amerikan ihmeellisyyksiä

Kysymys: Kuinka oikeaoppisesti maksetaan pankkitiliin yhdistetyn luottokortin kuukausilasku?

Vastaus: Lähetetään niille tietysti shekki.

On tää kumma maa.

Declining moral values

I've now done something that I once promised to never do. I joined Facebook. What's next? An iPhone?

Thanksgiving ills

During the past three days I've averaged over 12 hours of sleep, only left the cabin to take short walks, read three graphic novels, and made sourdough banana bread. That's about it. Not exactly the way I had envisioned spending my holiday, but I guess I'd rather be sick now than during our upcoming trip to Arizona (Inari and I will spend Christmas break there).

After getting over a sickness I always feel so fresh and alive. Maybe my body's immune system needs to occasionally shut down to make me appreciate what it does for me. Well, that's one thing that I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving. A good immune system.

google knows

This is just too funny to pass by. Some of you got tired of waiting my translation, and put Google on the case. The resulting text is sort of understandable, and you you can figure out at most of the context (even though some sentences come out as total opposites)*.

*No, we don't have a "domestic elk farm" in our backyard in case you were wondering. And yes, people in Europe smoke too much. Plus, in the comment section, Google translates my name as "callan".

The translation of the vacuum cleaner rant** really got me. Here's the Google version (I translated the few Finnish words left in the text that Google didn't understand):

"6. Horrid vacuums. These weighty, inconvenient and obtrusive machines, which are all in addition to the planned inoperative. Vacuum cleaner is the bottom for some strange reason, the light which is intended to enlighten apparently the floor. [Snip]"

I guess this answers all my questions about the horrid design of American vacuum cleaners. This enlightenment business explains why these machines weigh a ton, spew most of the dust back into the air, and why the cord gets wrapped around me all the time. I am still left wondering: can I ask spiritual advice from my floor when I am done cleaning?

**I am not the only Finn hating these machines. Most of the Finnish comments complain how bad US vacuums are.

top yhdeksän

(For the English readers: this is a list of things I like/don't like about living abroad in Alaska. Right now I'm debating if I should translate it or not. I'm not sure how interested others are about my whining, or how universal these feelings are among immigrants. All the things on the list are seen through my Finnish heritage, and might seem incomprehensible (i.e. not a big deal) to others. I might provide a shorter summary in the near future if you are interested).

+++++

Tässä edellisyön unettomuuden tulos. Havaitsin yhtäkkiä asuneeni Alaskassa miltein viisi vuotta (ja enemmänkin jos lasken mukaan vaihtovuoteni) ja suhtautuvani asioihin eri tavalla kuin aikaisemmin. Yhä moni asia ärsyttää, mutta en enää jaksa vetää hernettä nenään kun asiat eivät sujukaan tottumallani tavalla. Päätin siis kirjoittaa itselleni muistiin, mitkä asiat tulevat päällimmäisenä mieleen, kun listaan Alaskassa elämisen hyviä ja huonoja puolia.

Hyvää
1. Ihmisten ystävällisyys ja muiden huomioonottaminen. Tiedä onko tämä vain Alaskaa, mutta täällä ei todellakaan tarvitse odottaa apua. Toissapäivänä olin kaupungilla ison pahvilaatikon kanssa. Äheltässäni kaupan ovea auki, joku kiirehti parkkipaikalta avaamaan minulle ovea. Siis kaukaa, juoksujalkaa ja tuntematon ihminen, joka ei ollut kaupan työntekijä. Pahoitteli vielä, kun ei heti ollut huomannut.

2. Luomuruoka. Täällä kaiken voi ostaa luomuna tavallisesta automarketista (lukuunottamatta miesten partavaahtoa, jota yritin Jasonille toissaviikolla metsästää. Ehkä miehiä ei viherpiipertely kiinnosta?)

3. Luonnonläheisyys. Saattaa olla vain Alaskan ominaisuus, mutta luonto alkaa kolmen metrin päästä kotiovelta. Ehkä muualla maassa ollaan vieraantuneempia, mutta täällä karu luonto on kokoajan läsnä. Nimim. hirviä kotipihalla.

4. Ihmisten mutkattomuus. Toisiin on todella helppo tutustua, ja uutta tuttavuutta pyydetään helposti mukaan erilaisin rientoihin. En tiedä kuinka paljon tähän vaikuttaa oma elämäntilanne ja yliopistoväen suuri liikkuvuus, mutta sosiaalista elämää on helppo viettää (sanoo syrjäänvetäytyvä ihminen, joka ei sosiaalisuudesta niin kovasti perusta. Jopa minulle on kertynyt huomattavan monta ystävää).

5. Tupakoimattomuus. Tupakan poltto on halvinaista, eikä missään sisätiloissa juurikaan polteta. Eurooppaan palatessani nuuskin aina epäuskoisesti ilmaa ja ihmettelen miten ihmiset voivatkaan polttaa tupakkaa.

