Jetting Educated

And as a disclaimer: this account is based on what had been said to me by various elves, I myself did not work as an elf. Additionally, elf names   have been changed to protect their identity (and I'm not even joking). It's nearly Christmas? No. Not at all. But in the retail world, the beginning of September is a time where shops will begin showing hints of Christmas presents, encouraging us to spend money at the earliest possible moment. With this madness ringing in my ears, I remember a time when it was actually December, legitimately within the festive season, when I worked in Lapland. Something I never published was my eye opener into the secret lives of Christmas elves... until now. Let me take you to the bleak world within the arctic circle where they genuinely have frost covered signs warning of passing cross county skiers. Warning: They are pensioners and they are in lycra I was heading to the coaches where guests were either stroking the reindeer ...

I'm still in Lapland and loving living in the snow. Since arriving I have had some classic Lapland experiences and its been exciting getting to know the the area. One of my favourites has been being pulled around on a sled by the huskies. There are 120 dogs in the husky farm and the owner knows them all by name. The dogs love to work hard all all go nuts when the sled is getting ready to depart.  A blue-eyed beauty As well as riding the husky sleds myself, I've also worked by the husky track at our activity centre. The guests get to drive a husky sled around a track that takes about 11 minutes. That may sound short but its a good amount of time as the wind chill from the dogs' speed lowers the temperature a lot. While the adults get a briefing, I'll be entertaining the sprogs and following that I'll be petting the dogs on the sideline who are taking a break from running (yes its very easy 'work'). Once the dogs race off with the guests,...