Święta. Pozdrawiam z polskich Mazur

In fact the extra plate comes from the pagan tradition of feeding ghosts. But since the Catholic church had to explain it somehow and that's what they came with. Sharing wafer on Christmas was a nobles' tradition as well as the 12 dishes. I think they do that in Lithuania as well. Yes, everyone in Poland had a carp in their bathtub in childhood. I think it may be different now because NGOs keep telling us about the suffering of the fish sold life in supermarkets.

this is like the super power of Polish women. we start cooking a week before Christmas. in my family my grandmother did all the work first, and my mother prepared the desserts and cakes. now i'm the dessert and cake person 😅

hahaha When I was a child we had a fish swimming in a baththub once. Literaly once. Killing and cleaning poor sod was traumatic to all of us including my mother, and we decided to just buy fillet next time. :D While fish was alive bathtub was out of order obviously, but we were very happy to have a pet fish for a bit.

Most people eat sweet and sour soup with a bit of marjoram called borscht, some people eat mushroom soup, or soup from fish parts that do not have much meat, e.g. cleaned heads. My friends eat a slightly thick soup made of dried fruit with pasta, with the consistency of a thin jelly and only slightly sweet in taste, with a hint of spice and smoke.

A bit of history lesson: Hundreds years ago, tomorrow for people begin after sunset. So basically after this 4 or 5 pm, it was already Christmas

Yes. Typically 12 dishes are made. That's why you start making them the day before and get up and make them in the morning. And in the evening the housewife is exhausted. And the guests were full. I always remember that after Christmas Eve dinner everyone goes to bed because they are tired and have full bellies.

We had carps (more than one - from 4 to 6 depending on how big they were) swimming in our bathtub but usually we bought them in the morning and by midday they were you know...gone. I know for a fact there were friends and family members who kept them overnight or for 2 days, changing water in the process so they would 'breath in' more of the fresh water. This process helped with purging the sludge from their lungs and the taste was less sludgy apparently. Nowadays we just buy carp in slices.

December 24 is the eve of Christmas. Christmas Eve (from Latin vigilia = "watch", "guard"; vigilare = "to keep watch") - in Christian tradition, the start of Christmas celebrations on the evening of the day before. In the Catholic Church, the vigil is part of every celebration (including Sunday). However, it is still a day of fasting, so we do not eat meat or drink alcohol. On the other hand, the day after, we can eat meat as much as possible. There are usually special dishes prepared for Christmas Eve and additional ones for the following feast days.

Wesołych Świąt i Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku

Hi Rob! I'm from Wielkopolska (Greater Poland) and it's Gwiazdor (Star Man?) who brings presents. St. Nicolas (Święty Mikołaj) brings usually small presents on 6th of Dec., when it's St. Nicolas Day. Take care, and Merry Christmas to you! P.S. And yes- there was a carp swimming in our bathtub, when I was a kid and my dad used to kill it and prepare for Christmas Eve. Unfortunatelly, I don't keep that tradition.

Totally my household was the one with the fish in a bathtub and my father was killing it and preparing 😅

I had swimming fish in my household when i was a child, however there we were living with my grandparents and with family of my mothers brother in a 3-floor high building where every floor had a bathroom so we still could take a bath

Well, maybe going from Finland Santa Clause stops in Poland for a shot or two before going to Australia etc. so he might as well leave the gifts while he's on it 😅

Oh, yes, there was a carp, not in bathub, in a large bowl.Speaking of Greek style fish, Greeks have never heard of such a dish.

16:31 Yes Rob Santa came to Poland first in 6th of December and after that he came beck 24th of Dec to drop some presents in Poland on his way to New Zealand ;)

This fish in bathtub, isn’t tradition. It was postwar necessity. In 1945-1947 an later, Poland has food shortages, and Karp was most effective to grow fish. And why alive? Was easier in post war country, that food processing facilities was destroyed, and not yet rebuilt. In Poland 2023, it’s very rare to do it, but in 90s early 2000s it was still a thing.

