How’s your Christmas shopping coming along? I haven’t even started mine, to be honest. And if someone asks me why, I’m going to tell them that I’m turning Greek orthodox this year. Speaking of which, these guys have it so easy – everything is on sale for THEIR xmas. Not fair, so not fair…

And everybody asks me what I want to get “pod choinkę” or “na Gwiazdkę” or “na Święta.” Well, let’s see… I want an orange 350Z, and a new MacBookPro, and a live-in maid, but I’d settle for a Sony Alpha 700. And oh yeah, world peace and all that.

But let’s back up for a sec.

  • choinka (fem., pl. choinki) – Christmas tree.

So “pod choinkę” means “under the Christmas tree.”

Święta Bożego Narodzenia (though, normally “Bożego Narodzenia” is implied and understood) – Christmas.

Or you can simply say “Boże Narodzenie” which literally means something like “God’s Birth.”

And now, “Gwiazdka,” hmmm… Remember when in the post about Święty Mikołaj I mentioned this other guy – Gwiazdor. His name comes from the word “Gwiazdka.” And that literally means “little star” from the legend that a star appeared in the sky when baby Jesus was born.

So, if someone asks you “Co chcesz na Gwiazdkę?” or more politely “Co chciałabyś (or chciałbyś if you’re asking a guy) dostać na Gwiazdkę?” they’re simply asking you what you want (or would like) to get for Christmas.

And finally:

  • zakupy świąteczne – Christmas shopping
  • prezenty świąteczne – Christmas presents

Now I’m off to the kitchen trying to figure out how to help my friend with her traditional Wigilia dinner. Twelve different dishes, hay under the table, opłatek (Christmas wafer), the whole nice yards. And between the two of us, we don’t even know how to make barszcz czerwony (red borscht).

This shall be interesting…

Wesołych Świąt!!!

PS. Image: Wikipedia