Romanian Christmas Traditions that I Do (Not) Miss

If you are interested in Romanian Christmas traditions that I, a woman from Dracula’s country, grew up with, I invite you to read this article.

Even though my blood is mostly human, I like to think that, as I tell my son, about ten to fifteen percent of it is vampire. Leaving that aside, I have mixed feelings about my Christmas traditions, but most of them are wonderful.

Let’s start with the not-so-great ones and finish with the good ones, so I can end the post on a positive note.

Romanian Christmas Traditions I Grew Up With

Cutting the Pig

One morning, when I was four or five, I was woken up by squeals. I opened the door to see what was happening. There were more people in our yard. A pig was there. My grandfather saw me and shouted, “Get back in the house!” I went back inside. They were cutting the pig.

Life in Plastic, Is Fantastic!

No, it’s not. At least Santa’s face wasn’t. When I saw him, I was scared and burst into tears. His face was plastic because he was wearing a mask. I was two or three years old. I was supposed to recite a Christmas poem I had learned especially for him. I didn’t want to, because that was not Santa, plus I was scared and I was crying.

How did my mum try to soothe me? First, she took me to the kitchen, good. Then she offered me sarmale, a traditional Romanian dish, bad.

Thirty years later:
“How are you dealing with your emotions, Alexandra?”
“When I’m happy, I eat; when I’m sad, I eat.” Simple.

Poems for Santa

Every child in Romania needed to know poems for when Santa was coming. One was not enough. You had to know several, because being compared to other children was a must 30 years ago.

Romanian Christmas Traditions I Grew Up With

Decorating the Christmas Tree

Christmas Eve is very special to us. Many things happen on this day. We decorated the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve. If a child was younger, sometimes Santa would bring the tree, but the real magic happened on the 24th of December.

Over the past few years, with YouTube and social media, this tradition has changed. People don’t wait until the 24th to decorate the tree anymore.

Sweets on the Christmas Tree

Our tree didn’t have just baubles and tinsel — it also had hanging sweets. What did these sweets look like? They were either fruity jellies in different flavours or a hard cream covered in chocolate. The jellies tasted better. Each one was wrapped in colourful, shiny foil, which could be plain or decorated with Christmas motifs.

Every child was thrilled to get sweets from the Christmas tree.

When Does Santa Bring Presents in Romania?

Santa brings the presents on the 24th, after the tree is decorated. Sometimes he comes in person, as happened to me a couple of times; other times, the presents simply appear because Santa is magical, and magic happens.

Singing Carols – A Beautiful Romanian Christmas Tradition

To be honest, this is the tradition I miss the most since living in England. Children (sometimes by themselves, other times joined by grown-ups) go to people’s houses to sing carols. If you let them in, you give them money, homemade cakes, a glass of juice, or even homemade alcohol (if the child is over 16 or if the caroler is an adult).

Since moving to England, we somehow manage to keep this tradition alive. Either we go to our friends’ houses to sing carols, or our friends come to our house.

These are some of the Christmas traditions I experienced as a child, and they are what make Christmas truly feel like Christmas. Romania is a country rich in customs and traditions, so there are many more ways Christmas is celebrated.

Now, it’s your turn: tell me, where are you from, and what Christmas traditions do you miss or celebrate?

photo source: https://learningliftoff.com