Yes, we use the "fish is not meat" cheatcode xD FUN FACT: theres a tradition, not as popular now, that with regular pack of wafer (opłatek) youd get smaller, pink one and that one was for the animals. People would give some to dogs, cats AND farm animals on christmas eve

Everyone had fish in a bath in his life. People didn't bathe every day. Sometimes you had to sacrifice yourself for a carp to be dirty for a few days. The most important tradition is to argue with everyone and take offense for the rest of the year so you don't have to see each other

12 potraw tyle ilu było apostołów Puste nakrycie dla osoby samotnej, opuszczonej większość Polaków zostawia dla zmarłej bliskiej osoby

and every year we all Poles watch Home Alone, it's our tradition

Yes, a carp in the bathroom was the tradition of my childhood for some time. I have a few vague memories and one, which is very detailed . That carp spent two days in a bathtub. It was enough for children to get attached to the fish, so when the time to kill it came, my sister and I started crying over its fate and our dad just couldn't do it. Finally, he took the fish to our neighbour who terminated our new "pet". My sister and I kept mourning while our mum was doing her best to fry it. Obviously, we refused to eat it and were so upset that even presents under the Christmas tree didn't improve the atmosphere. Do I have to mention that it was the last time our parents kept a carp in the bathtub? I have not tried the Christmas Eve carp ever since.🙃

Puste miejsce przy stole jest dla zbłąkanego wegrowca... W tym dniu powinniśmy przyjąć i nakarmić każdego. Tak żeby nikt nie był samotny i głodny.

When I was a child, carp lived in a bathtub for a day every Christmas Eve 🙈 Regarding the 12 dishes, we definitely prepare some of them ahead of time. One day would not be enough!

She never mentioned singing Christmas Carols on 26th December. My friends and I always looked forward to it, because we would collect some money and ut was fun.

I have never heard before saying "Smacznego" sharing and eating "opłatek" at Christmas. Yes, carp was in my bathtub today. It won't stay long there so no worries about bathing :-) In my region after Christmas supper children strat coming to households with a big star and singing carols. You always give them some money and sweets. You can expect them during following days too.

Rokiczanka, the band that performed W Moim Ogródecku and Lipka also have a really good Christmas playlist.

Opłatkem is very important on my father’s side. My grandfather may have been Lithuanian-American but my Babcia had the influence on her Polish Catholic side. I always read a prayer bilingually in Polish and English before Christmas Eve dinner

Do tradycji Bożonarodzeniowych można zaliczyć cały ADWENT czyli 4 tygodnie przygotowań duchowych aby być gotowym na przyjście Jezusa

Just an FYI, in Canada, we also have Boxing day. Thanks Rob for all your videos, and have a Merry Christmas 🎅

In our home and in a lot of houses on southern Poland we eat dishes from one plate during Christmas Eve. One plate with dish is on middle of table and everyone reaches for food from this plate. :D :D And also we sing a christmas carols. :D

I remember carp was still at bath before the Christmas.

In my Małopolska region, around Andrychów, it is one of the most beautiful holidays, especially in my childhood, although it was poor, I remember it wonderfully. In my family home it was a bit different. In my brother-in-law's it was different. In my wife's family it was different. Although the main culinary accents were very similar 12 dishes including the so-called mushroom soup, i.e. a compote of dried fruit, delicious, several types of fish, including breaded carp and carp in cream, it tastes a bit like veal because the cream brings out the flavor of the carp... great. The first course is always a thick oat and rye soup, the so-called żurek when cold, it's thick enough that the spoon stands in it and doesn't tip over :) sour as hell, of course, to eat hot with potatoes :), three types of peas :), mushroom soup with dumplings is a must!, vegetable salads, fruit cakes, etc., croquettes can also be used with mushrooms, various types of herring and herring salads. The most important thing is to fast from the morning, then everything actually tastes fabulous. The first accent of Polish Christmas Eve is Prayer, it has been like that for 60 years of my life, but we have been Christians for 1000 years, of course breaking the wafer and wishing nothing fancy, just from the heart (hay under the tablecloth). Finally, singing Christmas carols and concerts with Christmas carols from TV are very nice, maybe be some light wine. Those who can manage it, the midnight mass in the church also has its own charm. ​ google translate :)

Hi Rob, also wanted to add to the video - it's really common for young adults in Poland to say they're going to the midnight mass "pasterka" as an excuse, but go drinking with your friends instead :D

Gifts are exchanged on Christmas Eve. The Windsors honor their German heritage by opening presents after afternoon tea on Christmas Eve instead of on Christmas Day.

