Sunday 23 December 2007

Father Christmas Moving to Kyrgyzstan

I am delighted to read that Father Christmas has been told to relocate to Kyrgyzstan.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=DZ35HFBALUSONQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/12/23/nxmas223.xml

A remote spot in this little known country has been declared the "geographical centre of the world's spread of children" by a team of Swedish scientists who have advised that if Santa started his journey in Kyrgyzstan he would achieve the most efficient round the world trip.

However, I am concerned for all the children who take to addressing letters to Father Christmas in Kyrgyzstan. When I lived there, post took about three months to arrive from England and was dumped unceremoniously in the stairwell of our block. If the Kyrgyz authorities are keen to promote their country as FC's new home, I think that before they start renaming peaks and organising annual games for Santas to test their chimney climbing and sledge racing skills, they need to improve the postal system to cope with the millions of letters which will now be coming their way.

To find out what Father Christmas can expect when he moves to Kyrgyzstan, read Revolution Baby: Motherhood and Anarchy in Kyrgyzstan by Saffia Farr. Signed copies are available to buy on http://www.saffiafarr.com/

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Not really on the subject line. In fact, this is a shameless promotion. -- You may find some useful information on the forum www.KG-Ordo.net

Ordo is an online community of "the Kyrgyz citizens and their friends" (according to the portal's Constitution). Discussions are mostly dominated by Russian and Kyrgyz. However, there are many fluent English & German speakers there as well.

The site turned 3 years old in November'07. Over the summer we had some reforms and adopted a new constitution of the community (in drastic contrast to the big shot politicians). The key point of those reforms is that Ordo is a non-profit online coop-style community in a true sense of democratic values (sort of an indirect manifestation that we CAN do such things on grassroots level). Discussions range anywhere from personal stories to debates about current politics, from charity drives to sharing useful tips, etc. The age range is anywhere from teens to people in their 40s (and even older). We surely will be happy to see new members who are genuinely interested in the Kyrgyz Republic in a true sense of the Kyrgyz hospitality.

Just thought it would be useful for your future reference. :-)

Don_Quixote