6. Aukioloajat. Pankkeja (ja virallisia instansseja) lukuunottamatta kaikki ravintolat, kaupat sun muut ovat auki pitkään. Rovaniemellä asuessani jouduin hiki päässä toimittamaan asioita koulun jälkeen, kun paikat eivät kertakaikkiaan olleet auki tarpeeksi myöhään kaltaiselleni yökukkujalle. Tähän tosin vaikuttaa olematon työlainsäädäntö, jonka mukaan sunnuntaityöstä tai juhlapyhistä ei tarvitse maksaa korkeampaa palkaa. Työntekijän kannalta siis miinusta, asiakkaan kannalta plussaa.

7. Toimeliaisuus. Täällä vapaahtoistyötä tekee suuri joukko, ja yhdistyksiä on satoja. Fairbanks on Rovaniemeä hitusen isompi, mutta kulttuuripuolelta täältä löytyy vapaaehtoisvoimin pyöritetty ooppera, kolmesta neljään teatteriryhmää, sinfoniaorkesteri, kaksi isohkoa musiikkitapahtumaa, alkuperäiskansojen taidefestivaali ja neljä taidegalleriaa. Kaikki ilman valtiovallan tai kaupungin tukea mikä tietysti tarkoittaa, että suurin osa työstä on palkatonta. Laadusta en sitten sano mitään.

8. Juuri kukaan ei tee suurta numeroa juomattomuudestani, eikä kukaan ole tyrkyttämässä alkoholia kun tulee puheeksi etten siitä välitä. Suomessa olin joku kummallinen friikki, koska ainoat sosiaalisesti hyväksyttävät syyt raittiuteen ovat (olivat?) uskonnollisuus, entinen alkoholismi tai raskaus (väliaikaisena selityksenä hyväksyttiin myös lääkekuuri). Kun en suostunut lokeroitumaan mihinkään näistä, alkoi kysely ja suureen ääneen ihmettely. Minusta aina tuntui että juomattomuuteni oli jonkinlainen uhka kanssaihmisille, josta oli helpointa päästä eroon saamalla minutkin juomaan.

9. Elitismin puuttuminen taideyhteisöstä. Ehkä tämäkin on vain selitettävissä kaupungin pienuudella, mutta kuvataiteilijana toimimista ei nähdä traagisena kohtalona, tai valtavana neroutena. Suomessa en olisi ikipäivinä ryhtynyt maalariksi, koska en tuntenut itseäni tarpeeksi lahjakkaaksi. Täällä olen ymmärtänyt ettei niinkään kyse ole taivaasta tippuneesta lahjakkuudesta, vaan kovasta työstä.


Huonoa
1. Amerikkalaisilla on tapana ilmaista asiat kiertoteitse, eikä suomalaisittain töksäytellen. Ennen kysyin ihan suoraan kyllä vai ei, kunnes Jason korjasi ja sanoi kysymystenesittämistapani olevan epäkohtelias. Nyt sitten on ollut pakko oppia kohteliaaksi ja monimutkaiseksi. (Ehkä tämän listaaminen "huonoksi" on hieman liioiteltua. Kyseessä on enemmänkin erilainen asia.)

2. Maailmankuvan täydellinen Amerikkakeskeisyys ja Yhdysvaltain esittäminen maailman parhaana maana. Ennen muuttoani pidin väitettä liioitteluna ja sen korostamista eurooppalaisena ylemmyydentuntona, mutta tätä "maailman mahtavin maa" propagandaa on oikeasti kaikkialla.

3. Autokulttuuri. Infrastruktuuri on suurimpia kaupunkeja lukuunottamatta rakennettu niin, että oman auton omistaminen on välttämätöntä, eikä julkista liikennettä ole. Pyöräilijään suhtaudutaan Fairbanksissä kuin heikkopäiseen ja jotkut autoilijat unohtavat kaikki velvollisuutensa kevyttä liikennettä kohtaan. Lisäksi Fairbanksin kylmässä ilmanalassa on tapana jättää auto käyntiin kun ajaja piipahtaa ruokaostoksilla. Tuloksena on ihana pakokaasupilvi, joka talvisaikaan peittää osan kaupunkia.

4. Käsittämättömän turvaton (ja kummallinen) pankkiliikenne. Vain pankkikortilla maksettaessa tarvitsee näpytellä tunnusluku, luottokortilla ei koskaan. Henkilöllisyyden varmentamiseksi riittää allekirjoitus (jota kukaan ei vertaa kortin nimeen). Bensaa ostaessa kortti vain höylätään koneen lävitse vailla mitään turvallisuusmeininkejä. Vaihtaessani euroja muutama vuosi sitten sain kokea, että vain muutama suurin pankki vaihtoi rahaa ja sielläkin homma oli nakitettu yhdelle työntekijälle, jonka poissaollessa kukaan muu ei voinut rahaa vaihtaa. Niin, no, käyhän tuo dollari kaikkialla, mitä sitä turhaan.

