Tag Archives: christmas

Polish Christmas Traditions

Nationality: Polish-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: April 22, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Polish

Nationality: Polish-American
Primary Language: English
Other language(s): Polish
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: April 22, 2013

My informant was born in Boston, but his parents immigrated to the United States from Poland. He is an American citizen, but he has spent a few summers in Poland, and his parents keep many Polish traditions alive in his household. He told me about some of the similarities and differences between the ways that Christmas is celebrated in America versus in Poland. This is his account:

“In Poland, little kids are told that Santa Claus comes in early December. On the 6th, you come home form school. And there are gifts under your pillow. I don’t know why Santa puts gifts under your pillow, but he does. So they’ll be like, chocolates or little toys. Like small-scale gifts, like Pokemon cards or a Gameboy game. And the Polish tradition is to open gifts on Christmas Eve, not on Christmas Day. These are the gifts from family members, not Santa. And then we would sing Polish carols and stuff. Some of them are the same as English songs, but just in polish, like it’ll be “Jingle Bells” sung in Polish.”

Analysis: My informant’s broad descriptions of some of the differences between Polish and American Christmases seem to indicate that many of our traditions are the same. Some noticeable changes are that Santa visited my informant’s family on December 6th, whereas December 24th is his usual visitation date in the United States. My informant also mentioned that he didn’t understand why Santa put gifts under his pillow—instead of in stockings, as is common in the U.S.—but to me, stockings seem stranger than under pillows. This is one example of how certain traditions can develop seemingly arbitrarily; placing presents under pillows did not really make sense to my informant, but his family did it ever year, and putting presents in stockings seems somewhat silly to me, but my family keeps this tradition alive. Despite the lack of concrete explanations for these habits, they still certainly have meaning. Christmas in particular is especially ritualized because of its religious and cultural significance. And although these rituals may differ from Poland to the United States, the fact that citizens from both nations make efforts to sanctify this holiday show that these cultures both see Christmas as an important holiday. This common ground seems more significant to me than the specific differences in how it is celebrated; essentially, Christmas is a unifying celebration for multiple cultures.

Christmas Traditions

Nationality: America
Age: 53
Occupation: Pediatrician
Residence: Edina, MN
Performance Date: April 30th, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Sign Language, Russian, French

“We have a lot of Christmas traditions in our household. First, the kids are not allowed to open anything under the tree, but they are allowed to get into their stockings while the parents are still sleeping, because the parents were most likely up all night wrapping packages.  There is an orange in each stocking for good luck—a Chinese traditional offering to Buddha.  We added the clever little trick of stuffing the stockings with time-consuming diversions, such as games, art supplies, and favorite movies on DVD, and most importantly, cooking utensils, such as a mini-frying pan and spatula, and the kids “bought in” to the idea of making breakfast in bed for the parents.  The parents act surprised, of course, when the kids come upstairs with the tray, singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”.  We, then, dutifully feed the kids bites from our breakfast trays, until there is no breakfast left at all, and no excuses remain—the parents emerge sleepily out of bed, stumble downstairs, and we all enjoy the goodies under the tree.  My husband’s preference, which I happily adopted, is to take turns opening packages, one person at a time, slowly, appreciatively.  My other Christmas tradition is decorating with the little Swedish folding paper-dolls, called Tomten, on the bookshelves, mantel, and window sills.  These mischievous cheerful characters are ubiquitous in Scandinavian households at Christmas time.  There is not a drop of Swedish blood in my veins, but there was a Swedish woman who lived down the street from my mother, who regularly and reliably protected her from a terribly abusive alcoholic step-father when she was a young girl living in Maine.  The Tomten were playful figures, who could be depended upon to come out and dance every Christmas, even when life was otherwise scary and painful—and so these colorful little folding paper-dolls symbolize the power of love for children,  security and resilience in this harsh world, simple magic and good humor!”

The informant told me all of the traditions she can remember that take place on Christmas. Some of the traditions are practiced elsewhere, such as putting an orange in the stocking (which, as the informant said, is a Chinese tradition). Some however, may be unique to the informant’s family. Bringing the parents breakfast in bed, the specific order for opening the presents, and the parents feeding the children may or may not be practiced in other households, for similar or different reasons. The informant talked about the Tomten, Swedish paper dolls, which remind her of her of her mother and protect the house. Celebrations and festivals always involve many smaller details. For the informant, these details all add up to create a meaningful tradition for Christmas.