- Jak się nazywa żona Świętego Mikołaja ? - ??? - Mery (Merry) Christmas.

Since there are 12 dishes for Christmas Eve, it is usually prepared by grandmothers and it is best to celebrate it at the grandparents' home.

100%, karp was in every bathtub, everybody had bathtubs too, great times

Karp was swimming in the bathtub my whole childhood. I was visiting it in the bathroom just to pet poor thing. I liked the touch of its skin. When you needed a bath, you had to put it to a huge plastic bowl or some other container for this 20 minutes.

You got a great video, cause that nice woman is speaking slowly for ppl who are learning polish Polish tradition for empty seat is really remembered. I am not an atheist but I was rised as catholic and I understand why we leave that space. Also many families would really accept a stranger on Christmass Eve to share with that person our food. I had one year that situation my friend was abandoned by her family just before Christmass and I've invited her to my family's table but she declined. So just after supper and opening my gifts I took some food and went to her place to spend rest of Eve with her so she wouldn't be alone. About Christmas Eve not eating meat nor drinking alcohol: in my family (not sure if it's Poland-wide tradition) we were not eating anything and we were drinking only water until supper. 12 dishes yeah, but they are often similar to each other. In my family there must be at least 3 types of herrings on a table. Carp is great fish if you know how to prepare it, but hardest thing is to correctly choose fish. Most shops sells carps over 2kg weight, but best tasting are thouse around 1kg (best would be less than 1kg). I also always wanted to see how carp is killed and then prepared as a kid, but (what may be funny) I always wanted to take a bath with it and play with it before well... preparing it for Eve You know, Polish stereotype (not realistic) is that Polish are thieves so you can imagine we're stealing presents from Santa's sledges while he's flying over Poland on his way to New Zealand! Ofc I'm just kidding ;) We just celebrate Jesus' birthday as close to midnight as possible There are also other traditions probably more regional. E.g. in my family we were always hiding candies inside Christmass tree and my cousins had to find them. I was good at it Also there's one more tradition, pretty modern one, but every year for already over 20 years we watch Home Alone. This movie is already a new tradition in Poland. Few years ago TV Station which emits it every year tried to cancel it. I've never seen more angry poles about such a stuff. We have a huge petition to bring back Kevin and we did it. Station had to change schedule so we could watch this movie once again on Eve Wesołych Świąt!!!

My grandparents have an old bathtub in the backyard, the fish are usually kept there 😁

Fish in the bathtub is a common thing also in Slovakia and the Czech Republic

When I was a kid we have a fish in a bath before christmas. 12 dishes are a lot of work, so the whole family is prepering during december. For example you could do pierogi and frost them :) Santa claus is in Poland at 24 december or "gwiazdor" "dziadek mroz". Most of families watch " home alone" every year at Chrismas Eve. We also sing christmas carols.

The carp is also a symbol of Christmas in Poland, because it does not appear on our tables very often. It's related to the communist times, Hilary Minc became Minister of Industry and Trade. He was also the author of the slogan ‘Carp on every Polish Christmas Eve table.’ Carp is one of the fish that is easy to breed, so this fish was becoming more and more popular in Polish cuisine. What’s more, it was relatively cheap to run carp ponds. The state encouraged people to eat fresh fish.

To be fair as a Polish young person I always knew that you leave the empty chair and plate for an unexpected quest it could be anyone someone that ends up alone on Chrismas Eve or someone without a home I am also not a fish person as well so I always skip that part of the meal but considering how much other foods we have it'd not much of a loss

Merry Christmas!

We've all been traumatized by the fish in the bathtub ;D My favorite alternative to Św.Mikołaj is Gwiazdor = Star Man :)

In the prechristian Slavic tradition, the empty place was left for an ancestor, usually the most loved or known or most respected. Same about the "opłatek" - it was a piece of bread, originally.

We used to have carp in bathtub, as years ago killed fishes in this amount weren't really affordable, but now it's not a case. Also yes. We were stinking for like a week

Christmas traditions are very important for me, living abroad. When me and my family can not go to PL for Christmas myMum sends me some oplatek and I am preparing some (but not12) dishes that I am used to eat only on Christmas Eve. Barszcz instant and frozen uszka is a must then. Merry Christmas

You can also react to polish xmas carols, highly recommend "Mizerna cicha" (Magdalena Tul) or "Gore gwiazda Jezusowi".