5. Paha ruoka. Suurin osa ruokakaupan tuotteista (siis ne ei-luomut) maistuu pahalle ja on epäterveellistä. Jokaiseen elintarvikkeeseen tungetaan sata lisäainetta ja high-fructose corn syrupia (= keinotekoisesti tuotettua sokerilitkua) on ihan kaikkialla. Osa ruokayhdistelmistä on kokolailla kummallisia (niinkuin sokeroitu ja toffeella kuorrutettu popcorn). Vanhempieni ollessa vierailulla he ostivat erehdyksessä Maple Baconia, siis vaahterasiirappiuutteella maustettua pekonia.

6. Hirviöimurit. Nämä painavat, epäkäytännölliset ja hankalat rakkineet, jotka ovat kaikenlisäksi suunniteltu toimimattomiksi. Imurin alaosassa on jostain kummallisesta syystä valo jonka tarkoituksena on ilmeisesti valaista lattiaa. Imuroija näkee siis mitä imuroi, mutta kun vehje ei kuitenkaan mahdu sohvan alle, niin valo on aika hyödytön (ellei sitten sammuta kattovaloa ja imuroi pimeässä pienen imurivalon turvin). Portaiden imuroiminen on tuskainen toimenpide tällä helvetinkoneella.

7. Epäluulo kaikkea valtionhallintoa kohtaan (tämä on ehkä selitettävissä kohdalla 8). Tässä poliittisessa ilmapiirissä on vain yksi oikea tapa kampanjoida, ja siihen kuuluu lupaus laskea veroja ja pienentää hallintoa. Kun kommunismia ei enää oikein voi pelätä, niin nyttemmin asialistalle on nostettu sosialismi, tuo kammottava tuloerojen tasaaja. Emmehän nyt millään halua muutta Yhdysvaltoja sellaiseksi sosialistiseksi valtioksi kuin esimerkiksi Ruotsi. Tämä on erityisen hupaisaa Alaskassa, jossa osavaltion hallinto jakaa jokaiselle asukkaalle osuuden öljytuloista ja joka on nettohyötyjä osavaltioiden välisessä tulonjaossa.

8. Byrokratia niin paikallistasolla kuin liittovaltiossakin. Kaikki liittovaltion lomakkeet mielletään niin vaikeiksi, että oletusarvoisesti ne täyttää joku muu kuin hakija itse. Tavallisilla palkansaajilla on siis oma lakimies ja kirjanpitäjä, koska säädökset ovat niin monimutkaisia, ettei niistä yksittäisen kansalaisen edes oleteta ottavan tolkkua. Ollessani viimeisessä maahanmuttohaastattelussani viranomainen oli aidosti hämmästynyt ettei meillä ollut lakimiestä mukanamme. Paikallistasollakin osataan. Yliopisto vaatii sata erilaista lippusta ja lappusta täytettäväksi mitä omituisimmista asioista. Joka toinen viikko minun on allekirjoitettava palkanmaksukuitti, jota ilman palkkaa ei voida maksaa. Lappu kierrätetään vielä varmuuden vuoksi esimiehelläni, joka allekirjoittaa sen tahollaan. Ymmärtääkseni lapussa vain mainitaan palkan määrä ja sen miltä tililtä se maksetaan, eikä sen avulla pidetä kirjaa työtunneista. Jokaikinen yliopiston työntekijä allekirjoittaa oman lappunsa, jotka sitten allekirjoitutetaan esimiehillä ja varastoidaan jonnekin. Kai tällä paperinpyörittelyllä työllisteään muutama virkamies sen sijaan, että saataisiin jotain aikaan.

9. Uskonnollisuus. Uskonnolla oletetaan olevan merkittävä rooli ihmisen elämässä. Ateistit ovat epäilyttäviä, jotka ovat joko moraalisesti epäkelpoja tai vaihtoehtoisesti koko ajan peloissaan ja hukassa. Uskonto tunkee päälle jokapäiväisessä elämässä, eikä se suinkaan tunnu olevan ihmisen yksityisasia. Vaikka perustuslaki määrää valtion ja uskonnon pitämisen erillään, käytännössä nämä kaksi ovat hyvinkin yhtä. Sanomalehden neuvontapalstalla kehoitetaan usein puhumaan ongelmista "luotetun hengellisen neuvojan" tai papin kanssa ja avustamaan kirkollisessa vapaaehtoistyössä jos elämä tuntuu tyhjältä.

Temporary relief

I passed my comprehensive exams today. I stumbled a little bit along the way, but I made it to the finish line - and with all major appendages still in tact. Overall the exams were a worthwhile experience, but I'm really glad that they're over. It will be really nice to have my evenings and weekends back. I think Inari would agree.

