Margaret Andrews / England:
We are from East Sussex, England. We are staying here in Wrocław this Christmas because this is where we live now and travel home at this time of year is very expensive. Also we love to be here.
On Wigilia we are planning to have some friends round to our house for a meal and to celebrate with them. On New Year’s Eve, a group of us will hopefully go to a Hotel in Sobotka for the Celebrations.
We are quite happy to stay here, it would be nice to see the Family but they have all grown up now and are happy doing their own thing.
In England, Christmas Eve is usually spent preparing for Christmas Day, cooking the cold meats for Boxing Day and then we would probably go to the local pub and celebrate with family and friends.
Typically on Christmas Eve in England some people frantically do last-minute shopping, most people prepare food ready for Christmas Day and Boxing Day, which is also celebrated in England. Some go to Midnight Mass but unfortunately not as many as used to go. Many people will go to the local bar to celebrate with their friends and family over a few drinks.
At this time of year in England the weather is usually damp, sometimes it rains. If we are lucky it is sunny but very rarely in the part of England where we live (the South East) do we have snow at Christmas.
Christmas Day is usually spent with Family members. It is the day when we open our presents because we believe (as Children), Santa calls on us with our presents when we are asleep on Christmas Eve. Boxing Day is generally spent at sporting events, i.e., The Boxing Day Hunt which this is a very traditional event, when a group of horsemen and women hunt for foxes with hounds. It is now illegal so they now drag hunt which is when a person goes out with a scented rag on a string an hour or so before the hunt starts and then the hunters have to track him down.
Boxing Day isn't called Boxing Day because of the sport; it's because in the early days of sailing ships a box was placed on the ship’s deck and sailors would put money into it during the voyage, this was supposed to bring the ship good luck. When they returned to England the boxes were given to the Church and distributed to the poor on Boxing Day. In my husband’s family ,it was always a day of celebration as it was his parents’ wedding anniversary. At that time all the family would meet at a local bar to play a darts match and then return to the family home for a party with a few traditional songs and dancing.
Christmas Day is usually a typical meal of roast turkey or goose, potatoes, sausage, bacon, Brussels sprouts, swede, & other vegetables. Christmas pudding, which is a dessert made in September, is full of fruit and nuts and usually contains either rum or brandy. It is then stored in a cool dark place until Christmas. We also enjoy mince pies (these are sweet fruit pastries), assorted cheese and crackers, mulled wine, sherry, wine, and port wine.
James B. Solomon / Trinidad:
I am from the Island of Trinidad and Tobago. I am a Professional Photographer. My country has a population of 1.3 million people.
I never knew what a White Christmas was until I spent Christmas in Poland, we have warm Caribbean Christmases.
With the passing of our parents especially our mother, our family gathers every Christmas at the home of one of us, my brother or sister (usually my sister) to share a meal and exchange presents. It is the one time of the year when we can always be certain to meet. My brother and I are self employed and can also be found travelling. My sister has five children she home schools. With our hectic lives, Christmas Eve is that one day that we know we will be able to see each other and relax.
Trinidad and Tobago is made up of a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society and as such we borrow from each other. Pork is a heavy feature for most families and a ham can usually be found gracing the tables of most homes, except for my sister as the family are born-again Christians who made the decision to abstain from pork, shrimp and lobster.
On my last visit to Poland I shared one of the Christmas delicacies that I enjoyed growing up called garlic pork, a Portuguese dish that has become a mainstay of Christmas feasting. Roasted pork is another favourite. A baked and stuffed turkey would round off the main attractions on any Christmas table. Much debate is usually made of pastelle, a meat stuffed corn dumpling wrapped in banana leaves. For those who make them, they are always seeking the nod of approval that their pastelle is the best they have ever tasted, as such, I avoid them like the plague.
Another item to be served is the traditional black cake. It is rich, dark rum soaked fruit cake made from dried fruits that have been soaking in alcohol, from the year before, and again, every body who offers you a slice, expects that you would at least say that theirs was the closest to your mother's own, unless you are courting her daughter, then you would ask for tips to pass on to your own mother.
Traditional drinks - sorrel and ginger beer.
Carol singing is traditional throughout the country and special concerts are held at various venues for the public and at a price, usually for various charities and under the patronage of the President and his wife in one or more cases.
