It turned out that Tom was our pilot, and Dr. Frommer chose to sit in front with him. I wondered just how involved Dr. Frommer was with SWI, since he was greeting new employees and escorting them to SWI's headquarters.
While we flew, Anna and I chatted about our families and our lives back home. Anna was from a small town in Germany, and was the youngest girl in her family. She worked in manufacturing at her toy company and specialized in finding new ways to make environmentally friendly toys. She mentioned her use of spent rubber trees again, and her hopes to find other renewable resources like them to use in toy creation. She had recently broken up with her boyfriend, so had decided this was a good time to try a new adventure.
We discussed some of the perks of the job, as we knew them, and I said, “The vacation time is great, because I can't wait to spend from Thanksgiving to New Year's with my sister's kids, Eric and Allison. It's a tradition for me to get up with the kids at five o'clock on Christmas morning to start opening presents. We have a blast together, and I get some of my best toy ideas when I'm with them.”
Thinking of how far apart we now were made me feel a little homesick, so I looked out the window; yet again, I could only see inky blackness. There wasn't a single light belowâwhere
were
we?
Wondering about SWI, I asked Anna, “Did you know Dr. Frommer before the conference?”
“No, I just met him at the conference in Toronto. Why?”
“I'm curious about how involved he is with SWI, and how I'd never heard of this toy company before he offered me the position. I couldn't find any toys online with that brand, and I don't think it was even represented at the conference,” I replied thoughtfully. “I wonder how big it is.”
The uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach started to come back again. As Anna and I continued to talk, I realized that the feeling was a combination of nerves and hunger. I hoped that we would land soon.
Eventually, Dr. Frommer's voice came across the loudspeaker. “We are beginning our descent and will land in about fifteen minutes at SWI's headquarters. Once we arrive, you will be greeted by members of the staff, and we will answer all of your questions over dinner.” I wondered if Dr. Frommer had heard us talking, because he seemed to know that we had a lot of questions. He continued, “You might be interested in looking out your windows now.”
The sight below took my breath away. At the edge of the inky blackness was a valley filled with a bright, colorful, nineteenth-century-looking European village. There was a large building in the center and a circle of about twenty smaller buildings around it, all of which looked as if they were connected by covered walkways. As we flew closer, I noticed each one of the smaller buildings was actually a series of even smaller townhouse-like buildings, arranged in circles. In the middle of each circle, I could see a glass-roofed courtyard filled with lots of lush greenery and small colorful specks that seemed to sparkle. I blinked, unable to believe what I was seeing. There was snow piled up outside the buildings, yet it appeared that flowers bloomed between them, like in giant greenhouses. It looked magical!
I watched the village in awe as the plane landed nearby and pulled into a small hangar. We got into a car and rode down a cobblestoned road that appeared to be headed straight for the large building at the center of the village. As we approached, I saw a sign that simply read, “SWI.” Dr. Frommer seemed to be holding in a smile as he turned to us and said, “Welcome to SWI.”
As we pulled up to the sidewalk, I saw a large group of people approach enormous glass windows on either side of the front door. I froze as I was about to get out of the car. One of them was coming out of the door wearing a Santa Claus costume. What was going on? Had I just traveled all this way to get to a children's amusement park with a Santa theme? The contract in my bag stated that I was there as a toy designer; I was not going to put on elf tights and work at an amusement park.
Reluctantly, I climbed out of the car and saw many familiar faces peeking through the windows, though I couldn't quite place them. I pulled my coat closer as a bitter gust of wind hit me, and I understood why they had stayed inside. The “Santa” came over to us, held out his hand, and said, “Anna and Ryan, welcome! We are delighted that you've accepted our invitation to join the team here at the North Pole! I am Kris Kringle, but you can feel free to call me Santa.” Then he laughed, as only Santa can, with a deep “ho, ho, ho.”
