With Christmas a mere day away (in my case, just over two hours!), I would like to propose a seasonal thought here: what nationality is Father Frost/Christmas/Santa Claus? The North Pole is in Alaska (no seriously, there’s a North Pole, Alaska), but I feel that it would be disadvantageous if he’s trying to get to other parts of the world. Is he Scandinavian/Sami, as some people claim? That would certainly explain the reindeer aspect. Well, I think we can put this to bed: he’s American. Now, you may be asking yourself, “Conan, how can you say that?”. My answer is simple. I was him, for today.

I’ll let that sink in.

In all seriousness though, I’m not him. The real answer is that I (and my colleague Brent) got roped into playing him in honor of tomorrow’s momentous occasion. Okay, maybe I wasn’t Santa Claus, but I was Ded Moroz (which sounds like the name of a metal band, when you think about it). I was accompanied by Snegurochka, aka the Snow Maiden, played by my amazing colleague Julia (thanks for helping me-you rocked!) and went around spreading the festive cheer. My only regret is that I didn’t play up the “have you been good this year?” bit, but I knew some of the students, so it was all good. Because we were interrupting classes, we combined the academia part with the holiday. This meant that we asked them to do something to earn their gifts (EF shirts), and it was awesome seeing how all the students, across the board, were enjoying themselves!

It didn’t just stop there after my stint, but Brent, bless him, pulled off the hat trick and did his spiel three times. Again, much fun was had and everybody in the building were grinning from ear to ear! If today was any indication, I’m looking forward to Friday, when we get to do it all again!

(Note: This post is in good fun. Be festive, be merry, and enjoy!)

Close up of my beard and hair. After a while, it got really warm!

Here’s Brent, as he’s ready to make his first appearance.

Brent and Julia at work! They were a wonderful pair!