CRI听力:Santa Claus Prepares for Global Gift Giving

Santa Claus and his 'elves' are busy making their final preparations for Christmas Eve at Santa Claus Village in Lapland.

Santa is confident they'll have their work done in time.

"Huh, they're going very well, everything is on schedule. Christmas of course is - I always say this that - it's such a good thing, Christmas Eve is always 24 December. So, it's very easy to plan ahead."

Santa Claus Village is located in the Arctic Circle, around eight kilometres north of Rovaniemi, the capital of Finland's Lapland.

Around 300,000 people visit the village every year to meet Santa, play in the snow, and get in the festive spirit.

Student Audrey Morin is visiting Santa Claus Village from Auxerre in France.

She says it's a magical experience.

"You have the feeling to be in a different world, a different planet. It's like you have a magical atmosphere. You come here and you are amazed by all the lights and all the children playing, it's like really nice to be here."

It's an out-of-this-world experience for Gavin Holcombe and his kids.

Gavin says they're normally accustomed to beachside festive fun in their hometown of Brisbane, Australia.

"We normally spend our Christmas at the beach out swimming in the surf, so being here in the snow is really different for us. It's a complete contrast to what our normal Christmases would be like in Australia, where it's really quite hot, it's normally about 35 or 36 degrees (Celsius) this time of year."

Part of the experience of visiting Santa Claus Village is getting to meet the big guy himself.

He says he's seen adults reduced to tears and even tell him it's a "childhood dream come true."

"They are amazed, surprised, some a little shy, many are very, very enthusiastic - they come like running and; 'Ah Santa' - and also the adults, it's the same with the adults."

For those who can't meet Santa Claus in person, there's always old-fashioned mail to get in contact.

In the village's nearby post office, Santa's 'elves' are busy sorting through thousands of letters sent from all around the world.

The post office says Santa Claus receives around half a million letters every Christmas from around 200 different countries.

This year, the festive posts are coming from Asia, Poland, Italy and Great Britain. A popular request is for toys from the winter-themed animated Disney film 'Frozen.'

Santa says many of the letters he receives also include details of the children's home lives:

"They write about their life, their pets, their family and sometimes sad things, if the parents are divorced. but mostly it's good things, it's about nice things happening and nice wishes and things like that."

With all the Christmas letters read and presents packed, Santa heads to the snow-covered forest to greet his trusty reindeer, Rudolph. He laughs as he rides off on his sleigh.

For CRI, I'm Tu Yun.