As I child I remember every Christmas Eve waiting for Santa to show up on the television with his reindeer and presents in the North Pole. It was every child's dream to meet Santa and at the age of 20 I fulfilled that dream. 6km North of Rovaniemi, Finland, there is a place called Santa Claus village open every day of the year. A place where you can meet Santa, meet his reindeers, ride husky sleds and reindeer through the snow, post letters from the official Santa Claus post office and even eat reindeer burgers.
I visited Santa Claus village on a quiet autumn day where there was hardly any people around. As I walked up to the big red doors which read 'meet Santa here' I felt a tinsy bit nervous! I had always dreamed of meeting the Santa Claus I saw on the TV, but even as a 20 year old meeting him was slightly nerve racking. I was the only person there and began to walk through a decorated passage with presents hanging from the walls, elves laughing and Christmas trees as far as the eye could see. I arrived to find Santa Claus sitting on his chair in his full traditional outfit (unlike the dodgy Santa you see at Westies every Christmas). He invited me to sit down and for a good five minutes we chatted about life. His eyes were crystal blue and his accent was undeterminable, and for a slight second it was like he was real but then I saw the glue on his beard and my dreams were crushed once again. We then had a little photo shoot and he told me he would see me soon in Adelaide.
I then posted some letters from the official Santa Claus Post office. The stamps are marked with official Santa stamps and can be sent to arrive at Christmas time anywhere in the world. My family are going to receive a pretty cool letter in the post soon. I spent the rest of my time here buying some souvenirs and trying the famous reindeer burger which was pretty good (sorry Rudolph!) But overall it was a wicked experience and another thing ticked off the Bucket list!
