Despite being at the heart of much destruction during World War II, it has kept much of its cultural heritage remarkably intact. Home to wonderful, captivating landscapes, like the Carpathian Mountains, the coastline of the Baltic Sea, or the winding river Vistula, Poland offers many natural wonders. In fact, Poland is home to 14 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage sites!

Polish People and Community

➢ Family Dynamic

Poles are generally friendly and active people, who like to keep themselves busy with extracurricular activities, trips, and family get-togethers. You’re likely to find a close-knit family with grandparents often living in the home. In Polish culture, parents usually give their children quite a bit of independence and responsibility. Polish families come in all shapes and sizes, some lead very quiet lives, others are quite busy and their household is noisy. Some take frequent trips or outings, while others spend most of their time at home. Both parents may work outside the home or only one. Families also come from a variety of socio-economic backgrounds. Families will usually gather on Sundays to have lunch with immediate and extended family members. Polish society is young and well-educated, with a strong sense of initiative and creativity.

Language and Communication Styles

➢ Official Language

Poland’s official language, Polish, belongs to the West Slavic branch of Slavic languages. It has several dialects that correspond to the old tribal divisions and it has also been influenced by contact with foreign tongues.

➢ Communication Style in Poland Poles are direct and frank communicators. They generally do not hesitate to state their opinions and can deliver criticism quite honestly. People of other cultures may get the impression that Polish people are blunt or self-confident. However, in Polish culture it is believed that the more direct a person is with someone, the greater their respect. In addition, humour and sarcasm play a large role in the Polish communication style.

Food in Poland

➢ The Polish Diet

Food in Poland is hearty, and highlights include pierogi, a kind of stuffed dumpling, stew with mushrooms and sausage, meat, cabbage, and potatoes. Bread is served with just about every meal, and people often buy fresh bread daily from local bakeries. People in rural areas tend to grow their own fresh vegetables. Polish cuisine is also known for its delicious cakes. Toruń, for example, is the home of gingerbread and Warsaw is famous for its rosehip jam-filled doughnuts. Other popular Polish dishes include Rosół, which is chicken soup with noodles, usually eaten on Sundays, Barszcz, a clear beetroot soup whose ingredients are garlic, onions, carrots, and celery, and Bigos, cabbage stew with meat and sausage. In Poland, breakfast, lunch, and dinner are the main meals and families usually try to eat these together, depending on their schedule. An additional meal that Polish people enjoy having is called ‘drugie śniadanie’ (second breakfast). Family and food are important in Polish culture, which is the reason why having lunch on Sundays together is still an existing tradition.

Holidays

Religion plays a big role in Polish culture. Poland is one of the most devotedly religious countries in Europe, having most of its population belonging to the Roman Catholic Church. Christmas and Easter are two major holidays in Poland.

Polish Traditions

➢ Easter Holiday in Poland

Poland is a country full of unique traditions and customs, especially those rooted in the Catholic faith. One of the most important holidays is that of Easter.

➢ Christmas Cheers in Poland

Spending Christmas in Poland is a real treat for travellers. The holiday season is packed with longstanding cultural traditions, an array of special culinary dishes and vibrant Christmas markets that brighten up the chill of winter. Maybe only the custom of Christmas fortunetelling, which in the past was considered as determining the course of events for the entire coming year, has not survived.

• Advent - Christmas time is preceded by the 4-week religious season of Advent, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus.

• Decorating Christmas tree - Christmas trees are decorated shortly before Christmas. The decorations include glass balls, garlands, home-made ornaments and candles, with a star or a tree topper at the top.

• Fasting - Christmas Eve is a day of fasting, followed by a sumptuous dinner, consisting of 12 traditional dishes, which in most homes starts with the appearance of the first star.

• Culinary traditions - Polish culinary traditions vary depending on the region, but traditionally 12 dishes are served to reflect the number of Apostles. The dishes may include fish or red beetroot soup, carp, pasta with poppy mass, jellied fish, herring in cream or oil, or Kutia – a wheat pudding with poppy seed, honey, and nuts.

• An extra seat for the unexpected guest - In most Polish homes, an empty seat with a set of dishes and cutlery is left for a traveller or a homeless person so that they can join the hosts and celebrate the holiday on Christmas Eve.

• Sharing wafer - Just before the dinner, family members share the wafer and wish all the best to each other.

• Hay on the table - This tradition is on the decline, but there still are families who put hay on the table covering it with the table cloth.

• Gift giving following Christmas dinner - One of the best loved Polish traditions. Traditionally, it Santa Claus who brings gift or, optionally, they are placed under the Christmas tree.

• Singing carols - Christmas carols are serious and religious in character, yet it is customary to sing them after dinner.

• Carolling on Christmas Eve - In some parts of Poland, especially in the countryside, there are groups of carollers going house to house, carolling or performing a short nativity play.

• Midnight Mass - At midnight following Christmas Eve many Poles attend the Midnight Mass to commemorate the prayers of shepherds on their way to Bethlehem.

• Christmas Days - Christmas Day and Boxing Day, known here as the First and the Second Day of Christmas, are traditionally spent with relatives, even if it means traveling long distances to visit them.

➢ Fat Thursday in Poland

From Christmas Day until Lent, the period of forty days before Easter, Polish people celebrate Carnival. They have a horse-drawn sleigh ride through the snow-covered countryside, eat sweets, cakes and special pastries like "pączki” (donuts).

In modern times, Carnival is rather increasingly seen as an excuse for intensive partying and night-clubbing, and has become more commercialized with stores offering Carnival-season sales. The Tuesday before the start of Lent is also treat as the last day to party before the Lenten season.

Most Unique Traditions in Poland

➢ Wedding traditions

Greeting with bread and salt, carrying the bride over the stoop or throwing vodka glasses back over the shoulder are only some of the Polish wedding customs. Equally popular is the Oczepiny ritual – removing the bride's veil and thus accepting her into a group of married women. The Money Dance - collecting money from guests to dance with the bride or the groom – is also a common wedding tradition.

Easter traditions

It is customary in Poland to bring food to church in a basket on Easter Saturday to have everything that will be eaten on Easter Sunday blessed, e.g. a small amount of egg, bread, butter. Another Polish Easter tradition is Smingus Dyngus or Wet Monday, which involves pouring girls with water so that they can marry happily in future.

➢ Taking shoes off

When you visit someone's house, even for the first time, do not be surprised if you will be asked to take your shoes off and offered slippers instead.

➢ St. Andrew's Day

St. Andrew's Day or Andrzejki is the last day before Advent and most people celebrate it by organising or participating in a party, involving not only food and drink but also fortune telling! You may be asked to participate in a shoe race, blind picking a name of your future spouse, or pouring wax over cold water to foretell your future.

➢ Women's Day

Celebrated on 8 March, the Women's Day is a relic of the Communist era, when the day was celebrated as a national holiday for all women. Nevertheless, women still receive flowers and gifts on that day.

➢ Koleda

Each year, following Christmas, a priest pays a customary visit to all homes in the parish.

➢ Polish greetings

The Polish exchange handshakes and kiss each other on a cheek three times when they meet. Kissing a woman on her hand as a form of polite greeting is also frequent.

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