The whole experience would've been a little nicer had I started preparing months in advance, but that's easier said then done. Especially when you have a computer full of interesting data to look at.

Phew.

P.S. Dana - Thanks for cookies. They were better than Martin's - though I'm fairly impartial to most cookies.

shameless self-promotion

After a year's worth of procrastination, I made myself a new webpage (yes, this time there are things to click). It is made with the tried I-get distracted-by-a-million-better-ideas-as-I-am-putting-this-together -method that made me reinsert the links at least fiftytwo times. Disclamer: the HTML code is not pretty, Etsy shop doesn't have anything to sell yet, and there is a ton of things that bug me but nobody else will notice. If you encounter broken links, let me know.

Hints of good web-hosting companies are also welcome.

+++++

Uudet kotisivut ovat valmiit vain puolentoistavuoden vitkuttelun jälkeen. Tällä kertaa mukana myös linkkejä. Sivut ovat olemassa vain englanniksi, hermo meni jo puolivälissä, eikä enää riitä suomenkielisten väsäämiseen.

my electoral college is stronger than yours

Yei, life without robocalls telling us whom to vote for. Alaska, with its measly three electoral votes, is not a battle-ground state by any means, but we were still receiving a number of calls each day from the local politicians. I do wonder what is the objective of calling the same people four times within the 24 hours and telling them to vote (in our case they can only tell Jason to go). The callers always seem so confused too when I tell them that I cannot vote, thank-you-very-much-for-the-urging. Interesting tidbit though: the democratic calls have outnumbered the republicans 5:1 or so.

Edit: I spoke too soon. We still got a call at 7.20 PM (only 40 minutes before the polls closed) making sure that Jason voted. They must have learned and stopped asking about me.

The good life

Something that wives aren't knowing for saying to their husbands: "You need to drink more beer." I have a good wife.

Let the examination begin

Today I had the first of my comprehensive exams. Although I didn't come away from the exam feeling particularly brilliant or that I had done all that well, at least I came away with a box of girl scout cookies (thanks Martin!). This experience brings back painful memories of my undergrad days: 5 exams during finals week each semester. The unfortunate difference is that then I was rewarded by a month or two of vacation. There'll be no such reward this time around.

spill the beans

Piirustusblogi 550 drawings on ollut olemassa jo jonkin aikaa. Blogi on huhtikuussa syntynyt yhteistyöprojeti, jossa minä ja ystäväni Liisa yritettiin piirtää jotain joka päivä. Tavoite on vähän kärsinyt, mutta blogi päivittyy silti epäsäännöllisen säännöllisesti. Projekti päättyy ensi toukokuussa, jolloin piirustukset ovat esillä Fairbanksissä.

++++++

Some of you have already found out that I have a drawing blog, 550 drawings. This is a collaborative work between me and my friend Liisa. Our original idea was to draw something every day, but we are both lagging behind. I decided to draw objects that have somehow been used during the course of the day. The blog updates irregularly (when either one of us have an access to a scanner). The project will go on until next May, when the drawings will be exhibited here in Fairbanks.

Media reports

The paper that I've been working on is now accepted for publication. The media seem to have discovered it; in the past week I've had correspondence with 5 different journalists who either want to talk to me about the paper or want to use our timelapse videos. It's crazy and is starting to take up a fair amount of my time, but I try to enjoy it while it lasts. The first articles to come out can be found here and here. Both articles have mistakes in them but they are generally correct.

hidden among sponsor angels

Last Friday we went to see Calo Flamenco. Before the show started I was leafing through the pamflet (it mostly detailed the performace and thanked all-the-people-that-make-this-sort-of-thing-possible and gave them funny names based on how much money they donated). Amist the explanations of how to behave (they encouraged jaleos - encouraging shouts - and palmas - rhythmical clapping - during the performance) I found the following disclamer: "Calo Flamenco assumes no responsibility/liability for injuries resulting from attempting to follow the palmeros during the show. Possible risks include dryness/cracking in the palm of your hand, muscle fatigue and other physical injury to you or the person sitting next to you. If you decide to follow the palmeros and steal their work, you will not be paid for your services and cannot deduct your services on your tax return as a charitable contribution."

Made me snicker.

Rewinding to Ireland

I was in Ireland for a meeting a little over a month ago. Before the meeting I met up with some friends and their rapidly growing children (ages 6 months to 3 yrs). It was fun to catch up with everybody and to practice shooting photographs of people. Children make nice targets, since they don't move too fast, are emotional, and don't always notice when you're taking a photo. It's even better when they are children that you know, so that you don't feel like a paparazzi when you're taking photos...

Here are my favorite photos from that trip. I've thrown in a couple of scenery shots just for fun.

Lena, if you can't see us then we can't see you.

