In the far, far north, where winter comes early and days are short and nights are cold, the light of Christmas shines especially bright. Maybe that's why Santa chose this place for his home.
Legend has it that he lives at Korvatunturi, an obscure region of northern lights, sunless winters and trackless wilds in northeast Finland. The area is so far from human habitation that the only people who have ever seen it are a couple of old Lapps who stumbled upon it accidentally - and then forgot how they got there in the first place.The legend says that the elves who help Santa with his work are former guardian spirits of households and forests who over the years made their way to the peace of Korvatunturi. Don't bother asking Santa himself where he came from or how he got to this Finnish outpost. He will only smile.
But because Santa lives so far away, he commutes regularly to Santa Claus Village just north of Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle. There he has his own wooden house, where he greets visitors at all times of the year.
Santa and his elves also answer half a million letters that come to Rovaniemi each year from more than 150 countries worldwide. Every name and address the elves can decipher receives a reply - although sometimes it takes until February to get past the Christmas crunch. Letters are answered in the same language they are written - whether it's Finnish, English or Japanese. As an interesting sidelight, the elves save all the stamps, sell them to philatelists and donate the proceeds to UNICEF.
Letters from Santa is a tradition that started at Rovaniemi more than 70 years ago. At this time of year about 20,000 letters arrive each day - some with last-minutes gift requests, some with panic-stricken notes about behavior, some with just a Christmas greeting and a wish for peace.
If you want to write, the address is: Santa Claus, Arctic Circle, 96930 Rovaniemi, Finland.
Santa's village at Rovaniemi includes a collection of shops featuring Lapp and Finnish art, crafts, clothes and foods; a place to visit Santa's reindeer; and a large wooden tent-like building, a traditional Lapp structure, where visitors can participate in a brief ceremony to commemorate crossing the Arctic Circle. A log house that was built for Eleanor Roosevelt when she came to visit in 1950 is also part of the complex.
Rovaniemi, the capital and industrial center of Finnish Lapland, was all but destroyed in World War II and rebuilt following a design by architect Alvar Aalto, laid out in the shape of reindeer antlers.
Today it is a modern city of approximately 20,000. Well-connected by road, rail and air to other parts of Finland, it is becoming a popular tourist and travel center. One important visitor attraction is sports. In the summer there's hiking, camping, fishing. In the winter, skiing (both alpine and nordic), snowmobiling and reindeer safaris are popular. This far north, in fact, the winter sports season can last for seven months.
Because of economic fluctuations, Americans traveling to Finland this winter have more than 50 percent greater buying power than last year, reports the Finnish Tourist Board. A wide variety of featured packages are available that allow visitors to enjoy winter sports and activities of all kinds. For more information, write to the Finnish Tourist Board, 655 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017 or call 1-800-FIN INFO.
The Lapps are no longer the wandering nomads they once were; they still herd reindeer, which is important to the livelihood of Laplanders as a source of meat and fur. But today the herding is done on settled farms. Like cattle, every reindeer in the country is owned by someone; none simply roams free.
Some of the old ways linger, however. The bright, characteristic costumes are brought out for special occasions, such as holidays. The Lapps have become well-adapted to the cold and dark of winter, developing both proficient skill at outdoor activities and a knack for bringing warmth and light indoors. They invented the sauna, for one thing. And they take real joy in holiday and family celebrations.
All of the area above the Arctic Circle is considered the domain of Santa Claus, having been decreed such by the governor of Finnish Lapland 99 years ago. And because the country is so well-suited to the reindeer, these animals have become an inseparable part of the story. Like their pictures in Christmas books and on Christmas cards everywhere, reindeer have big, brown eyes and cute faces. They are smaller than you might think, but with impressive antlers and large feet. Can they fly? With Christmas magic, all things are possible.
At the Arctic Circle, where the sun hardly shines during these late December days, the holiday is warm and festive all the same, filled with love and light of a different sort. Festivities begin at mid-day on Dec. 24 with the reading of the Christmas message. Then there is the traditional sauna, followed by the lavish Christmas feast.
In Finland, Santa answers to the name of Joulupukki; and here, as in other places, he is a big part of the celebration. But unlike other places, where children must be in bed before Santa comes, in Finland he comes to the door before dinner. "Are there any good children here?" he always asks. And always, the answer is "Yes!" The children sing to him, then Joulupukki leaves a basket full of presents and continues on his way.
But no matter where he visits or how far from his home at Korvatunturi he goes, his message is universal: "Hauskaa Joulua" - Merry Christmas!