The Foreigner's Guide to Living in Slovakia

This year, my husband and I are staying in California for Christmas. For my Slovak husband, this will be his first Christmas in the US.

We’ve decided that we would like to keep as many Slovak Christmas traditions as possible for the Christmas season and while I am going to be responsible for the traditional Christmas dinner of kapustnica – cabbage soup, kapor – carp (though we may go with trout instead), and zemiakový šalát – potato salad, my husband is going to be responsible for the Christmas tree and its decorations.

There’s a few things to know about decorating a traditional Slovak Christmas tree. Also, I should note that traditions vary across Slovakia. These are traditions I’ve seen from my husband’s family and from friends of mine in the Nitra region.

Firstly, the timing is important. A Christmas tree , usually a jedlička – fir or a borovica – pine variety, goes up only a few days before Christmas and in some families isn’t decorated until Christmas eve, after dinner, while waiting for Ježiško – baby Jesus to be born and to bring gifts. Of course, since the tree goes up so late, this means it can stay up longer after Christmas.

Secondly, there are the ornaments: The most traditional ornaments are made from slama – straw. These ornaments can be woven in the shape of a heart, ring, cone, star or other geometrical shapes. Tinsel is also made from straw or hay. Straw and hay are symbolic from their use in Jesus’ manger where he lay.

Apples and walnuts are other kinds of ornaments that make a traditional Slovak Christmas tree unique. Apples and walnuts are commonly grown across Slovakia and many families have them stored at home after the fall harvest. Not only can they be used to decorate the tree but they are an important part of the Christmas dinner.

Medovniky cookies made from honey are another kind of ornament. These sweet little cookies are usually decorated with white frosting, sometimes in amazingly intricate detail. And because they last many days after they’ve been baked, you can eat them right off the tree!

Another kind of edible ornament are salónky and figúrky. These are candies wrapped in different colored foil and are hung from the tree like other ornaments. I love eating ornaments off the tree. That’s something you don’t see on a traditional American Christmas tree.

Excluding the chocolate ornaments, what is special about the traditionally decorated Slovak Christmas tree is that the ornaments have a connection to nature: the fruit and nuts, the hay, and the honey cookies. These ornaments might seem “old fashioned” and many Slovak families have forgone these ornaments for shiny balls and foiled tassel that are so common nowadays, but for us it’s important to stick to the basics. Recognizing the symbols in the holiday traditions can be a powerful thing and allows to keep a link to the people and a place that are meaningful. This will be especially important this year as we start new traditions made by us as our own family.

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