An Exchange Student’s Christmas Season Spent in Europe: Part Two

Christmas Season in Poland

One of the reasons I became an exchange student was not only to learn other cultures and traditions, but to also take part in them. Christmas is celebrated in many different ways around Europe, but this year I have been fortunate enough to take part in a Polish Christmas in Koszalin. I have written about my sights in Berlin, Germany during this Christmas season but my Polish sights and experience mean so much more to me. Berlin was more like a vacation, so I took the time to see the sights and absorb it all. Poland is a much different experience. I have become so attached to this remarkable country that I just want to observe, discover, and experience as much as possible and not just from a traveler’s or tourist’s point of view but from a person who actually is involved in the Polish culture. I experienced most of this season in my city of Koszalin, which isn’t a popular tourist city but I was also able to travel to Wrocław.

Christmas Season in Koszalin, Poland

I find the month of December here in Koszalin to be reasonably simple and not over the top. Stores here are filled with candy and Christmas merchandise such as ornaments and house décor. Malls are filled with shoppers during the weekends with some additional entertainment like angles walking amongst the crowds. Stalls within the mall are set up selling miniature Christmas trees, Christmas pastries, and ornaments. I am saddened to not find traditional Polish ornaments or dolls for sale. Everything for sale is so modern. Polish objects are usually found within Christmas Markets and unfortunately Koszalin doesn’t have one. Other than the mall and Town Center not many lights or decorations are to be found around the city. It’s hard for people living in apartments to decorate outside.
The center is beautifully lit up at night gleaming off the fresh snow.. Temperatures here are really cold this time of year dropping to a range of –13 to 5 degrees F. Snow boots, thick coats, hats, scarves, and gloves are a necessity.

Saint Nicholas (Mikolajki) Celebration in Poland
Celebrated on December 6th, 2009

Most European countries take the time to celebrate Saint Nicholas Day with their families. Each country however celebrates this holiday according to their traditions. This year on December 6th I had the chance to take part in some of the Polish traditions of the holiday Mikolajki, or otherwise known as Saint Nicholas Day.
Kids here in Poland typically wake up on the morning of the sixth and find small presents by their beds. My experience was a bit different. On the night of the fifth my family had just arrived home from our trip to Berlin. We ended up getting home around midnight and when I got to my room Saint Nicholas already came for me. He was so nice in getting me a shopping bag, a Christmas tea mug, and lots of candy. Saint Nicholas day is usually a holiday for children to receive gifts but sometimes he visits adults as well. He visited my mother this year and left her a nice Christmas breadbasket. It’s typical for him to give small presents like soaps, shampoos, Christmas items, and lots of chocolate. Stores around Koszalin started to sell Christmas merchandise about a week before Saint Nicholas Day, unlike the United States with holiday items on the shelves after Halloween. Saint Nicholas also visited my grandparent’s houses and left my sister and me presents so my Babcia (Grandma) dropped them off. Families don’t tend to get together and celebrate this holiday and there aren’t any special meals planned or church services that day. It is a preparation day for what is about to come.

Saint Nicholas (Mikolajki) Celebration At School Class
Celebrated on December 4th, 2009

My school here in Poland has three grade levels and each grade is split up into individual classes. Throughout the whole year you remain with this same class of about 30 kids. You celebrate holidays in school with your classmates.
For Saint Nicholas Day my class planned a secret gift exchange. A week prior we picked names. I ended up choosing my friend Ola so I wrapped some glass jewelry I brought from the Untied States and added some American candy for her. I have been unable to find peppermint candy canes here. Only fruity flavored ones. Our party was scheduled during one of our classes. A student from a different class joined us dressed as Santa Claus. We gave him all of our gifts. We had to do something special to receive our gift. Some sat on his lap and told him what they wanted for Christmas and others sang pieces of songs. I decided to sing a bit of “Jingle Bells”. I received some soaps and a really cute heart pillow CD case from my friend Ala.

