12/12/2013 Newsround

Good afternoon! You're watching Newsround with me, Leah, this

Thursday. Coming up. Hello, this is Chris Hadfield, back

from the International Space Station talking to you about living, working

and living life in space. And, you tell us your nativity

plans. This is Newsround. But first, are you hoping for snow

this Christmas? Chances are it's high up on your wish list. But for

millions of Syrian refugees, the snow isn't nearly so welcome at this

time of year. Over the past year, many families have escaped the

fighting in their own country and arrived at refugee camps on the

borders. But this week, winter has brought snow, and for the refugees

it means a desperate struggle to survive freezing temperatures in

makeshift camps. This is the Valley on the board of

Syria and Lebanon. Already, in the grip of what could be the harshest

winter in a century. Home to more than 800,000 refugees, who have

managed to escape the war. Their homes are makeshift shelters. No

comfort in these freezing conditions, and it will get even

colder in the next few days. Even the close on the washing line are

frozen. It has got worse, because we had a very harsh storm, and it is

very cold. Many children have no winter clothing, it is a very

difficult situation for them, and they need our help. Hundreds of

thousands of refugees escaped to places abounding Syria, like

Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. In northern Jordan, authorities

installed thousands of caravans, before the rain falling this week,

and the flooding it could cause. There are thousands living in tents.

Conditions for refugees are hard at the best of times, and weather like

this makes things incredibly difficult, but international aid

agencies are responding with planeloads of emergency kits,

including food and blankets. Whilst life is tough for children living

here, they are at least safe and away from the war.

Now, from posting YouTube videos about how to brush your teeth in

space to singing songs and playing the guitar in zero gravity, Canadian

astronaut Chris Hadfield has become a global star. The space traveller

is now back on Earth after retiring this year, and he's been talking to

Ayshah about his adventures. Thank you so much for joining

Newsround, can you tell us what daily life is like in space? It is

so much fun to live in weightlessness, to be orbiting the

world and flying weightless. You can push off the wall and do 100

somersaults, or you can take your spoon and have your food float in

front of you. You can fly, it is an incredible experience. What were

some of your favourite moments? I watched a huge thunderstorm,

hundreds of kilometres long, over Indonesia, with like pink, the most

powerful thing I have seen in my whole life, somebody was drawing big

strokes of lightning. Whether any times were worried? The only time I

felt a rush of the was when I saw a meteorite or not in between the and

the world, and if that Fox had been higher, it could have crashed into

our spaceship. How do you spend Christmas in space? I was there last

Christmas, we took our Christmas stockings and we hung them above the

entrance, and we had Christmas food, although it was dehydrated and in

individual packages. We did have the most urbanised Turkey and cans of

cranberry sauce, we had trifle, rehydrated. We had a Christmas tree,

we can get from the ceiling. We all had Christmas presents that we

bought for each other. It is special, even for people not living

on the planet. So, from Christmas in space to right

back down to earth, and you guys are really on the Christmas countdown

now. Loads of you have been starring in nativity plays, and you've been

telling us about them on the Newsround website.

Door number 12 on the Newsround advent calendar is ready for

business, so get clicking to see what's there.

I'm back at 6:50pm. Bye!