A Slovak Christmas

We thought we had already learned some things about a Slovak Christmas before we arrived, but now that we are actually living here for one, we are learning a lot more. There are a lot of traditions and symbolism associated with Christmas here.

December 6th is called Mikulaš. At first I thought they were saying Niculaš, but then I discovered the day and character are called Mikulaš because that is the name for that day. In Slovakia, each day has a male and a female name that is celebrated or honored. The night before, the children are to clean their shoes or boots - the bigger, the better - and then they put them on a window sill for Mikulaš to fill with chocolate and fruit. If the child is "bad" or if their parents want to play a joke on them, they may put coal in the shoes, but they are more likely to fill the shoes with vegetables that would typically be used for making soup. On the 6th, people will also give chocolate to friends and family. The boys got chocolate Advent calendars from school and my tutor gave them a chocolate Mikulaš or Santa as well.

Mikulaš does wear red and white, but he is thin, not fat. Also, he sometimes wears a hat that is taller and looks more like a hat you would expect to see on a Catholic priest. G colored some pictures at school and this was the image on the pages. A man came to the school and this was how he was dressed as well. I told him he should have asked him something in English because isn't Santa supposed to know all languages? I made sure he knew he shouldn't really do that so we don't become the Americans who ruined Christmas for all the children.

Advent decorations with four candles and greens are very popular. One candle is lit each Sunday, with the previous candles being lit as well. The Sunday before Christmas all four candles are lit. This year I was invited to make my own with some ladies from another church.

Many decorate their trees the day or two before Christmas Eve. The tradition used to be that the parents would decorate the tree and put all the presents beneath it and then surprise the children with it. Here Baby or Little Jesus is the one who brings the tree and the presents, not Santa. Santa is celebrated on the 6th and then he's done for the season. I jokingly told the 8th graders they should never tell an American that Santa comes on the 6th since we "teach" that he visits everyone around the world on the 24th. Some are now decorating earlier and trees - both real and fake - have been available since November.

Ornaments here are primarily made of plastic. Of course many say they are safer, but I would dare say, they are cheaper to make as well. Most Christmas decorations, even those that look European or hand-made, are usually from China.

Some symbolism referring to health or wealth for the new year are: putting money or some of the carp scales under the tablecloth, cutting an apple to see if the seeds make a star, eating oplatky with honey and sometimes garlic, opening a nut and seeing if it is good or rotten inside, dividing an apple evenly between everyone at the table (and hoping to cut the same number next year).

The main day of celebration is on our Christmas Eve. They call it "štedry den" or generous day. The 25th is the first day of Christmas and the 26th is the second day of Christmas. Catholics will typically attend a midnight mass on štedry den. Baptists tend to have several services over Christmas and again around New Year's Day. We have one service on Christmas Eve and two services on Christmas Day. Some even have one on the 26th, but our church does not this year. There are services on both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Because of this schedule, we are trying to determine how we can switch around some of our normal traditions to fit around the services.

A typical Slovak Christmas meal includes a soup without meat, carp or another fish, and a potato salad. This is considered a meal of fasting for Catholics. Those who are not Catholic may still eat this traditional meal or they may eat their desired meat. They will also eat the oplatky with honey and possibly garlic, as well as various cookies and cakes. They have a special recipe which they call a honey cookie. It is similar to gingerbread, but does not have the molasses.

Several things you can't find here - tree skirts, stockings, candy canes, and egg nog.

Slovaks often hang chocolates on their tree. We've been told they eat these on Three Kings Day, which is January 6th. We'll try to wait until then! It is a nice addition to the tree.

Because of the extra holiday on the 6th, children get two weeks off school. We are looking forward to this break very much!

There are Christmas trees and lights at the stores and in the towns. Each town also has other Christmas lights. We have some lights on the lamp posts and hung across some of the intersections as well.

Christmas markets are very popular in the larger cities. This year we visited three - Budapest, Bratislava, and one near Vienna. Each market has some unique characteristics, but generally there will be a tree, lights, lots of cultural foods, a warm Christmas punch (there's a children's version too), and various gift items. The market in Budapest had a lot more pottery and crafts. The Bratislava market had more food and drink booths and only a few craft items. Many booths that were selling items had touristy things you could find any time of the year and most likely made in China. There was also a booth where groups could sing Christmas carol and an outdoor skating rink that was very reasonably priced. The market outside of Vienna was at a chateau type location, so there was a small farm with animals, a restaurant, a Christmas concert, cookie making, a presentation of the history of Christmas for children (unfortunately only in German), and you could tour part of the building. We were hoping to visit one more market in Vienna, but for a variety of reasons decided to stay home this Saturday. We are hoping to head to the Bratislava market one more time before it ends on the 23rd.

We are thankful that Christmas is celebrated so heartily here and that our family can adopt some new traditions to make the celebration of Christ's birth even more special.