June 29th
11:25PM
The
strangest thing about this place is the quietness, especially in the mornings
and nights. Almost no noise. There are
VERY few birds, cars, airplanes, and even people outside; it’s like Franklin
Park when it snows. Absolutely, beautifully, silent.
Today was
even better than yesterday. We split into groups and planned our research
questions and agenda. Nanoq, my group, struggled at first- we had few ideas, and later
when we searched for a good EarthCache spot, the language barrier made things a
little awkward. That wore off once we climbed a horribly steep, sandy slope
together- Michael (GR) wanted to place a Geocache there. Everyone really came
together in the heat of the struggle … Well. Actually, we all laughed at each
other the whole way up, but at least that broke the ice. I was equally slow in
climbing back down the slope- in fact, I slid the whole way on my butt. I told
my mom I’d come home in one piece, not with a broken face!
 |
| Makka and Michael |
I was
highly pleased when the Greenlanders tried Garrett’s popcorn and LOVED it. The
Danes? Not as much. They were very confused as to why anyone would put
cheese/caramel on popcorn. The Danes, as I soon learned, fill their Garretts
void with a pig-liver spread called ‘patte’ (it was alright at best), and a
white-dusted licorice candy. They told me that the licorice was good, that it
was candy, so naturally I assumed the white powder all over it was sugar. Everyone
watched me carefully as I tried a piece, and voila- salt. Salt, salt, salt,
salt, salt. It was disgusting, but at least my pain made the Danes laugh.
After lunch
we practiced Excel –I partnered with Samantha- and watched a few student videos
from last year. I’m excited to get going on our own videos! We have a huge
selection of equipment to use, including a laptop. I’ll try to share pictures
when I can, but we have a limited amount of bandwidth and I have to compress
all of my pictures before posting them. It’s a very tedious process, and I wish
I could keep you all up-to-date, but I’m not sure that I’ll be able to. Sorry!
We had Thai
again and today I sat with Frederick (GR) and Kasper (teacher from DK). They’re
excellent conversationalists despite the language barrier, but I still wish
that I could communicate my thoughts more effectively. Communication is a
recurring problem here … maybe when we all start to get know each other better,
it will become easier. Or so I hope. I doubt I’ll be able to learn Danish in
only a few days.
After
dinner, we walked to the airport (about a twenty-minute walk in each direction)
and exchanged dollars for kroner. I’ve heard the ice cream is pretty
outstanding in Kanger, so I can’t wait to buy some with my new Danish cash.
We had personal
presentations at around 7pm, which lasted until 11! They were very interesting
to watch, though. Everyone comes from such different places around the world; I
feel so grateful to be here and experience so many cultures. I hope my own
presentation wasn’t too boring, but it was unique in that no one else comes
from a big city like Chi town. The city has a different kind of beauty than
Greenland … a loud beauty. I know I’ve said this before, but Greenland is so
quiet, so subtle.
 |
| Ronin presenting |
 |
| Samantha presenting |
Exhausted
and going to sleep. I wish it were actually dark outside …
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