Shopping in Britain
Christmas is the shopping time, but only if you live in Britain…
Poland
Christmas Eve 24th
- Fasting broken when the sun goes down.
- Decoration of the Christmas tree.
- w Traditional twelve-dishes dinner.
- Opening the presents at the first star in the sky.
- Nativity Play at midnight at church.
Christmas Day 25th
- Family meetings
Boxing Day 26th
- Family meetings
Britain
Christmas Eve 24th
- Parties
- Santa Claus comes during the night and brings presents
Christmas Day 25th
- Opening the presents very early in the morning
- Traditional family dinner
- Queen’s speech on TV at three o’clock
Boxing Day 26th
- Family meetings
- Giving money to the poor
- Shopping
Christmas dinner in the UK and Christmas dinner in Poland.
Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom usually consists of brandy butter, bread sauce, Christmas pudding (or plum sauce), cranberry sauce, roast turkey, roast vegetables, stuffing (or dressing).
Christmas dinner also has other non-food related differences to Sunday dinner such as the use of the good cutlery, and the presence of Christmas crackers and the drinking of white wine.A common tradition in the United Kingdom is to use the turkey’s wishbone to make a wish. A mutual pair will usually pull at the two opposite ends of the wishbone with the person breaking the larger portion of the bone making a wish.
In Poland elaborate meal of twelve meatless dishes is served. This is because the pre-Christmas season is a time of fasting, which will be broken on Christmas itself. Because of the fast, no meat, eggs or milk are allowed during the supper.
The Christmas dinner begins with eating kutia. Poppy seeds are widely used for Christmas Eve dishes, because they symbolize abundance and prosperity. Regarding the fish dishes, usually herring, carp or pike are eaten. In Christian tradition it is explained that fish symbolizes the fact that Jesus was a fisherman. Mushrooms, especially dried or pickled, are also one of the main dishes eaten on Christmas Eve. Sauerkraut with wild mushrooms or peas, red borsch, mushroom are eaten. Boiled or deep fried pierogi with a wide variety of fillings like sauerkraut, mushrooms, smashed poppy seeds. As for beverages, traditionally dried fruit compote or cranberry kisiel.
Shopping in Britain
Family around Christmas tree singing carols, eating Christmas dishes, smiling and happy just like on coca-cola advertisement. This is the image of Christmas British have in their minds no wonder that some retail companies internally refer to the Boxing Day and the sales week after Christmas as the “thirteenth month”.
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is the following day after Christmas Day. It has always had something to do with money. Like Christmas Day it is also a national holiday in England. The name goes back to medieval times, more than 800 years ago, when alms boxes were placed at the back of every church to collect money for the poor. Traditionally, it is on this day that the alms box at every English church is opened and the contents are distributed to the poor.
Historians say the holiday developed because servants were required to work on Christmas Day, but took the following day off. As servants prepared to leave to visit their families, their employers would present them with Christmas boxes.
Did you know?
- The Christmas boxes were made from clay and were not made in the shape of a box. They were hollow clay balls with a slit in the top.
- During the late 18th century, Lords and Ladies of the manor would “box up” their leftover food, or sometimes gifts and distribute them the day after Christmas to tenants who lived and worked on their lands.
- The tradition of giving money still continues today. It is customary for householders to give small gifts or monetary tips to regular visiting trades people (the milkman, dustman, coalman, paper boy etc.) and, in some work places, for employers to give a Christmas bonus to employees.
- Recently some shops have broken from tradition and started opening on Boxing Day to start the New Year sales. Hundreds of people now spend Boxing Day morning in queues outside shops, waiting to be the first to dive for the sales racks as the doors opened. It has been proved that Boxing Day is the most profitable day for commerce during the whole year. Boxing Day and the days immediately following are when many retail stores sell their Christmas and retired model products by holding clearance sales. Some shoppers line up for hours at night (sometimes before midnight and after midnight on December 26th) for retailers to open their doors. Retailers often open their stores earlier than usual, such as 6 or 7 a.m.
The tradition seems to change very quickly. Now the best presents you get just after Christmas.
Improve your vocabulary!
fasting – post
nativity play – jasełka (widowisko)
roast turkey – pieczony indyk
cutlery – sztućce
elaborate – misterny
abundance – obfitość, dostatek
prosperity – powodzenie, dostatek
herring – śledź
pike – szczupak
sauerkraut – kapusta kiszona
borsch – barszcz
fried – smażony
retail – handel detaliczny
internally – wewnętrznie
medieval – średniowieczny
alms – datki, jałmużna
clay – glina, gliniany
slit – nacięcie
leftovers – resztki
tenant – lokator
customary – zwyczajowy
householder – właściciel, domownik
trade – sektor, fach, branża
dive – zanurzać się, nurkować
rack – stojak
profitable – zyskowny, dochodowy, opłacalny
retailer – detalista