Christmas Christmas in Hungary is the most intimate family gathering in the year. Hungarians say, Christmas is the celebration of love. In the afternoon of Christmas Eve families prepare for the evening. They are decorating Christmas tree, cooking dinner and wrapping presents. Grandparents are often walk with small grandchildren because children know that Christmas tree and presents are brought by the little Jesus. At 1 PM every shops close (even non-stop shops too), from 4 PM public transports (bus, tram, metro, train) stop, people can travel only by taxi or private car. When every housework has been finished, families begin the celebration of Christmas with dinner. Traditional menu is fish-soup, fried fish and poppy-seed and nut roll. Hungarian people spend this evening with just the immediate family present. After dinner families light candles on Christmas tree and sing or hears Christmas' songs and everybody opens their presents. Christians go to the midnight mass to celebrate the birth of Jesus. On the first and the second day of Christmas, which are holiday, people visit their relatives and spend with them a happy day. The Christmas Day's menu contains roast turkey or chicken and the indispensable poppy-seed and nut roll. (These rolls are enough by New Year. If you visit someone they will offer you their rolls. It Hungarian name is bejgli say beyglee).
New Year's Eve New Year's Eve is a foolish day when everybody is happy. Its Hungarian name is Szilveszter (Sylvester) after the name day. This day usually is a workday. After working people prepare for the night. They spend the last night of the year with their friends having a good time. The traditional dishes of this night are cold pork in aspic, wienerwurst with horseradish or mustard and poppy-seed and nut roll which remained from Christmas, after midnight roast pig. In the morning after a heavy drinking they eat cabbage soup. At midnight people open their champagne and stand up and sing the Hungarian national anthem. (This begins as a prayer: 'God bless Hungarians with high spirits and wealth...') After that on the New Year's Day people greet together with BUEK, that means 'Happy New Year'. Some traditional regulation on New Year's Day. Man should be the first who wish you 'Happy New Year' to be lucky in this year. Women must not sew, because she sews chicken's eggs up. Eat lentil, to be beautiful. Don't eat poultry in this day, because it will bury your fortune. Eat pig or pork, because it roots your fortune out.
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