December 24th 1991
Once out of the North Pole, I fly towards the closest human city to the North Pole.
Longyearbyen, a small coal-mining town on Spitsbergen Island, in Norway's Svalbard archipelago. With a population of around 2000 individuals this will only take a second.
- one second later-
OK now for the rest of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and then the USSR.
Before I left, the intelligence department had informed me about recent events occurring within the country.
Plus with what I heard myself and what I remember from my past life, I knew that this year the USSR would fall.
Doesn't mean they are not watching the skies for threats, so I still needed to be careful.
- fifteen minutes later St. Petersburg-
Land on the roof of a housing complex. I look out toward the city skyline.
St. Petersburg formerly Leningrad, the second largest city in all of the USSR. Home to millions, this will be my first major city of the night.
"Ok... *CLAP lets begin"
I grab hold of the sack, which begins to lift me into the air. The sack then heads towards the centralized exhaust pipe.
Although I have already gone through this process tonight it never gets old. This might change in a couple of years, but for know I find this ability amazing.
Working my way down the complex, I appear in a chimney in each apartment, always where a heating unit was located.
After leaving the present(s) under the tree I help myself to a snack. Usually I take a bit to show I was here, but sometimes I take the whole snack. For instance this apartment has Пряники (Pryaniki) a common Russian cookie that uses honey and spices.
First time I ever tried this type of cookie.
Once I finished delivering presents to the entire complex its time to move to the next one.
Once I finished in St. Petersburg I made my way through several other cities in the USSR. Then I made a turn for Europe.
From there I headed down to Africa before cutting over to Asia. Before moving to Japan, I take a detour for Australia and New Zealand.
- 6 hours later Argentina -
After taking a 30 minute break on the Falkland Islands I headed for the Americas.
The work is difficult even with the time dilation between travel, but it is worth it.
The number of different cultures I witnessed, the number of different homes I visited, and the variety of snacks I had, is a privilege that very few get to try in their life times.
Passing through South and Central America was a little difficult. Unlike the United States or Europe, houses in tropical climates use clay tiles or corrugated metal sheets for their roofs, which makes it difficult to land a sleigh on top. Combined with a warm climate means that there is no need for a chimney.
Still I was able to figure something out, after all doors do exist for a reason.
Now working through the Caribbean, the United States, Canada, and Greenland took the rest of the night. Thus as I finished with the last town in Greenland I could see the sun begin to rise over the horizon.
"Well boys we did. Time to go back to the North Pole."
Cracking the whip I direct the sleigh towards the North Pole. As we pass over the frozen tundra of Greenland I shout a greeting.
"Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"