SNAKKER DU NORSK?

The colors are starting to come out with the setting sun.

This week that saw the advancing darkness, Nicole and I started our Norwegian class.  It is MWF for 2+ hours in the town school.  There are 12 of us, with 6 different languages between us.  Just the routine and the repetition has been very helpful and both of us have noticed an improvement in our pronunciation and understanding.  The time out of the morning work schedule is an adjustment, but it is good to spend more time with Nicole.  It is also at the school, so we also get to embarrass Jason and Anders occasionally. 

My colleagues at UNIS were gone on the student cruise this week , so it was a good time to push at work.  I was able to finish revising a manuscript, review another and finish the presentation that I am giving next week in Stavanger.  Also found out our work from Svalbard will be published in the journal Marine Biology, so we were all excited about that. I was also able to wrap up the logistics at UNIS and get a dedicated boat for the rest of my stay.  Friday I was able to get on the water for the first time and conduct a fjord survey, making sure of locations of land and underwater features that would interfere with the operation of the REMUS AUV.  Cara Magnabosco helped me out in the field.  She is a student Fulbright Fellow here at UNIS, who I met at the orientation in Oslo, and was available to help out.  I hope to get a number of students out with me during the Fall. 

Cara Magnabosco, a Fulbright Fellow joined me on the first outting with the boat in Adventfjorden.

The 3 boys started activities this week with Anders playing football twice a week (seems to love it) and Jason enrolled in the dog sledding course.  The picture below tells you whether he likes it.  I also started senior (17+) football three times a week.  This week I played on a team with 5 Chileans, so it was the America’s against Europe… we won 8 to 5,  however very little was because of my brilliant play.  As the oldest there, I did pretty good keeping up.

Jason started his sled dog care and mushing class.

Saturday the family took a tour to Pyramiden, a former Soviet/Russian coal mining settlement about 70km further up Isfjorden.  The trip was with a family from town we know, so the kids had others to occupy their time.  We were fortunate that the water was calm and it was smooth trip.  Arriving at the settlement was eerie as there was a thick fog.  There used to be 3000 people living there in the 70’s and given the size of the place and the quick exit (when evacuated people living there only had 3 hours to leave!), you could still imagine the activity.  We were able to enter the Cultural House, the Swimming Hall and the Hotel.  The other buildings are locked, but in the same state they were when everyone left 17 years ago minus the wear of the extreme climate.  We were welcomed back to the boat after a two hour walk around the settlement with a whale BBQ…tastes like beef with a hint of liver from the high hemoglobin content.   After Pyramiden, we went to Nordenskiöldbreen glacier at the end of the fjord to see the intense blue from the high pressure of millennia of compacting snow.  The sun popped out on the return trip, which was a boost to everyone (it had been overcast for two weeks now).   Wildlife on the way consisted of a number of bird species, including puffins and fulmars (see picture of the week below), and a sole minke whale… probably running away from the BBQ! We all slept well after the 9 hour trip…

Jason and I enjoying the view from the bridge.

Puffins on the way to Pyramiden.

Lenin greets us at the culture house in Pyramiden.

Inside the theater of the culture house in Pyramiden.

Nicole and Anders relax in the Pyramiden hotel.

Anders looking onto the once northernmost regulation pitch in the world.

Nordenskiöldbreen  glacier

Papa and the boys in front of Nordenskiöldbreen glacier

Picture of the week: Nicole took this awesome shot on the way back from Longyearbyen.

A strip of sunlight illuminates a layered rock outcropping along Skansbukta.

Today we were invited to a christening of Mathea at the church here in Longyearbyen.  She is the sister of two boys that Jason and Anders first met here in July, whose mother is now friends with Nicole.  It was hard getting up and out of the house after the long trip, but we managed and arrived just in time.  The service was simple, a lot of hymns and a nice informal setting.  Although singing is not my forte or my favorite, it was an excellent exercise in helping with my pronunciation…. I could belt out words and everything that was wrong faded into the chorus.  We had a quick coffee, spoke to a parishioner for a while, went home to get the camera, and then headed to the party at the “rifle range hut” overlooking the airport and Isfjorden.  We joined our friends with their extended family that had flown up for the event and had baby reindeer stew (sorry to those that are offended by the traditional cuisine here), salad, rice and Thai egg rolls.  The cook (a Thai that works in a local restaurant) was also invited, so we were able to complement him on the good food.  Cakes followed and then the gifts.  This family has a history in Longyearbyen with 2 generations of coal miners.  As part of this tradition, we all signed a piece of coal with her name on it.  It was a great experience.

Jason enjoying Norsk flatbread at the christening party.

The research ship just returned, so I am going to help them unload etc. and get ready for another busy week…