If only bubble wrap could help me focus with such determination.

Emilie, the "raspberry monster", apparently likes blackberries as well.

Sonja the Alaskan, who after spending a year in Switzerland still wanted to show her Alaskan pride (this was before she knew that Palin would be McCain's running mate).

The Cliffs of Moher, western Ireland. I really like the motion of the flowers. Makes you feel a little bit queasy.

The last two photos pretty much summarize Ireland: flowers, fences, and ruins.

whittier secret operations and its aftermath

Last August, while Jason was busy travelling in Europe, I had my share of fun in Alaska. My oldest friend (all the way from the first grade) came to visit me with her boyfriend. We loaded up the car and travelled from Fairbanks to Whittier and back again. Short version of the trip: 1200 miles (out of which 2.2 miles in a tunnel), a wolf, a pod of belugas, four brown bears, two eagles, numerous ground squirrels, one deserted army barrack, one small day hike, several glaciers, several sea otters, one ulu, five hotels, one lawn, two campgrounds, and quite a bit of rain.

Interesting tidbit from Whittier: the town used to be a secret army harbour, sealed from outsiders. The only way to get in was through a railroad tunnel or by boat. During the height of the secret operations, there were over 2000 soldiers living in Whittier. In 1953 the army built "the largest building in Alaska" at the time, "a city within a city" to house and entertain the soldiers. Mere seven years later, in 1960 the army left the town, and only 100 civilians stayed behind. They did not need all the housing that was constructed, so Buckner building was left uninhabited. This huge abandoned barrack overshadows the city, large enough to fit a cruise ship inside. Asbestos contamination prevents the demolition of the building (or rather, no one wants to pay for the cost of dealing with asbestos) and in true Alaska fashion, the building is just sitting there.

Today, 90% of the inhabitants of Whittier live in the Begich Tower, used to house soldiers, and the remaining 10% are in the apartment complex build for the officers. In other words, all the inhabitants of the city are living in just two buildings.

Presidential impressions

I've had some fun watching the debates over the past week. I was mostly watching them for entertainment value, as I had made up my mind months ago. I was really impressed with the ability of all four candidates to avoid questions that they didn't want to answer and to consistently tell lies and half-truths.

After the McCain-Obama debate, I read through the bipartisan website factcheck.org and learned that, not too surprisingly, many of the statements by both candidates were "simply not true". What surprised me, though, was that Palin and Biden repeated the same lies and half-truths one week later. You'd think that they'd do their own fact checking.

I wonder if we'll every have high-ranking politicians that are completely honest and unwilling to fabricate stories to get elected. What I find really amazing about politics is that politicians can spend an hour and half arguing with and making up lies about each other, and then afterwards shake hands and congratulate each other for doing a good job. That must be such a weird work environment.

Other things I learned from the debates:
1. McCain knows a lot of people from small towns around the world.
2. McCain isn't a very good listener.
3. Obama is naive and just doesn't get it (if McCain says it enough times, it must be true).
4. Obama has always been on the correct side of arguments (if he says it enough times, it must be true).
5. Palin sounds like a MinnesOHtan. I was going to write an entry about it, but the Minneapolis Star Tribune already beat me to it.
6. Biden talks a little bit like Garrison Keillor, but more quickly. I think he'd be a good story teller, and I bet he could fill in for Garrison Keillor on the Prairie Home Companion if he ever needed a week off.

myyrän paluu

Vanha tuttavamme myyrä on palannut silppuamaan vessapaperia. Tänään aamulla näin sankarin tositoimissa, mutta tällä kertaa se ei jäänyt tuijottamaan minua, vaan hyppäsi ämpäristä (joka on aikalailla täydempi kuin viime toukokuussa) kakkalankulle* ja sitä kautta maahan. Huima hyppy oli ainakin kolmen myyrän mitan pituinen. En silti haluaisi kotimyyrää, joka levittää käytettyä vessapaperia ympäri ulkohuussia (vaikka oli se kyllä aika söpö).

*Kakkalankku = lankunpala, jolla pirstotaan ulkohuussiin talvisin kerääntyvä jäätynyt kakkakimpale.

++++

Our friend the vole has returned. The animal is cute, but I would appreciate seeing it more if it wouldn't happen in our outhouse, and it would not be munching on our used toilet paper. This morning I witnessed the vole jumping from our used toilet paper bucket to the top of the poop stick* (at least three vole lengths in distance) and scurrying away with a mouthful of toilet paper. Cute in a sort of grossed-out way.

*Poop stick = a stick to used to knock down the frozen poo-tower that inevitably fills the outhouse hole during winter.

Science and politics

Science is generally not a main topic in political discourse though it is clearly becoming more and more intertwined with politics and culture, what with concerns about global warming, oil production, stem cell research, and attempts by the religious right to discredit the theory of evolution. How politicians address these issues will affect how science is funded and conducted, ultimately feeding back into how politicians will address future issues. (This scientific system is not perfect, but maybe that is a topic for another post.)

