A WEEK OF REMEMBRANCE

As mentioned last week, the bombing and shootings in Oslo and Otøya touched everyone in this country.  In this Longyearbyen community of only 2,000, one 14 year-old boy, Johannes Buø, died and another, Vilja Hanssen, struggles for his life in the hospital in Oslo. Throughout the week news trickled in with information on the remaining unaccounted for individuals and reminder of the events was always present with the flags at half-mast.  More than a week has past and a sculpture in the center of town dedicated to local coal miners who have lost their lives became the memorial for the recent events with cards, flowers and candles. It is clear that July 22^nd will be a somber day for generations of Norwegians.

Norwegian flag at half mast in front of Huset, the former miners house and cultural center of Longyearbyen.

In further planning my schedule for the next few months, I made plane and hotel reservations to attend the Fulbright orientation, which is a two day event in mid-August. I am looking forward to this time to meet fellow Fulbright recipients in Norway, and finally meet the staff in Oslo that has been so helpful in making this move possible.  

In addition to planning the weekly sampling that will start when my equipment arrived is a week or so, I found out about a teaching-research cruise in January that I will likely participate in.  This time of year, the Polar Night, is a period that little is known about because not many have explored this region in the dark.  A long-held assumption amongst the research community is that this is a time when biology basically “shuts down”.  In January, 2010 we worked north of here in Ny-Ålesund for 4 weeks and were shocked to find a vibrant functioning and active food web from birds to in-water invertebrates. We hope this cruise will afford us the opportunity to visit some unknown questions and at the same time instructing students on the basics of the Arctic ecosystem.  I actually worked on completing a couple of manuscripts on the topic this week as well.

Arctic Cottongrass (Eriophorum callitrix) that covers the flat low lying valleys along the fjords.

I also met the director of UNIS, Gunnar Sand, for the first time since being back and he was very welcoming and ensuring that my first week was an easy transition.  He oversees a large staff that has been incredibly helpful in our move here. Thank you!

The midnight sun over Adventfjorden

On the home front, we received our last box in the mail… always a big deal… so we are officially moved in.  Although were initially excited about the prospect of not having a TV, our love of movies and the realization that there will be days when we all need another indoor outlet swayed us to order one.  It should be here next week.  We all became members of the local pool, and were awed by the beautiful views of the surrounding mountains from the pool.  While the hours during the summer are limited, we are making sure we take advantage of the times that it is opened.  The boys have also made friends with two other boys in town.  Their father works at the coal mine in Svea south of here.  They also just moved here, so it has been positive all around with a mix of English and Norwegian back and forth.

I went through rifle training, a precaution for polar bears that as mentioned before can show up anytime and anywhere on Svalbard.  The training was as usual excellent and always fun (this was my 4^th time through the course). Although I feel prepared in case I am confronted with a situation, I hope I am never put in this position.  On a cruise last May, I saw my first few bears and amazed how big, strong, fast and unpredictable they were.   This week, in fact, there were three polar bears in the Lonyearbyen area, brought in by some sea ice (and the seals on the sea ice!) that wrapped around the southern tip of Svalbard and came up the west coast.   One was visible from town 3 kilometers across Adventfjord feeding on a carcass and spotted glasses came out.  Some kayakers weaved through the sea ice to get a “closer” look, but curiosity and the need for a better picture took over common sense and they got too close and the local officials have to intervene. Even though it was a small dot, the kids were excited to see their first bear.

Ice moves into the Adventfjord.

First polar bear of the season feeding on a carcass across the fjord.

I was also able to go for a great hike with my eldest, Jason, up to the glacial moraine at the head of Longyearbyen glacier.  The hike took about 5 hours and we were able to spend about an hour fossil hunting.  They are everywhere and after finding his first one, Jason said “You know when I said I wanted to turn around? Well, I’m glad we didn’t”.  The wind picked up on the way back and we were glad to get home for dinner.

On the hike up to Longyearbreen (Longyear glacier) and first fossil find for Jason.

More next week...

ARRIVED IN SVALBARD

After some a week or so in Europe traveling with my family, we arrived in Svalbard.  It was an amazing day, clear, sunny, and almost 13C which is balmy here.  A nice welcome for the two boys from California.  It was short lived as for the rest of the week it has averaged about 4C.  The first few days were taken up by getting into our apartment, finding and transporting our boxes to the apartment and finding a place for everything.  The apartment is "very modern" according to Jason and both he and his brother Anders settled quickly into their respective rooms.  Our boxes had been seriously abused by the US Postal Service on their way here with most having to be repackaged en route with USPS tape all over them.  Luckily nothing was damaged.

Arriving at Longyear (LYR) airport with Anders and Jason.

Nicole with the boys.

The staff at the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) have been extremely helpful in setting us up.  I was assigned a nice office just down the hall from my colleagues and am up and running.  In addition to answering the stream of emails that are part of my life, I am scheduling the next month in terms of Fulbright activities.  July is an interesting month in Norway when almost the entire country goes on vacation.  I think there is a lot to learn from this "break" and taking time off to spend time with family and friends.   My colleagues from UNIS are arriving back next week and look forward to setting up meetings with them to synchronize schedules.

Anders and Jason heed warnings posted around the "city" limits. The sign traslates to "Applies to all of Svalbard".  The drinking water lake is in the background.

With the apartment only a 10 minute walk from UNIS, I have been breaking up each day with frequent trips back for lunch etc. to make sure we are all doing well during this transition. I am also taking a lesson from the Norwegian play book and making sure that my time working at UNIS is balanced with time with Nicole and my two boys.  We have become members at the local library, got the information on signing ourselves up for the extensive athletic center, memorized the hours of the grocery store, and are practicing our Norwegian daily. We are also getting used to the 24 hours of light... it is easy to stay up late!!

 This snow feature looks like a wine glass and the locals know it is summer when the stem is separated.  There is actually a weekly record of this in the local paper, Svalbard Posten. 

 A view from our apartment looking out over Isfjorden at midnight last night.  The ship in the foreground is the Polish research ship The Oceania.

Finally, we were all shaken yesterday by the attacks in Oslo.  This is a small country and from the individuals in Norway that I have been in contact with, many have family or friends living or working in downtown Norway or were on the youth gathering that was attacked.  Unlike the 6 degrees of separation that we are accustomed to, here it is more like two.  The flags are at half mast today in honor of the victims and our thoughts go out to the country.