The lady in the video didn't mention that we sing carols together on Christmas Eve, usually after Christmas Eve dinner. In addition, we often enjoy dinner accompanied by music referring to Polish Christmas carols. We have a lot of traditional Christmas carols dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries (but many come from the 18th and 19th centuries).

I've never eaten bigos on the 25th or 26th of December. While Christmas Eve dishes tend to be similar, Christmas Day dishes are different in every family and region. At our house, we serve a variety of (usually roasted) meats, salads, potatoes, etc. :))

+ prayers before eating, some people read a verse from the Holy Bible, we can also sing a carol before the meal on December 24. when I was little, my grandfather always said "come, let's see if there's a star in the sky" and when I went outside the house with my grandfather, my parents quickly put the gifts under the tree and said that Santa Claus had already arrived and left gifts under the Christmas tree. Ah, the magic of Christmas when you were a child.

There was never meat or alcohol in my house on Christmas Eve. So far there is none. In fact, an empty place at the table is not only for an unexpected guest, but rather a reminder of those who have passed away or cannot come to dinner. When it comes to gifts, when I was a kid, my uncle used to dress up as Santa Claus and come to give gifts. 😂😂😂

When you want to have a bath when there is a fish in there, you put that fish in something smaller for that time, refill it after and put the fish back in. :)

Carp in a bathtub was the second best part of christmas. Petting a big fish is an expirience.

Dear Rob, Imagine that Poland is still a Catholic country and majority of the Poles know all meanings and traditions. Sad that the West was robbed of them and now Christmas means nothing more than shopping.

I had it alive fish. In need of bath just swiping for big bowl. That fish usually was swimming for 24h then was prepared for cooking. Bigos is keto. Sour vegetables as cabbage are very healthy.

The empty place at the table is for an unexpected guest that can appear, either someone we know or a stranger in need

the alcohol on christmas eve actually varies a lot. It can depend on how many guests youre having. Its more possible for the alcohol to appear on the table if theres a lot of family or if the guest list is unusual. In my family there was no alcohol that day, we are going for a "fancy" coffe after dinner. There are also cases when the youth say theyre going to the midnight mass with friends but they tend to not even appear in the church bc they got their hands or some alcohol ;)

As it comes to traditional christmas eve dinner i like to joke that poles made do with what they had. And what poles had in the middle of harsh winters? Flour to make dough, eggs, milk, grains, dried mushrooms, seeds, some vegetables, maybe some meat or sausage and sauerkraut. Later some cheap fish. Christmas eve dinner is literally various combinations of those ingridients

There is one more Polish Xmas tradition not mentioned in this video - watching "Home Alone" (in polish: "Kevin sam w domu") and "Die Hard" ("Szklana Pułapka") in tv :) Usually it has plave after unboxing the gifts. I remember that my mum used to say when I was younger like in primary school that if we don't eat even a small bit of Carp then we will not be allowed to watch Kevin xD Merry Christmas!

And we sing carols

In My family we have changed idea of empty plate, because it is family holiday and having unknow person during supper would be strange. So we say that empty plate is for memory of those who are no longer with us.

yes we had cap in our bathtub before Vigilia

yes. we had a live carp or later amur in our bathtub every year

Yes in my home there was fish in bathtub. But only for one or max two days, it's because it should be fresh af. And ofc there is a communist story behind all of that, you often can't buy what you want just in time so it was better to buy live fish few days earlier when it's available than have nothing.

Ja jestem z Województwa Slonskiego z Katowic w moim domu 24 grudnia pod choikom dostawało się prezenty od dzieciantka Jezus pozdrawiam

20:00 - Christmass eve is very personal celebreting. Is time for immediate family only. Far family and friends we meeting 25 and 26 dec. In this day your immediate family is most important in the world. Not one thing have matters, gifts, 12 dishes, empty place, shepherds mass - if you don't by close with your family. If you by alone in this day... this by a very sadness time for you.

Hi, we totally don't eat meat and we leave empty plate for unexpected guest by the table. Also we are putting the hey under the table cloth. And feed animals with "opłatek", so they can speak on midnight😊

yes

Christmas Eve and first day is for family, second day is for friends.

3:20 - With alkohol, we TRY don't drink, but is not a very restritced ;)