Another traditional Christmas singing tradition is Parang, a Spanish influenced form of carolling. It is all sung in Spanish and with an up tempo beat. The Paranderos would move from house to house spreading good cheer and merriment all related to the Christ Child's birth; a lot of alcohol-induced merriment is involved.
There are some major competitions in the Parang community and it is a traditional event with various cultural organizations vying to hold the biggest and best competition. An off shoot of Parang which has grown in the last two decades is a fusion of our folk song style of soul and calypso called Soca, which showcases our carnival season with the Parang tradition. This musical fusion is called Soca Parang and had a following all of its own, sung in English, the topics are rich and varied and add another genre to our already ever growing heritage and cultural fusions.
As children, our own family tradition was that the house would be "put away" by the afternoon of Christmas Eve, we would all be resting by 4.00pm when it got dark by 6.00pm we would gather by the crèche (you're making me cry) and lay our gifts before it. One of us would read from the Bible, then we would switch off the lights in the house and move from room to room singing Silent Night and other Christmas carols. We would then go to bed to sleep for a little while and then get up for Midnight Mass usually at Mount St. Benedict. Upon our return we would find that Santa had made a visit and we would be allowed to open our presents.
Catholic Mass or Church Service is held in the evening on Christmas Eve, at Midnight and three times on Christmas Day. A time when all the Churches are usually packed to capacity.
Bartek Rutkowski / Poland:
It's really hard to wake up in the morning on Christmas Eve's day. Such is the consequence of the last days. Washing dishes, cooking, preparing meals, small arguments. Finally we get to relax, at least a little bit.
After few hours, it's high time to start searching for the first star in the sky. I like this tradition. We can still look for the signal lights on one of the highest skyscrappers in wrocław if the sky is cloudy. To hell with it their red colour, at least we can start dining.
So we sit at the table. We don't unfold it on purpose, so we can sit closer to each other, elbow to elbow. I can finally use my waiter's experience. Serving, cutting, pouring. One feels important and needed.
My niece emphatically tells us that she has had enough of carp and borsch. It's high time for presents. So far they remain hidden, we have to distract her and put them under the christmas tree. Last year, we even left the window open, through which the Santa Claus was supposed to enter. 5 minuters later, the wind blow knocked both the flowers pots and jug of water. Our cat almost got a heart attack and our niece was 100% sure that such cacophonic noise could only be made by chubby gentleman wrapped in red robes.
Then the evening slows down. I feel like being in a soap bubble. Food, warmth and family – I could last like this forever.
For me personally, Christmas Eve is like a seal on a document. It's a day which confirms that family is still together, despite all the troubles.
Guido Giacomo Gattai / Italy:
I will spend my Christmas in Italy this year for a change as it is not my habitude. Until last year I used to spend it in Poland, in the Polish countryside. First of all we have to say that the big difference between Christmas Eve in the two countries is that, in Italy, almost all the traditions have been eaten by consumerism.
But still, of course, we have a lot of small traditions that remain. Mainly when it comes to the table, we must absolutely state that Italian food traditions are fabulously resistant. We still eat, for example, special cakes such as Pandoro and Panettone. The first one is a butter based cake of bread and the second one is a sweet bread with raisins and candied fruit.
We used to invite all the family to our home but after a little some relatives died, youngsters have no children and it’s a lot of work, so the family tables are growing smaller and smaller. This does not prevent our Christmas dinners having at least ten guests, and you can even total up to one hundred in the south.
About Christmas gifts, for about the last ten years, we have a really special Italian invention that is the Fair Trade Tents, resembling little indoor Christmas markets completely created by the Italian-based fair trade organizations.
We normally arrive at the 22nd or 23rd of December still without a lot of presents, searching everywhere for an original idea to satisfy our hunting enthusiast uncle, not to annoy his vegetarian new wife and some toys for the spoiled son of our best friend that loves transformers and only transformers but already has them all.
And after that, of course and by a curse, we have to track all the people that have not joined the Christmas Eve dinner or the Christmas lunch. And, as I said, those people are a lot. But naturally we can see the upside of that problem - to run from house to house after all that food can be surely good to raise you from the fogs of bulimy and bring you back to real life.
The Wrocław International and Gazeta Wrocławska:
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