Category: Travel
Every December many children (and a few adults) are hopeful that they will get a visit from Santa. They are each hoping that they made it on the good list and not on the naughty one. Some do not believe that he exists at all.
Well, for those who do believe and hope that they will see him when he comes calling, there is a way to find out where the guy in the bright red suit is. North American Aerospace Defense Command is ready and waiting to help track Santa. Operation NORAD Tracks Santa will begin at 2am MST on December 24, Christmas Eve.
NORAD, and its predecessor CONAD, have been doing this for 50 years. They track Santa using the radar called the North Warning System. It has 47 installations along the North American border. The moment that Santa has been detected taking off from the north pole, the satellite network will now be used to track Santa’s flight. It works using infared sensors which can detect Rudolph’s red nose easily by its infared signature.
There are also Santa cams deployed this year. These high speed digital cameras are scattered around the world. Note that they are only used once a year – on Christmas Eve.
Lastly, there are NORAD (Canadaian and American) fighter pilots assigned to intercept Santa and welcome him at various points. They will fly will fly with Santa and his reindeers part way, taking turns.
Children can call or email to ask about Santa’s location. There will be over 800 volunteers taking turns to answer the lines and respond to the emails. They can also visit the website for updates.
Every christmas time, many places come to life with lights. There are however a few that really stand out with their christmas display, doing more than just brighten up trees. These homeowners and shopkeepers turn their christmas displays into works of art that attracts visitors from far and wide to marvel anew at the christmas stories.
Maybe the best known display is that of the family of Dan Brown in Greenville, Texas. This year’s display is made with over 500,000 lights and has expanded since his son moved into the house across the street. They don’t charge anything for people to enjoy the display, people can simply drive down the street and marvel at the beauty of this display of snowmen, trains, a giant carousel and more. They do welcome donations that people give. Any amounts they receive are used on the electricity bill. Any excess amount is used to improve and add on to the display for next year.
Of course there are lots of other families who have also become landmarks for their own areas during the holiday season. The Little family in Morgan County, Utah have put up a beautiful christmas light display since 1956. They began with carving out Mary and Joseph. Over the years they added the sheep, shepherds, the wise men, the city of Bethlehem, reindeers, candy canes and more. The Little Hill as it is called is a crowd drawer every year.
Twice this week, the stories of stowaway cats have hit the headlines, both of which made it through perilous voyages at sea inside shipping containers, which they snuck in unsuspecting.
First in line was one-year-old tabby Emily, whose curiosity got the better of her when she hid in a box of paper that made its way from Appleton in the United States all the way to France.
Upon arrival, workers found her, thinner but healthy, and used the telephone number i.d. on her collar to contact her owners. The lucky tabby was then flown home Business Class (see picture above), courtesy of a generous airline who heard the news.
In story number two, a fluffy white cat with rock musician David Bowie‘s eyes (one green, one blue) jumped out of a large goods container in Lancashire, after what was a death-defying 17-day sea voyage from Afula, Northern Israel to Great Britain.
The cat, named Ziggy, was starving and dehydrated when he was found and put under the care of the animal charity RSPCA (Royal Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), who are hoping to trace his owners in Israel and return him home.
Two decades ago the idea of getting dressed up in ghoulish costumes, decorating your home with jack-o-lanterns and going door-to-door asking for candy was thought of as a bizzare western custom in Japan. Not anymore.
This weekend, the streets of Tokyo were packed with people in costume and shopfronts were adorned with witches and pumpkins – Halloween fever has hit Japan.
Although the Japanese have a similar Buddhist holiday in August known as Obon, which, needless to say is celebrated with as much joviality as a funeral, the Japanese know the holiday as an Americanized time to have fun and relish in it. After all, the Japanese are known for their fondness for fantasy role playing as seen in their habits for “cosplay”, which involves dressing up in anime costumes.
Halloween was probably first introduced in Japan in the early eighties, when Tokyo Disneyland opened its doors. Today, the theme park (which apparently is the most packed of all Disney parks around the world) started their annual Halloween parade even ahead of Florida’s Walt Disney World – as early as September 12th.
A recent survey reported that 3/4ths of the population in Tokyo know what Halloween is, and although the trick-or-treating tradition has yet to become a tradition, it is quite apparent that the holiday of horror has wormed its way into the heart of the Japanese people.
The French have found another reason to grumble with a new high court ruling that the 35 hour working week is to be implemented in the hospitality industry, including restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels.
This could mean even lower pay for the junior staff of such establishments as well as even lower incomes for owners. Furthermore, the hospitality industry in France is already disappointed by two other factors just passed by law – the no-smoking ban in public places (how un-French!) and the failure to cut to a 5.5% vat.
The deal, which affects around 850,000 employees could see French income in this industry sink even lower. Now, overtime rates will have to be paid for extra hours worked, and owners will be forced to cut down on pay.
Andre Daguin of the Union of Hospitality Trades (UMIH) expressed his disbelief at the news:
“This is a unique situation because for the first time ever a union has actually acted to bring down the buying power of its members, especially those in small establishments who will see their pay cheques get smaller”
Supporters of the recent ruling however, believe that these new measures will actually create new jobs if followed properly.