Dr. Frommer, probably sensing our skepticism, came around and said, “Ryan, Anna, I know this is hard to believe, but there really
is
a Santa Claus, and
this
is the real one. SWI stands for Santa's Workshop, Incorporated.” As Dr. Frommer said that, he waved his hand at the sign above the door, and it sparkled and changed from “SWI” to “Santa's Workshop.”
Dr. Frommer looked me in the eyes as he said, “I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you more before you arrived. Please come inside and meet more of the team.
Now
, we can explain everything.” I trusted and respected Dr. Frommer, but this couldn't be real.
As we went inside, Santa told me, “Ryan, Dr. Frommer has been speaking very highly of you. In fact, we have been keeping track of your career since you were in his class. He seems to find the best recruits through his classes, and he has been hoping for the opportunity to invite you to join us. Of course, I'm happy that you've always been on the Nice List, so we didn't need to worry about you keeping our secrets.”
I didn't know what to say, so I let Santa continue. “I'm sorry that we had to re-direct that last delivery of your Super Racer Ball Ramps, as I know you were waiting for a set. We hadn't set aside enough units earlier, and we really needed them for our deliveries. I hope that Eric was pleased with his set; it took some extra magic to get that one to him on time.”
I stopped in my tracks and couldn't speak. Santa stopped and smiled at me kindly, waiting for me to respond. Eventually, I stammered out, “Wh-wh-what?”
Santa chuckled and smiled at me. “Your Super Racer Ball Ramps were such a big hit that we needed more of them for our deliveries. I got bags full of last-minute toy requests from kids this year, and your ball ramp was very popular. So, we cooked up that blizzard and claimed that the truck was stuck in the snow. Normally, we have each company set aside enough of the toys in their warehouses for us to pick up on Christmas Eve, but those last-minute requests had us scrambling. I know that you did everything possible to get one for Eric yourself, and I wanted to apologize immediately for causing that last shipment to be
re-directed
. At that point, it was just easier for me to deliver it for you. I hope you don't mind that I didn't sign the gift; I thought it best to let Eric think you had gotten it for him.” That famous Santa twinkle-in-the-eye radiated to me and I didn't know what to think.
How would anyone here know that I had been waiting for that delivery? Had they really diverted it? I had agreed to a background check. Would it really show that level of detail? Or was there really a Santa and was I really talking to him?
By that point, we had walked through the foyer, past the group of onlookers, and were standing in a small coatroom. A man said to Anna and me, “You can leave your coats here. The buildings are all connected by above-ground tunnels, so you won't need them unless you choose to go outside.” After I hung my coat on a hook, it started to sparkle, and suddenly disappeared! What had happened? The man seemed to be holding in a huge laugh as he said, “Don't worry about your coat. It's hanging on a hook in your new apartment. When you want it, you simply have to touch a magical coat hook, wherever you are at the North Pole, and it will reappear for you.”
Still bewildered, Anna and I returned to the foyer and Santa started introductions around the room. I realized that the reason many of the faces looked familiar was that I had seen them at the conference in Toronto. The conference organizers all worked for SWI! Just what
was
the connection between SWI and that conference?
I pulled myself back to listening to Santa, as he said, “This group to my left consists of our âalumni'âpeople who once worked here at SWI and chose to go back to their home companies and keep up our special relationship from that end, or start their own toy companies.” He went around that group of mostly older men and women and listed their titles. They each smiled in turn and acknowledged us. I was in a room with the CEOs of Plan Toys, eeBoo, Green Toys, PLAYMOBIL, and HABA! These were some of the best toy makers in the worldâI was in a room filled with my idols!
I refocused as Santa said, “Our alumni return once a year for meetings, which just wrapped up. This group decided to stay around for a few days to meet you and help you learn about the connection between Santa's Workshop at the North Pole and toy companies around the world. Our alumni are carefully positioned at toy companies to ensure that our special relationships keep working and stay secret. You will get to know them as we coordinate product testing and manufacturing. We really focus on the creative work here at the North Pole and rely on them to take care of the rest, like marketing and distribution. After you leave us, you will continue to have their support in your careers, if you wish. Now, let's take a look around at the fun stuff on the way to the dining room.”
