Getting educated

Last Thursday was the first day of kindergarten in Ilulissat. Here, the children start their school career by wearng traditional Greenlandic clothing. They're traditional in the sense that their origins are very old but, as you can see in the pictures, the clothing has evolved considerably through the years. At noon the children and parents gathered outside the school, and one by one they were introduced and welcomed to the school and given a Greenlandic flag. The proud fathers documented the event with the cameras, just like they do everywhere else in the world. I thought it was a very nice tradition and I was happy to witness it. Most of the kids were very shy, but a few had big grins on their faces.


From what I've heard, the education system in Greenland is very poor. They are just now in the process of developing their first university. Many towns don't have high schools - the towns are just too small. Even the kids in Ilulissat, the third largest "city", have to go to boarding school in the town of Aassiat once they turn sixteen. The poor education system is a big reason that I'm here right now. In addition to my research, I'm spending about two weeks working with the municipality's "science interpreter". I've been told that even though there are many scientists coming to Ilulissat, the local people don't gain anything from the visits, and in fact they are often the last ones to find out about the research results - when they are discussed on the BBC. So we are trying to bring our science to the community and especially to the children. We want to teach them science as well as the scientific process. I'm working on a poster that will be displayed at the schools and in the town museum. We've also organized a public meeting with myself and a couple of other scientists. And, just yesterday I learned that I will be giving a presentation at the local school - a chance for the kids to practice their English and to learn about the interesting glacier in their backyard. I just wonder who will learn more - the kids or myself

A bridge, nostalgia, a wedding

Wednesday night I went to school to pick up some equipment to take with on my trip to Greenland (I’m en route right now). My computer was on, so I quickly checked the news on CNN. I couldn’t believe what I saw – Minneapolis had made international news because of a devastating bridge collapse, a bridge that was something like 10 blocks away from were I used to live. I felt shocked; it touched close to home. I’ll probably always remember reading about it, just as I'll always remember where I was when I heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center.

On my way to Greenland I made a short visit to Minnesota. Travelling there and (and to other parts of the civilized world) always gives me fixed feelings. I’m not particularly fond of the cookie-cutter design of many parts of the U.S., and when I see those areas I’m happy to be living in Fairbanks in my little cabin in the woods. That was my feeling on Thursday evening after arriving at my parent’s place in Maple Grove. Friday, though, I went to Minneapolis to meet up with Cuong and Joe and some of their friends. We went out for a dinner and then saw a play – a really funny satire of the pyramid business scheme for selling beauty products. Afterwards, while talking on the street corner on a warm summer evening, I really missed living in Minneapolis. I’m not sure if it was Minneapolis itself, or just the city culture. I often feel torn between where I would really like to live: a city, with its culture and architecture and busy-ness and closeness, or a rural area like Fairbanks, with its quiet and beauty and space and wilderness. Maybe my ideal home would be in a dense city with no suburbs that is surrounded by complete and easily accessible wilderness…

I was passing though Minneapolis to attend my friend Sing-Wei’s wedding (to Nate, whom I’ve just briefly met). The day of the wedding was one of the only rainy days all summer. The ceremony was outdoors, but they managed to squeeze it in between rain showers. At the end of the ceremony they released some monarch butterflies, some of which weren’t very eager to leave their warm little “cages”. Its interesting attending weddings after being married. I almost feel like I’m welcoming the newly-weds into some sort of club. A club that doesn’t have rules, just feelings. I’m pretty sure I know how Sing-Wei and Nate feel right now, and that’s a feeling that I didn’t know existed a few years back. I also wouldn’t be surprised to learn that their new pet names for each other are “husband” and “wife”. It’s a funny thing when you get to say “Hey wife, should we have dinner now?”.

The wedding was fun- it was especially nice to catch up with old friends, though I would’ve like to talk more with Sing-Wei.