From: zaphod@diku.dk (Ole D. M. Lennert)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic
Subject: Re: Greenland claiming residence of Santa Claus
Date: 24 Aug 92 21:03:33 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen

dfo@tko.vtt.fi (Foxvog Douglas) writes:

>According to a Reuters report in the 8-17-92 Washington Times which
>someone sent me (quoting without permission):

[Quoted text deleted without permission :)]
>============End of Quoted text====================

>This is an attempt by Greenland and Denmark to grab a share of the
>income Finland receives from being the land where Santa lives.  Finland
>has a Santa's Post Office near the Arctic Circle at the town of Rovaniemi,
>where Santa receives hundreds of thousands of letters a year.  

>Santa does not live in Rovaniemi, but every Finnish child knows that he
>really lives on Korvatunturi, a hill on the Russian border in Lapland
>far from any roads.  I know that US kids are told that Santa lives at
>the North Pole, but that does not agree with the reindeer in the area or
>the buildings made from local wood.  Both of these points also can serve
>to demonstrate that Greenland also has the wrong environment for Santa's
>residence.

I feel sorry for the finnish children. They have obviously been misled
for countless years. Any non-finnish child knows that Santa lives 
somewhere in the north of Greenland (If you won't tell anyone: Try
Umanak in the Disko Bay). You can even ask the greenlandic reindeer; they
will surely know the name and address of their employer. Besides, there 
*is* wood in Greenland. Driftwood have been an important part of the
resources in Greenland, and today large tree-planting projects is taking
place in the south of Greenland (Mostly near Narsarsuaq), and the 
Godthaabsfjord (Fiord of Nuuk; Nuuk is the capitol of Greenland).
My cousin has personally planted 32000 trees near Narsarsuaq, and some 
10-15000 trees other places in Greenland.

>The point of the Christmas theme park is obviously to raise money --
>they hope to receive $20M per year (over $300 per resident of
>Greenland), mostly from charter tourists.  Rovaniemi currently receives
>a number of Concordes from the UK and Japan with Christmas tourists.

You even cheat the poor tourist too? Shame on you! Santa will most 
likely decide that the person or persons behind this sham haven't behaved
'good' enough to receive christmas presents from his own hand.

>Mr. Schlueter's claim in the article, that it is an undisputed fact that
>Santa lives in Greenland, is totally false, as millions of people realize
>that he lives in Finland.  How could his residence be "in Greenland,
>close to the North Pole" when New York is closer to Miami than Greenland
>is to the Pole?

Actually, the worlds northernmost point of *land* is Oodaq Island, a part
of Greenland.

>Denmark rigged its "World Congress of Father Christmasses" by not
>allowing attendees from Finland.  Despite what they say, Santa's sole
>address is NOT "c/o the North Pole, Greenland," as the Rovaniemi post
>office which handles Santa's mail has not received a change of address.

As soon as the finnish attendees admits their sham in Rovaniemi, they
will be allowed to participate in the Congress.

>The correct address for Santa Claus is:
>	Santa Claus  [or St. Nick, Father Christmas, ... in any language]
>	Rovaniemi 99999
>	Finland

	Santa Claus
	Greenland

>The mail will also get to Santa with "Arctic Circle", "Korvatunturi", or
>even nothing as the town name (and of course people from other countries
>are not expected to know the postal code).

>Greenland may set up its theme park, but as the stickers available in
>the post offices say, "Santa Claus comes from Finland."

That must be the stickers available in the post offices in *Finland*.

>-- 
>doug foxvog     
>dfo@tko.vtt.fi   

Ole Lennert
zaphod@diku.dk
Greenlandic student at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark
(Just returned from 14 *wonderful* days of vacation in the south of Greenland)