Christmas was definitely different this year . . . duh! Obviously! For those receiving our newsletter, you already read a bit about our holiday time. Some of this will be a complete repeat of some of that information but on a different platform for others to enjoy . . . including myself, plus more pictures.
The Christmas season in the USA officially begins on Black Friday. Poland has Black Friday as well but they don't quite execute it the same way. In fact, I've been told that it's better not to shop on Black Friday because the deals are actually better at other times. Sales here were only 15%-20% off. No lines. No early store openings. No shopping in the middle of the night. Hardly worth leaving the house for! While I enjoy the "sport" of Black Friday, I can say I honestly didn't miss it. Instead of shopping, I spent four hours at our local mall sipping coffee and making a new lifelong friend.
Black Friday does not begin the Christmas holiday here. December 6 is what most people consider to be the beginning of the Christmas holiday here. But even so, most don't decorate that early. December 6 is special for children. On this day known as Mikołajki, Santa, aka Mikołaj, leaves treats for children. The traditional way to receive treats is inside clean shoes left outside of bedroom doors. In the more modern version of this holiday, children can receive treats in a stocking or in a gift bag, etc. We, however, went old school. We left a few goodies for our kiddos in their clean shoes just for fun because when in Poland, do as the Polish do.
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| Pistachios, candy bars, and neck warmers since we walk everywhere. |
We decided that even though most Polish families weren't decorating yet, we were going to decorate early as per our usual custom which was actually before December 6. Thanks to a special gift from grandpa and grandma Barr for Christmas 2017, we brought plain wooden ornaments from the states that we painted. We borrowed a tree from a friend, and bought a few lights. We even purchased a small Christmas gnome Santa and red mushroom Christmas lights because nothing says Christmas like gnomes and mushrooms . . . or something. When we saw them, we laughed, and we had to buy them. Our decorations were simple enough and they brought cheer to our home.
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| Nothing says Midwest like a tree decorated in farm animals! |
We started seeing decorations going up around homes much closer to the actual week of Christmas. But decorations stayed up until after the New Year until at least Three Kings Day. In fact, I saw some lights up even this last week. So while Americans start early and end at Christmas, Polish people start much later but ultimately decorate about the same length of time as they carry into the New Year.
The Three Kings Day, aka Epiphany, represents the time when the wise men arrived to see baby Jesus. We didn't attend it but there was a parade that went through Lubin on that Sunday to symbolically celebrate the arrival of the wise men. We heard that it is a neat tradition but we were in church ourselves and ran out of time to catch it.
Another cool thing we experienced here was the Christmas market. Our own city of Lubin held a small market. They put up beautiful lights and there were some food trucks and little pagodas. They had some real farm animals and two manger scenes.
While we enjoyed our little market in Lubin, it's nothing compared to some of the Christmas markets in Europe. We were blessed to visit a larger one in Wrocław that was absolutely beautiful. Our lovely friend and her son went with us as we took a train and spent the day eating and enjoying the beautiful city and decorations. I think the idea of getting outside even when it's cold is so wonderful.
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| We've been told these mushrooms actually do grow here, so I guess it sort of makes sense. |
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| Warm punch for the win. |
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| View from the top of a church tower that we paid to climb. Phew! But the view . . . ! |
Our Christmas itself was rather subdued. Here Christmas is a three day holiday beginning on Christmas Eve to the 26th. Stores close early the 24th and don't reopen until the 27th. We did get up and open gifts on Christmas morning but it was a pretty mellow day. We are used to the hustle and bustle and it was hard to just chill. Some might say, "it's good for you to relax for a day." For us, it was emotionally difficult being away from our tight knit families. We checked in through webcam but it wasn't the same. We were just sort of trying to get through the holiday . . . to survive it. We did spend the 26th with friends having a wonderfully relaxing time eating and chatting. We even got to go see some local Christmas light displays that are very untypical for Poland. In the USA, perfectly normal.
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| We really do have such amazing friends here! |
Looking back on all that we saw and did for Christmas, it really was wonderful. I probably couldn't have written this blog any earlier than now because I was really too emotional. In the midst of the actual holiday season, we all desperately missed home but making it through Christmas has given us renewed energy. I think for our kiddos, they are excited about another summer here in Poland and most of all seeing their friends again in the states before year's end.
Thank you to our incredibly supportive family and friends that have given us the opportunity to serve here in Poland and experience all these new and wonderful things. And thank you for being so incredible that you are missed so very much! 😊
