Klaipėda Ieva Simonaitytė Basic School, Lithuania

WE EUROPEANS

Christmas in Lithuania

The Christmas Eve dinner (Kūčios) consists of 12 different dishes. They symbolize the 12 months of the year and the 12 Apostles of Jesus. All dishes have to be without meat, most popular is fish, herring, kūčiukai (small Christmas Eve cookies) with poppy milk, kisielius (a Lithuanian drink from cranberries), dried fruit soup, vegetable salad, mushrooms, boiled potatoes, bread.

The Christmas Eve (Kūčios) dinner table is set with hay under the tablecloth. It symbolizes the birth of Jesus.

• Everyone has to try all 12 dishes. It is said that the longer you eat on Christmas Eve, the longer you’ll live. People believe, that soules come back home this night and they leave all dishes on the table.

Before the meal starts the family shares Christmas wafers (kalėdaitis).

Poppy seed milk is eaten with Lithuanian

Christmas cookies (kūčiukai).

Lithuanian Christmas cookies (kūčiukai).

The tradition of decorating a Christmas tree is not very old in Lithuania

Traditional Hand Made

Lithuanian Christmas Decorations

Even nowadays Lithuanians like to decorate Christmas Tree with straw ornaments.

Our city Klaipėda is already decorated for Christmas.

Christmas is coming to our

school.

Thank you for your attention!

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a lot of love, kindness and peace.

The presentation was made by the pupils from the 7th form