Nature magazine published today a special feature on the 2008 US presidential election, which is definitely worth checking out. I think you're able to view it without having a subscription to Nature, but I could be wrong.

Taking back the blog

If I don't start posting more we may have to call this blog "The vaimo and her glacier geek". Or even worse, "The geeky artist and her aviomies". My only excuse this time is that I'd like to post photos from Germany and Ireland, but I still haven't gotten around to picking out my favorites. I continue to be really busy, and I don't think it will get any better any time soon. That's just how it is in science - field work, data analysis, preparing manuscripts, attending meetings, writing proposals (of which I've only done a little).

The meeting I attended in Ireland was really good. It was rather informal and there was plenty of time to meet other glaciologists, including some of the grandparents of glaciology. Glaciology is really fun for many reasons, one of which is that the field is young and small. A friend of mine says that glaciology is like a village, everybody knows everybody. If I had to pick a village to represent glaciology, I'd have to say that the village in "One hundred years of solitude" is a pretty good choice. Not only does everybody know each other, but almost all people that have considered themselves glaciologists are still alive, due in part to glaciologists ability to live into their 90's.

I returned to Fairbanks in late August, then quickly turned around and flew to Seattle with Inari and her family for a short vacation. In Seattle we visited some of the standard tourist sites, did a a little shopping (finally bought a nice down comforter - on sale), and visited friends Erik and Stephanie who are now doing their residency in Seattle. I have to say that I've gained a lot more respect for doctors after talking with them and seeing what they have to go through on their way to doctorhood. I don't believe that anybody would go into medicine just for the money. There must be much easier ways to make a good living.

Then it was back to Fairbanks to work on finishing up a manuscript (almost published now...), writing an abstract for a meeting in San Francisco in December, saying goodbye to friends that are leaving us for warmer climates, and picking our bumper crop of potatoes and carrots (50 lbs (?) of carrots and many, many more potatoes). This winter I'll either learn to love potatoes or die trying.

I'm now in the process of studying for my comprehensive exams, something I probably should've taken about a year ago. To pass the exams I have to demonstrate that I am making sufficient progress towards a PhD. Interestingly, the exams vary from group to group, even within one department. We basically have the flexibility to make up the exams as we go, but generally follow some sort of tradition. In my case, I'll be taking written exams on three subjects: glaciers, numerical analysis, and geodynamics. Then, a couple of weeks later I'll be presenting a thesis proposal in a talk that is open to the public. If I pass those I will be a certified "PhD candidate" and my biweekly pay checks will get ever so slightly bigger (yea!).

my two cents on Palin

Piti kirjoittamani Sarah Palinista, mutta Project Mama ilmaisi asian paljon paremmin.

McCain osoittautui taitavaksi taktikoksi valitessaan Palinin varapresidenttiehdokkaakseen. En usko, että Palinin tarkoituksena on saada Hillary Clintonin äänestäjiä McCainin taakse, enemmänkin kyse on konservatiiviäänestäjien houkuttelemisesta uurnille (siis niiden uskonnollisten änkyröiden, joiden mielestä McCain on aivan liian vapaamielinen). Kaksi vuotta sitten Palin voitti Alaskan kuvernöörin vaalin uudistuspoliittisella ohjelmalla, johon kuului mm. korruption kitkeminen. Vaalivoitto (ja kampanja) oli ilmiömäinen, joten en ole hämmästynyt, että Palin kykenee saamaan koko Yhdysvaltain sekaisin ja nousemaan McCainin rinnalle tärkeäksi osaksi vaalikamppanjaa. Kunnianhimoinen täti kaiken kaikkiaan (tai poliittinen pyrkyri, miten nyt kukin haluaa asian ilmaista).

Ehkä vastenmielisintä koko touhussa on kuinka Palin on muuttunut suorasanaisesta politiikan uudistajasta republikaanien käsikassaraksi (tai mitä todennäköisemmin Palinin mielipiteet ovat pysyneet samoina, mutta kuvernöörin vaalikamppanjassa niitä ei voinut esittää yhtä avoimesti kuin nyt).

Sokerina pohjalla: jos McCain menee ja voittaa vaalit ensi marraskuussa nousee Alaskan kuvernööriksi Palinin varamies, Sean Parnell, jolla on (mikäli mahdollista) vieläkin konservatiivisemmat mielipiteet kuin Palinilla.

++++

I meant to write something about Sarah Palin, but Literary Mama says these things more eloquently. I don't think McCain selected Palin to woo Clinton supporters, but to rally conservative voters and get their support.

