圣诞老人的故乡
世博会芬兰馆有一个大红人，很多游客都跑去看他。他是谁呢？就是我们最熟悉的圣诞老人啦。就像最近有山东安徽两省三地争夺西门亲故里一样，名人的故乡也是很抢手的文化资产哦，北欧的很多国家都声称他们那里才是圣诞老人真正的居住地。都有哪些呢？
根据维基百科的介绍，圣诞老人原来还是很抢手的啊：
In North American tradition (in the United States and Canada), Santa lives on the North Pole, which according to Canada Post lies within Canadian jurisdiction.
在北美洲，人们认为圣诞老人居住在北极，加拿大邮政局将其划定在加拿大的属地之中。
On December 23 2008, Jason Kenney, Canada's minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, formally awarded Canadian citizenship status to Santa Claus. "The Government of Canada wishes Santa the very best in his Christmas Eve duties and wants to let him know that, as a Canadian citizen, he has the automatic right to re-enter Canada once his trip around the world is complete," Kenney said in an official statement.
2008年加拿大多元文化事务及移民部部长Jason Kenney向圣诞老人颁发了市民身份认证，在一份官方声明中他说：“加拿大政府祝愿圣诞老人一切安好。圣诞老人作为加拿大公民，在结束世界巡游后可以随时回到加拿大境内。”
There is also a city named North Pole in Alaska where a tourist attraction known as the "Santa Claus House" has been established. The US postal service uses the city's zip code of 99705 as their advertised postal code for Santa Claus.
阿拉斯加有一个城市名叫“北极”，那有一个旅游景点，“圣诞老人的小屋”。美国邮政局告诉那些想给圣诞老人写信的人说，他们可以使用北极市的邮政编码。
不过，1995年，联合国正式承认，圣诞老人的故乡是芬兰北部拉普兰省的省会罗瓦涅米市。这下没得争了，圣诞老人从此落户芬兰。在拉普兰有一个圣诞老人的邮局，每年世界各地写给圣诞老人的信件都会寄到那里：
Every item mailed at the Santa Claus’ Main Post Office is postmarked by hand with a special Arctic Circle postmark.
每封寄往圣诞邮局的信件都被手工加盖一个特殊的北极圈邮戳。
关于圣诞老人，我们还知道多少呢？比如，他的年龄？
圣诞老人回答说：
Once I tried to sit down and think how many Christmases I could remember, but once I had got to about 364 Christmases I fell asleep in my very comfortable rocking chair…
他的胡子怎么打理的呢？
In order to make sure Santa’s beard stays handsome and bushy, the elves have established Santa’s very own Elf Barber Shop.
圣诞老人喜欢吃什么？
Santa Claus believes that the best food in the whole world is naturally the Christmas porridge prepared by Mrs Claus!
圣诞老人的驯鹿是怎么打耳洞的呢？
The mosquitoes are helpers for Santa’s Reindeer Elves, as they help to gather all the reindeer together to receive their earmarks.
作为圣诞老人的故乡，拉普兰也是一个非常美的地方，被称为欧洲最后一块原始保留区。独特的极地风光迷倒了无数世界各地的游客。一起来看看它的四季风情吧：
冬季：
A husky dog or snowmobile safari, sleigh ride or take the plunge into an ice pool.
乘坐狗狗拉的雪橇或乘坐雪上汽车来一次旅行，还可以尝试一下冰潭中的冬泳！
夏季：
The unique experience of summer in Lapland is enhanced by experiencing the nightless night or midnight sun when the sun doesn’t set at all.
夏天的拉普兰，太阳终日不落，游客可以体会到别处难得一见的“白夜”奇景。
秋季：
In autumn the days get shorter, rain raises the water levels of rivers, lakes and swamps, and the cooling weather helps to form a misty cloud cover over the waterways.Berries and mushrooms are ready for picking in the autumn. Try Nordic walking and trekking the Lappish nature before the coming of snow and start of winter activities.
秋天，白昼变短，雨水增多，河流、湖泊、沼泽水位都上升了，而凉爽的天气也使得水道上空雾气朦胧。秋天是采摘浆果和蘑菇的季节。在冬天到来之前来一次北欧悠游吧，遍览拉普兰美丽的自然风光。
春季：
Snow often thaws in Lapland as late as the beginning of May, so the temperatures also rarely raise above zero. Consequently, spring provides excellent settings for outdoor pursuits in sunny and mild weather.
在拉普兰，五月初雪才开始融化，温度也悄悄回到零度以上。于是拉普兰的春季就成为外出远足的好时节。
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