I thought it was interesting that the informant combined several diverse cultures in her own American traditions. First, she puts oranges in the stockings, which is “a Chinese traditional offering to the Buddha”. Despite the fact that the informant has no Chinese heritage, she still practices on of their traditions. Second, she decorates the house with Swedish dolls, Tomten, not because she is Swedish, but because her mother had a strong connection with a Swedish woman, and the informant wants to honor that connection. I think this shows how easily culture can be appropriated and interpreted. Furthermore, it shows that no one can own culture, because it crosses physical and psychological boundaries.

I think the informant’s Christmas sounds fun and sweet. I like that it is centered on family and the various interactions between family members that Christmas necessitates. The children bring the parents breakfast in bed is a nice addition to the holiday, especially for the parents. I have some Tomten of my own, and they are very playful and a good holiday decoration. My family celebrates Christmas with the extended family, but we do have nuclear family events in the morning, like eating pancakes for breakfast! Family traditions help to cement Christmas as a time for family, love, reflection, and appreciation.

Christmas in Germany

Nationality: German
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: 4/18/13
Primary Language: English
Language: German

A German tradition is: on Christmas, all children have to go to bed for approximately like two hours—uh, they have to take a nap from about 4 to 6 pm, and then they all get dressed up and stand outside of the door to the living room where, um…yeah, all the kids are standing outside… and only when the parents sing a specific song are the kids allowed to go inside, and um… every kid has to play a musical instrument or sing or dance or something, and only when everyone is done are you allowed to go in and open your presents. 

 

This German tradition differs greatly from the American tradition, which seems now to be based solely on the giving and reception of gifts. The whole day, in my opinion, has been reduced to economics: spending money, stimulating the economy, partaking in the American consumerism that dominates the culture. Lost are the religious rituals that accompany the celebration of Christmas (for the most part). Rather, Christmas has achieved a more secular significance.

 

Christmas in my family, like in many American families, has been reduced to gift giving and receiving. Weeks in advance my siblings publish lists of material things that they want and where these items can be acquired with the most ease. As my family is not terribly religious, and as many others aren’t either, what else would Christmas signify? How do you acknowledge and celebrate a day whose significance is insignificant to you? Thus, the progression from religion to retail makes sense.

 

I find it interesting and quite cool that Germans incorporate cultural songs and dances into their celebration of Christmas. Sophia admits that most Germans are not very religious, so the replacement of the standard Christian hymns and prayers and affirmations by pieces of German culture feels more natural for them and adds a unique twist to the celebration.

 

Traditional Christmas Dinner – Lutefisk

Nationality: Norwegian
Age: 42
Occupation: Homemaker, Full-time Volunteer
Residence: Woodland Hills, California
Performance Date: March 31, 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: None

Informant: “My family for Christmas, we eat lutefisk. Which is cod soaked in lie. It’s cod soaked in lie and then you cook it, and its this gelatinous thing that is, its indescribable, and anybody coming into the family has no idea what’s going on, like why are you serving this for Christmas dinner. But you put it on mash potatoes and you mash it in there and you put drawn butter on top and its good, but if you eat it by itself, it is like, I don’t know, its absolutely disgusting. They cook the cod in lie because you were in the Midwest, these were all Norwegians who fled Norway, and you didn’t, I mean there was no where you could really fish, I mean you could ice fish or whatever, but these were all people that grew up with an abundance of fish in Norway and here they are in the middle of the Midwest with no fish, so they would transport this cod from the east coast. But to keep it OK  they would keep it in lie, which is you know a poison, and that’s how they would keep it and transport it.”

 

Interviewer: “And it’s safe to eat?”

 

Informant: “Yeah you cook it and eat it, with lots of butter, it’s very good. It looks like no fish you have ever eaten; I mean it is like see-though, gelatinous fish.”

 

Interviewer: “Why on Christmas?”