And oh joy: if McCain wins in November Alaskans get stuck with our current Lieutenant Governor, Sean Parnell, who seems to be even farther right than Palin. Even if McCain loses and Palin returns to her position as a plain governor, I think we are going to see a much more of a right wing agenda and a lot less bipartisanship.

there might be such a thing as too much garlic

Viime viikkojen ohjelma on suurimmaksi osaksi ohi. Kiitos perheelle käynnistä. Oli valtavan kivaa. Ikävä.

***

Today's rainy weather made a perfect day for a general laziness. We did manage to get to Farmer's market and bought some garlic bread that was mostly garlic and a bit of flower to make it more breadlike. My first impression: "Wow, this IS garlicky."

And I grew up on garlic.

the joys of a long distance relationship

Today I met a Random New Person:

RNP: So what brings you to Alaska?
Me: Oh, you know, the usual story. I was here as an exchange student, met my husband and so forth.
RNP: Interesting. What does your husband do?
Me: He's a glaciology student at UAF.
RNP: Oh, does he study Denali ice worms by any change?
Me: No, no, he is in Greenland doing fieldwork. That's where his research site is.
RNP: So let me get this straight... You moved here and your husband spends his time in Greenland?
Me: Yeah...

Trying to use up my 15 minutes

My friend Rolland discovered that there are actually public photos of me with the German chancellor Angela Merkel. It turns out that if you spell my name incorrectly, as he did, that you can quickly find a link to the German embassy in Denmark.

Photos from the field

I've finished my field work in Greenland, and am now sitting in Frankfurt (actually Niedernhausen) trying to comprehend the color green. Despite its name, Greenland really isn't very green, and in comparison Niedernhausen looks (and feels) tropical.

Our field work was quite successful. We managed to collect over a terabyte of data, a new record for us. Most of the data was in the form of photos - we had two cameras taking photos every 10 seconds. Those cameras eventually failed, giving me the opportunity to use a nice image stabilizing lens on my camera.

The results:

The glacier's terminus (where icebergs break into the ocean) shot from a helicopter.

Another shot of the terminus. Can you spot the helicopter?

An iceberg that has recently broken off of the terminus.

My favorite picnic spot. Most of the area near our camp contains very little vegetation, except for one small patch of tundra located a couple of kilometers down fjord. On a nice day its a great place to take a nap.

A little bay on the main fjord.

Boats in Ilulissat harbor's dry dock.

Lakes on the surface of the ice sheet.

this summer's weather rant

It has been cloudy, rainy and cold for two weeks now. We have been covered with low-hanging clouds that block the sun, rain a bit and move two meters to rain some more. The cabin is cold, the garden doesn't grow and my mood has taken a downward swing. I don't want to turn the heater on (it is supposed to be summer) so I have gone back to wearing my down booties and woolsocks.

The weather forecast for the next week (or the past two weeks):

Today: Occasional rain and mostly cloudy, scattered rain showers
Tonight: Mostly cloudy. Isolated rain showers
Wednesday: Mostly cloudy with isolated rain showers
Thursday: Mostly cloudy. Isolated rain showers
Friday: Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain
Saturday: Mostly cloudy with a change of rain
Sunday: Mostly cloudy with a change of rain

At least they don't throw in a warm and sunny day two days into the future as some forecasts do. Maybe they are trying to lift our spirits as in "The sun will shine. Just wait two more days."

Everything is slanted in the garden (except the weeds of course, but who wants to weed when it is raining). I am kind of glad we planted so many potatoes this year. They like colder weather and the tubers are safe underground. Our tomatoes, on the other hand, look pitiful. Zuccinis are rotting into their stalks.

I want my money back.

(As i type this, the sky is clearing up and I can see the sun first time in days. The incredible power of ranting does it again.)

+++++

Tervetuloa Alaskaan, täällä on kylmää ja kosteaa. Haluan tuliaisena hieman auringonpaistetta, kiitos.

personal note of changing circumstaces

Lopetin työt kirjakaupassa eilen.

Pelottava, mutta oikea ratkaisu. Nyt ollaan sitten kokopäiväisesti taiteilijaa, kun näyttää siltä, että kukaan ei Fairbanksissä tarvitse introverttiä piirtäjää. Työ itsessään oli ihan mukavaa, mutta vähän yksitoikkoista (puhumattakaan siitä, että työvuorolistassa olin aina ja ikuisesti viikonloppuvuorossa). Jason on luultavasti tyytyväinen, etten enää saa henkilökunta-alennusta kirjaostoksistani (tätä tosin kompensoin ostamalla tavallista enemmän kirjoja viimeisen viikon aikana). Kirjahyllytila on taas loppumassa.

Palkkaa saattaa tosin tulla ikävä. Tosin, jos oikein tiukka paikka tulee, niin Fred Myers tarvitsee aina kärryntyöntäjiä.

++++

I quit working at the bookstore yesterday. I left with mixed feelings; scared of future, sad to leave great co-workers behind, but happy to be drawing full-time again. I just have to treat drawing as a career and see where it takes me.

