Santa Claus’ Exclusive Interview: The Transcript

Apart from hard word interview transcription can also be fun and full of magic. And how else when the interviewee is… Santa Claus! Enjoy the full length video or read through the most intriguing parts of it, transcribed and brought to you exclusively from Santa’s office in Rovaniemi, Lapland. Ho-ho-ho, Christmas is coming to town!

[00:00:17] Interviewer: Hello, Santa Claus.

[00:00:18] Santa Claus: Hello, hello! [chuckles]

[00:00:21] Interviewer: Thank you for this exclusive interview here, at the Santa Claus’ main post office in Rovaniemi, Lapland.

[00:00:27] Santa Claus: You are most welcome.

[00:00:28] Interviewer: First of all, Santa Claus, would you mind clarifying something for us – you are also called Joulupukki. What does Joulupukki mean? Is it your real name?

[00:00:39] Santa Claus: [chuckles] ‘Joulupukki’ is just ‘Santa Claus’ in Finnish. In Finland the children call me ‘Joulupukki’, in many countries they call me ‘Santa Claus’ and some other names as well but you can choose – you can call me ‘Joulupukki’ or ‘Santa Claus’, whatever.

[00:00:54] Interviewer: How long have you been living here, in Lapland?

[00:00:56] Santa Claus: Very long. Very, very long. As people used to say in the very, very old days: many, many moons ago. [chuckles]

[00:02:05] Interviewer: How many letters does your post office receive each year?

[00:02:09] Santa Claus: Oh, it’s… it varies a little, but for the past few years it’s been between 500,000 and 700,000. It’s a lot of mail. [laughs]

[00:02:21] Interviewer: Which countries do the letters come from?

[00:02:23] Santa Claus: All over the world, they come from all over the world. 160 or something hundreds I think was last year.

[00:03:40] Interviewer: Santa Claus, where are your toy workshops located?

[00:03:44] Santa Claus: All my workshops where we make all the toys, they are a little further north from here, well, northeast. But it’s a very secret place. It’s a place called Korvatunturi, which is where my actual home is, and the workshop and elves are there. But because all the secrets of Christmas are there open I cannot invite you or anybody else there, so, that’s why this village is a nice place to meet people, huh.

[00:04:11] Interviewer: Does the word ‘korvatunturi’ mean something?

[00:04:14] Santa Claus: Yeah, it actually it means, yes. ‘Korva-tunturi’. Is…‘Korva’ is ‘ear’ and ‘tunturi’ is ‘a fell’. And the name comes from the fact that when you look at the place from a distant, it’s like two, it has actually two fell tops. And when you’re looking from distance, it looks like an animal ear sticking up. And that’s why I can hear all the children of the world so well. [chuckles]

[00:04:42] Interviewer: Santa Claus, how many reindeer do you have?

[00:04:46] Santa Claus: [chuckles] That’s a very difficult question because, you know, they keep running around us. Reindeers are, basically, a wild animal so they run around the forest and the fells, and… But I’d say there are maybe about as many as there are stars in the sky, if it’s not a very cloudy night... [chuckles]

[00:05:14] Interviewer: Can your reindeer fly?

[00:05:17] Santa Claus: Yeah, sure they can! But they, mind you, they do that only in Christmas night because then it’s necessary, because of the…, you know, having so many presents to be delivered but yes, they can.

[00:05:30] Interviewer: Santa, how do you manage to give out gifts to children all over the world during a single night?

[00:05:37] Santa Claus: [chuckles] Now that’s a tricky question. First of all, you have to remember that I do have a very long experience in this work, as do have the elves and the reindeer. Then, there is some magic in the delivery of the Christmas gifts – but just between you and me and don’t tell it to anybody else – I can reveal to you that we also take advantage of the time differences. For example, now as it’s early evening here in Rovaniemi, in another part of the world the children are just waking up. In another part of the world they are sleeping. And in some parts of the world they are having their lunch, and so on. So, my reindeer and I, we take advantage of the time differences. There are also other things, some of them even my reindeer do not reveal to me. The magic is there. But always the most important thing is that the presents are delivered in time. [chuckles]

[00:06:41] Interviewer: Thank you very much, Santa Claus, for allowing us this exclusive interview.

[00:06:45] Santa Claus: Thank you, you’re welcome. All the best for you. Remember to be good! [chuckles] Bye-bye!