Christmas in Lithuania Nemenin Gediminas Gymnasium Christmas Eve

Christmas in Lithuania Nemenčinė Gediminas Gymnasium

Christmas Eve At Christmas time in Lithuania it is very cold, normally with snow and ice on the ground. Christmas Eve (Kūčios) is a more important day than Christmas Day. Kūčios is also the name of the big Christmas Eve meal which families have together during the evening of Christmas Eve. Kūčios is also the last day of Advent, so it is important and special.

Preparation But before the meal can be eaten, lots of preparations have to take place. The whole house is cleaned, the bedding is changed and everyone washes and puts on clean clothes ready for the meal. Some people thought being clean helped to protect them from evil or diseases during the coming year.

Decoration Straw is a traditional decoration. Is it normally spread on the table top and then covered with a clean, white tablecloth. A superstition says that if you pull a piece of straw from under the tablecloth and it's long, you will have a long life; but if it's short you will have a short life; and a thick straw means a rich and happy life! : )

Christmas tree in our capital Vilnius d e t a r o c e D r e w o T V T Vilnius

Christmas wafers At the center of the table is a plate of Christmas wafers - one wafer for each person at the meal. In some parts of Lithuania the wafers have the scene of the

Christmas Eve’s dishes Christmas Eve‘s meal normally has 12 dishes. None of the dishes contain meat. Traditional and popular dishes include fish, kūčiukai (small sweet pastries) normally soaked in poppy milk, kisielius (a drink made from cranberries), dried fruit soup, beet soup, vegetable salad, mushrooms, boiled or

Time for presents After the meal (or possibly between the main and sweet courses) there might be a visit from 'The Old Man of Christmas' (Santa Claus) with presents! People will also exchange presents between themselves.

In Lithuanian Merry Christmas is 'Linksmų Kalėdų‘!