Santa Claus, or Father Christmas as he is also known, is the great hero of the Finnish Christmas. On the first weekend of Advent at the beginning of December, Santa Claus comes to the towns of southern Finland to tell about the great festival of Christmas. Thousands of children surround him and tell him what they would like for Christmas. In many towns, Advent begins with the opening of decorated streets that herald the coming event. At Advent, children and adults alike receive humorous Christmas calendars from each other. The calendars have doors which are opened one day at a time until Christmas Eve. Usually the calendars open up on light-hearted Christmas pictures, although sometimes the flaps conceal small gifts as well. At Advent, children really begin their wait for Christmas. The distance from the capital of Finland to Korvatunturi (which translates literally as 'Ear Fell'), the home of Santa Claus, is nearly one thousand kilometres. On the top of Korvatunturi there are three 'ears' with which Santa hears the wishes of all the children of the world. Korvatunturi is such a secret place that only Santa Claus, his wife, and the hundreds of elves are allowed there. The top of Korvatunturi is 483 metres above sea level, and its ears work like satellites. There is lots of snow in Lapland - Santa Claus Land - from November until late spring, sometimes even until May. Santa Claus often has to explain to his foreign guests just what snow really is. Santa Claus is so old that he can't really remember his age. But maybe it doesn't make any difference, for Santa Claus, who is ageless and kind, is accepted and loved by all as the bringer of Christmas cheer. He doesn't need any identification papers. But Santa is always ready to answer the snow question. He has a slip of paper in his pocket which he can take out whenever he needs the answer. Snow is a white, flaky substance composed of ice crystals that covers Lapland throughout the winter. You make snow into snowmen, snow castles, snowballs, and snow sculptures. And when snowflakes float through the air to the ground like white sylphs on a beautiful winter's day, that's Lapland at its best.
Santa Claus is a rather old-fashioned fellow so he dislikes media coverage of Mrs. Claus. That's why no visitors are allowed at Korvatunturi. Nevertheless, Santa has confided that they live a peaceful existence with their elves, eat a lot of salmon, porridge in the morning, and the tasty berries of Lapland. The elves are not quite like ordinary children, since they are born from the cones of fir trees. Whenever more elves are needed, Mrs. Claus gathers cones from the forest, covers them neatly for the night in a big kettle, under a blanket she herself has crocheted, and intones the following incantation: The tradition of household elves goes back to ancient times, more than 2000 years ago. The household elf has always been the guardian spirit that protects the home, secretly or quietly, a friendly goblin or gnome; they have many different names. In Finland such gnomes have always protected and assisted the inhabitants of country dwellings. They heated saunas, tended the children, and saw to the grain, the cattle, and the horses in the stable. They were the best friends of the dogs and cats. Some of them had special tasks: they were responsible for the living quarters, the barn, or the sauna. Elves were also very attached to the old buildings in which they lived.
