yann in the arctic

Sunday 27 July 2008

Longyearbyen and stuff

I still can't believe I'm actually on Svalbard. The last time I was here I was sleeping in a tent and melting snow to cook. Right now on the other hand I'm living in a student "barrack" which is fairly decent (at least in comparison to my first year at Edinburgh). There is unlimited hot water and heating included in the rent (or at least I hope) and the kitchen is quite homely. The internet is incredibly fast too.

I arrived late last night and didn't have much to eat. It looks like things are done very slowly here (I keep hearing the word "tradition") and so the (only) supermarket here opened from 3PM-6PM. Let's just say I was standing in front of the door waiting for it to open.

My flat is located 3km out of town, and so I had a walk down to see if anything exciting was going on. I even managed to reach the other end of town near the fjord shore : all that in 45 minutes! That basically sums up Longyearbyen.

I wish I could speak a little Norwegian, and feel slightly foolish with my Wikitravel Phrasebook. Even thought everybody speaks (very good) English (and my lectures will be in English too), I did struggle in the supermarket. The one things I was sure of was the milk: how difficult could it be. Surely the 3.8% something something meant full fat milk. I ended buying two liters of some milky "kultur" which looks like yogurt.

One thing I cannot get over is how expensive things are. My trip to the supermarket cost me £33 and I really didn't get much. What is quite handy however is that there are 4 outdoor shops around (one gives 20% off for students ... hmmm). Icebreakers tops are actually a few pounds cheaper here! (Svalbard is supposedly tax free).

I have managed to meet a few people who will be on my course, and have already been for a meal at Husset (food/bar). They all seem cool. I will officially meet the others tomorrow afternoon.

Longyearbyen in March 2006 and July 2008 ...




UNIS and Adventdalen