Santa’s elves on the go ahead of Christmas

Rovaniemi is the home of Santa Claus – nature’s northernmost resort where green leaves turn white under the spell of snow during winter and people from across the world throng the Santa Clause Village to have a feel of the magic of his home.

It is that time of the year again when all roads lead to Santa’s home. A few days ahead of Christmas and Santa’s departure on the annual world tour to distribute gifts and greet people, everyone at the Santa Clause Village are fully engaged; even the reindeers and flakes of snow could not hide their excitement.

The home of Santa is full to its brim with gifts of different sizes. All the elves at the Arctic Circle are busy in various activities to make people’s visits memorable. Apart from catching some glimpses of the Santa’s home magic and exploring the souvenir shops, children and adults alike are involved in all sorts of activities in the village.

One of the elves named Vanilla said Santa’s village is where people come to meet Santa and she was helping Santa ensure that all the Christmas preparations are done on time. She said at the moment everyone is extremely busy with visitors and they receive thousands of letters every day.

The happy elves, despite having busy schedules of assisting Santa, do have time for relaxation. After a busy day, Vanilla likes to taste Christmas delicacies – snacks and chocolate – and end it all with a nap.

Riitta the Elf, however, reports that after a busy day she usually relax by running in the forest and does the same while going back home. She said in winter she also loves to swim in the cold river. It renews her energy to keep up with the pace of work at Santa’s office.

According to Riitta, who works in the post office, Santa usually gets up to 5,000 visitors and 30,000 letters a day during the Christmas season. He receives about 500,000 letters a year but most of them come before the Christmas day. Riitta helps Santa’s visitors with information about postcards and other postal services.

According to the two elves, at Santa’s village the Christmas season continues beyond December up to spring. This extension of the Christmas season is the result of the Russian Christmas which usually comes up between January 1 and January 8 and the Chinese New Year which falls between February and March bringing flurries of activities to Santa’s home.

The elves usually try to speak many foreign languages. The list of languages includes English, Estonian, Finnish, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, German, and Swedish. Their language skills help them communicate with the visitors and make their visits to Santa’s village memorable.

The Santa’s elves love their work and are always excited by Christmas music and meeting people from all over the world, most especially by the feelings kids have when they see Santa for the first time. Their activities do not come to an end after the Christmas season, because they then start preparations for the next Christmas.