 

Informant: “I don’t know, but there are these huge lutefisk dinners in Minneapolis and St. Paul. I mean like people pay like 50 bucks to go have a lutefisk dinner.”

 

Interviewer: “How was it to have this tradition be apart of your yearly Christmas experience?”

 

Informant: “Well I mean for me I grew up with doing it, so it is very traditional, it is like how we felt like we were connecting with our heritage. It is important to carry it on. Like this year , my aunts were like oh, lets do something different, lets do like lobster or something like that and all of my generation was like ‘No, were are doing lutefisk,’ because to us that is like the traditional Christmas dinner and we want it. Regardless of the fact that nobody else would ever come to your house and eat that. That’s it yeah.”

 

The informant is a middle-aged mother with three boys. She grew up in Minnesota with a large family in the suburbs of Minneapolis. As stated in the interview, the informant grew up eating lutefisk for Christmas and she associates the food with Christmas dinner.

Lutefisk is a traditional dish from the Nordic Countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland and has been carried over to Nordic-North American areas of Canada, the Finnish community at Sointula on Malcolm Island in the province of British Columbia, and the United States, particularly in the Upper Midwest and Pacific Northwest.

Lutefisk is made from cod, and to make it, the skin and bones need to be removed, then the fish is salted and hung to dry for several weeks until it hardens. Then, it should be soaked in lye for several days. (Merriam-Webster: Lye – strong alkaline liquor rich in potassium carbonate leached from wood ashes and used especially in making soap and for washing). According to the informant, lutefisk can be served with gravies, green peas, mashed peas, (boiled, baked or mashed) potatoes, meatballs, lefse, gravy, mashed rutabaga, white sauce, mustard sauce, melted butter, syrup, or cheeses, though they usually serve it with mashed potatoes and butter.

I think this collection really emphasizes how people can become attached to their traditions even if they don’t necessarily like them. The informant is determined to continue to have lutefisk dinner on Christmas because she feels that it ties her to her heritage and it is an important tradition for her, even though she considers the fish itself to be “disgusting,” .

Plate of Lutefisk

The informant sent me this picture of Cream of Lutefisk soup after our interview

Interestingly, Lutefisk is present in many different popular culture genres, for example in movies and music. A movie was released in 2011 called “The Lutefisk Wars” directed by David E. Hall and Christopher Panneck about: “A rural frozen food delivery man is mistaken for someone else and ends up in the middle of an ancient feud between two Norwegian Mafia Families” (IMDb). There is also a music band called Lutefisk which released an album in 1997 called “Burn in Hell Fuckers.” Lastly, a parody song concerning lutefisk called “O Lutefisk, O Lutefisk” was created by Red Stangeland to the Tune of “O Tannenbaum” by Ernst Gebhard Anschutz.

Movie Cover

The Lutefisk Wars. Dir. David E. Hall and Christopher Panneck. Perf. Ken Baldwin, Haynes Brooke, and Regan Burns. Sojourner Pictures, 2011. Film.

Album Cover

Lutefisk. Burn in Hell Fuckers. Bong Load Records, 1997. Audio CD.

Christmas Pajamas

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Encinitas, CA
Performance Date: 3/24/2013
Primary Language: English

“My mom always lied to me and said Santa Claus wouldn’t come unless I wore my Christmas pajamas.  She made my brother do it too.  My Christmas pajamas consisted of a flannel nightgown with white lace around the collar with little bells on it, and it doesn’t get that cold in California so we would be sweating in it.  I would wake up in the morning and my cheeks were all flushed.  Mom would take pictures of us sweating, and I had a rash from the stupid lace.  It’s so dumb.  I’m definitely not doing that to my kids.”

The informant was not aware until later in life that her grandmother had done the same thing to her mother.  She thinks that her mother made her do it because they looked cute in Christmas pajamas, and “anything to dress to theme, my mom was all over.”  The informant does not want to continue the tradition because of the discomfort that she had to go through for all those years.

Some rituals and traditions seem to be for the parents more than the children.  Perhaps one day, she will make her kids dress in Christmas pajamas, but without kids of her own, the infliction of uncomfortable pajamas with the threat of no Santa seems cruel.