Christmas Season Activities

During the Christmas season many families take part in various activities to bring the family closer together. Here are just a couple:

The One and Only Christmas Tree. (Ta jedna, jedyna choinka.)

In the United States I’m accustomed to purchasing a Christmas tree with my family in the beginning of December and decorating it with them. Here in Poland my sister and I got a chance to scout out the perfect Polish Christmas tree two weeks before Christmas.

An old Polish tradition is to purchase a Christmas tree and wait till Christmas Eve to set it up and decorate it with your family members. My sister and I bundled up and set out to find a perfect Christmas tree to place in our flat.

Here in Koszalin it really isn’t too hard to find a place to purchase a Christmas tree, but finding the perfect one is a different story. The Christmas trees are cut down and wrapped in netting and are driven to empty lots around the city. I would say within a mile radius there are about seven or eight different tree vendors. I thought picking out a Christmas tree would be fairly easy but trees aren’t so thick with branches and bristles. Most are about medium size and are somewhat bare compared to trees I’ve seen in the United States. We were looking very hard for the thickest tree so we could fill it with tons of decorations and ornaments. We ended up catching a bus and went to another Christmas tree lot to continue looking around. It took some time but there it was. It stood out to me because it was so full compared to the other trees I’ve seen. It took me some time to actually notice why it was so full. It was two trees in one. The trunk was about a foot in length then it parted into two separate trunks each with its own branches filled with bristles. Karolina also liked the tree a lot.

We purchased this 7 foot tree for 120 zloty which is equivalent to 45 US dollars. The tree workers wrapped our tree in netting for easy transportation and were set to go. There was one problem; we were a mile away from home and couldn’t walk all the way home in the freezing cold snow. Karolina and I ended up taking the bus home with tree in tow. We got a lot of stares and I felt weird transporting a tree on the bus. I don’t think that happens too often. It wasn’t until we arrived home that I realized that we needed to carry this tree up an additional seven flights of stairs. I’d never put this much work into getting a Christmas tree before. We carefully maneuvered up the stairs until we reached the top and quickly went inside to warm up from our Christmas tree task.

Making Pierniczki (Gengerbread)

My sister and I had the chance to make Polish pierniki, otherwise known as gingerbread, with each other. Gingerbread all around the world is a traditional Christmas sweet. Gingerbread is a very important dessert here in Poland whether it’s gingerbread cakes or cookies.
Karolina and I took the time to make cookies with each other. It was fun cooking these wonderful pastries with her because we had about three hours on our hands to talk, have fun, and also enjoy the wonderful tastes and smells of the gingerbread cookies. We cooked, cut and decorated about 70 cookies to be served this Christmas Eve.

Christmas Season in Wrocław, Poland

I had the chance to explore this touristy town during this Christmas season. It was a treat. A town square known as the Renek was the location of my first Polish Christmas market. My best friend Katelyn, another exchange student, introduced me to this wonderful spectacle.
There were more than 50 different stalls filled with Polish jewelry, pottery, ornaments, and nativity scenes. I picked up a bunch of Polish pottery ornaments and a wooden nativity scene with bee wax sculptures. My mother really likes collecting bee items since my great grandfather was a bee keeper. I thought that would be a nice present for her. My Rotary club from Johnstown sent some extra money for Christmas. I used some of it to purchase ornaments for myself. I will keep them wrapped for my Christmas trees over my lifetime to share with my children one day. They will get to hear all my stories and memories of my time in Poland.
The Polish kielbasa, pierniki, and crepe stalls were also present and sent delicious smells throughout the whole square. My mouth is watering even now. A very small carnival was positioned in the center of this market with a few games.
I absolutely fell in love with the Christmas decorations in the Renek. There was a sleigh with two stuffed toy reindeer available for pictures. The food stalls were unique. One was turned into a huge story pyramid about Christmas and the other was decorated out of marvelous dark wood. The Renek is surrounded with buildings that look like they just popped out of an old vintage European movie which made this whole experience even more magical.

Click the link below to veiw all of my Christmas Season Photos.
Christmas in Poland