Dear Santa,

I have just googled "other words for awesome" to fill this text with - but I think a real own text does a better job.

Nonetheless, you ARE super awesome! The "0th" gift being the video of you playing Zelda's Lullaby on Ukulele which is amazing by itself. The suspense and anticipation you built with your messages over time ... and now, finally, I received the first gift!

It's a super cool Triforce Lamp! Unfortunately, I cannot plug it in at the moment, since the plug is US standard and I am living in Europe, but I'll get an adapter soon and use the lamp as soft lighting when playing games or watching movies. Boy, I am looking forward to seeing it in action.

And guess what's best? There are still two gifts to come! I cannot even believe how much effort you put in this exchange - and even less can I believe that I am honored to be your giftee. I am so looking forward to the next gifts - and I will update this post when they arrive, of course. Hopefully, your Santa provides you with as much joy as you did to me. I think you are a great person at so much ways, Chris, and I don't even know you that much. I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a happy New Year afterwards. Maybe we will see us in person at some time in the future - I am looking forward to it!

UPDATE

I have now received all gifts! After I had to unpack the lamp at the customs (which kind of ruined the Christmas feeling), I received the second gift just at the morning of Dec, 24th. Luckily, I did have a gift to unwrap on Christmas Eve! It was a cylindric tube, so I expected it to be some kind of poster or similar. And lo and behold: three A3 printouts of comics by Zac Gorman. I know the comics and really like them (especially that one about the sword), so I was really glad about this gift! In addition, there was a little 8-bit Link sticker and a papercraft pattern for a rock (from Super Mario?), as can be seen in the last pictures. I think I'll put the sticker on the back my laptop. And the printouts on my room wall, of course!

One and a half week later, I received the final gift. Santa has already told me that he will have to explain it a bit, so I keeped it packed and notified him, that I have received it. Nonetheless, I examined it a bit ... As it appeared, it came from Japan! I am a huge Japan fan, therefore this already made me excited. The label said "Used SNES", however the packet was far too small for a SNES ... what could it be? Despite being curious, I kept it till evening when the answer of Santa came.

He told me that it is probably his favorite game of all time, and he wanted to get me a copy I could play on my systems, but couldn't find any. So instead, he got me a copy from Japan (naaaaisu!), as a way to get me his favorite game and convince me to play it (and to get me something from Japan). Having read this, I opened the package ... and what's that?? A Japanese copy of Final Fantasy VI for the Super Famicon / SNES! Dude, this is so amatzing! Having played and loving Final Fantasy X, and started FF VII, I already consider myself a fan of the franchise, and having an original cartridge of an old chapter of the FF history - and in addition from Japan - is an unbelievable feeling! Just skimming through the manual, which is all in Japanese, feels great. (I am taking Japanese courses at university, but I am far from being able to read this fluently, but it's a nice exercise to practise reading :D .) A friend of mine still has a SNES on which I am going to test the cartridge. But if it won't work (which I am sadly expecting), I will play the game running on an emulator, using a controller and on my TV - it's almost the feeling of running it on a real console.

Now, let me conclude by thanking you, Chris, in all ways I can! You covered my three greatest interests: The Legend of Zelda, Japan, and Final Fantasy. And in a way that kept me enjoying the whole time from matching to unpacking the final gift. You provided me with stuff to decorate my room with, the lamp and the printouts, and with a game I will have a wonderful time playing - and let us not forget your performance of Zelda's Lullaby on Ukulele being gift number 0! :DD Well, everything I want to say is:

Thank you. So, so much. You really made my this year's Christmas special to me. I owe you one. Or probably more than one. May you, and your familiy, have a wonderful year 2015! When you ever visit Germany again in the future, make sure to tell me, and maybe we can meet in person one time. Who knows? :D