We followed the group to the center of the building, where a sign hung from an ornate wood carving which read, “The Creativity Space.” I had never seen anything like it. It was a massive, open, circular room with tables on wheels and open floor space in the middle. Lining the walls hung whiteboards, shelves of books, and every art supply a person could imagine. They ranged from drawing supplies, to woodworking supplies, to craft supplies, to recycled materials, and they were all neatly organized on shelves in clear jars and bins. It looked like a colorful candy shop of art supplies. As I looked at the jars, I saw one jar, half-full of colorful pompoms, start to sparkle, and then it was suddenly full!
Anna tapped my arm and pointed up. The ceiling went up three more floors, and there appeared to be balconies and windows lining the walls overlooking this amazing space. Dr. Frommer came over and said, “Each designer gets an office up there. You will each have your own. This Creativity Space is an open area for everyone to use in brainstorming new toys. You can sketch ideas and build models here. Then, the manufacturing team can use those ideas to make prototypes.”
“You will take those prototypes back to your home companies for product testing. We usually give you a vacation in conjunction with product testing time, because travel to and from the North Pole is so difficult, as you experienced today.” Dr. Frommer's eyes twinkled as he added, “Although, there are some other more interesting ways to travel, if you don't mind traveling at night, while they let the reindeer get some exercise.”
We didn't have a chance to respond, because someone from above yelled, “Watch out!” I looked up to see a small toy airplane come zooming down and loop around the room over our heads before landing in the middle of the Creativity Space. Someone near me called up to a man leaning over a balcony, “I guess you haven't gotten the bugs worked out of that plane yet, Bob! Come on down and meet our newest team members.”
Bob called back, “I'll be down in just a minute, after I retrieve my plane.” He held what appeared to be a child's fishing pole out over the railing; as he released the string, glittering sparkles flew from it, and the plane somehow flew up and attached itself!
Dr. Frommer chuckled a little and said to us, “Bob is very creative, and loves to test out new toys. But if you hear him yell âwatch out,' you really ought to duck quickly!
“Now, what was I saying? Oh, yes. Unlike what you've seen in movies, we don't actually build the toys here. We have specialists in every step of toy design, safety, and manufacturing here, but we leave the actual production up to the major toy companies. Since you both still have positions at your home companies, they will be allowed to sell your new creations. In exchange, each company has to supply us with enough toys for Santa to give out each year.”
As Dr. Frommer talked, we walked around the outside edge of the Creativity Space. I saw another ornately carved wooden sign that read, “Santa's Office.” I nudged Anna as we walked by and she looked up at it. We both peered through the windows of his office and saw that the back wall was lined with shelves full of classic toys that appeared to be dancing and playing with each other! I saw more of those sparkles around them, and I was starting to think they had something to do with the magic in this place.
Was this real? I didn't know what to think, but I was sure this wasn't an amusement park.
We veered off to the left and went through a hallway that turned out to be a tunnel to another building. It opened into a large dining room, with what appeared to be a small grocery store off to the side. “Welcome to the dining room. We have an excellent crew of chefs from around the world that make delicious lunches and dinners for us daily. You are on your own for breakfast and, of course, you may always choose to cook for yourself at any time. You have a fully stocked kitchen in your apartment. You may have whatever you'd like from the grocery storeâyou may pick it up yourself, or place an order from your apartment and it will appear in your cupboards. For dinner tonight, the chefs have created a feast of traditional American and German foods, in your honor.”
Scoffing slightly, I wondered what the “American” cuisine would beâhamburgers and French fries? Anna and I sat down together and as I looked at a menu, I saw that it was actually a traditional Thanksgiving meal with turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and green beans, along with bratwurst, sauerkraut, and asparagus on the German menu. I watched as the person next to me touched the pictures of the things he wanted to eat on his menu. A moment later, a plate with those items appeared in front of him and sparkled briefly. The food was amazing, and not just because I hadn't eaten in hours. Over dinner, we chatted with the people around us, and started to relax a bit.