Jason is propably happy that I cannot get any discounts on books anymore. He thinks that our place is overflowing with books, I think we still have plenty of room to install more bookcases.

turning completely around

On my previous rant I made a passing reference to a website, 360 cities. The idea behind the site is simple; They stitch panoramic photographs together to create immersive views of a place. Their site is pretty neat (think Google streetviews) even though their navigation system is awkward and using the main map to move from one site to another is a bit frustrating.

Even though the site features an extensive network of European cities, I was still surprised to find that Helsinki, where I grew up, was included. I'm not sure if the photographs featured from Helsinki represent "the most interesting places in the world from the most interesting perspectives" but I guess I have never seen Helsinki through a pair of foreign eyes. (And maybe part of the fascination is to see what parts of a familiar landscape a stranger chooses to photograph.)

Most of the images turned out to be the obvious ones. There is the main square, the main park, the main shopping district, and there are multiple images of Suomenlinna, a naval fortress where I run around as a teenager participating in live action role-playing games (wearing a complete scavenged pseudo-medieval outfit with a cape and a wooden sword. Geeky, I tell you). Yet, some of their choices are more puzzling: Hotel Sokos' lobby is not very high in my list of interesting interiors in Helsinki. And why take photos of a lipouautomaati* (sic)? I fail to see the exoticism.

*A vending machine that sells parking passes.

Familiar Ilulissat

I'm back in Ilulissat and will be heading out to the field tomorrow morning. I find it interesting to see how my perception of Greenland, especially Ilulissat, changes with each visit. It's becoming more familiar - I no longer have the urge to take photos of every thing I see. This doesn't mean that I no longer find it interesting and beautiful. I also don't take that many photos when I'm in Fairbanks, but I like it there as well.

My initial attitude towards Greenland and Greenlanders was probably too romantic. The Greenland of my imagination no longer exists, at least not in the big town of Ilulissat. Life here really isn't that much different than life anywhere else. The culture has been strongly Danish-ized: pretty much everything about life in Ilulissat has been affected by Danish culture. I'm very curious to see how this changes in the future. How will Greenlandic culture evolve under globalization, climate warming, and rising fuel prices? The problems facing Greenland are very similar to the problems facing Alaska. The lack of resources, harsh climate, and large distances makes it very difficult, in my mind, for a modern western culture to survive.

I'll be done with field work in a little over two weeks. Then I head to Frankfurt to meet some friends and to Limerick, Ireland for a glaciology conference. Looking forward to both of those trips.

Note for our American readership

(Warning: this post contains political commentary. Take only with moderation.)

The rising price of gasoline is sending panic waves through congress and pushing legislators to open Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil exploration and drilling. I urge you to contact your representatives and tell them that drilling in ANWR will not lower the gas prices, reduce the dependency on foreign oil, or provide improved homeland security.

(For the record, I am aware that drilling will employ a few Alaskans, and create income to the state, and to a few native corporations. But no one knows how it will effect caribou migrations, subsistence hunting or animal populations living in the area.)

As for the Alaskan representatives, they are dead-set on opening ANWR (which is quite understandable when you think that 90% of Alaska's revenue is created by the oil industry - the rest comes mostly from the Federal reserves.). They have tried every trick in the book to slip ANWR legislation through the system. The rising gas price might be the ticket that they have been waiting for.

If the rising gas prices get you down, please remember that Finns are currently paying €1.50 per liter. That is €5.68 per gallon. High conversion rate increases the price even further so that Finns are essentially paying over nine dollars per gallon of gasoline (which is the same than rural communities in Alaska are facing right now).

Just in case you agree with the former Alaska senator Frank "There is nothing there!" Murkowski, please click here to see 360 degree images taken on location.

(End. You can all take a deep breath now.)

Edit: price calculations

Suomalaisia uutisia

Now that we have fast internet at home, I've started researching more exciting ways to learn Finnish. One thing we discovered is that Yleisradio, basically Finnish public broadcasting, offers streaming news video and sound clips. What is really cool is that the website offers "selkouutiset" (meaning: clear news), which is geared towards foreigners living in Finland that don't yet have a good grasp of Finnish. The language is greatly simplified and the reporters speak r-e-a-l-l-y slowly. The audio clips are also transcribed, so you can read the news as you are listening to it. Seems like a great way to learn - news clips tend to be short, so you don't need to have a long attention span, they use very common language, and if you are somewhat current with events it can be easy to figure out the meaning of words. For example, one of the clips today talked about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, so I was easily able to translate "asuntomarkkinat" (housing market) and "lainata" (to loan). I plan to listen to Finnish news every day. We'll see what happens, but so far I'm one for one.

I wonder if other countries have similar programs for foreigners. It seems like a great way to help non-native speakers assimilate into a new country. The Finnish program that we found is great, but I think it could be significantly improved with just a little bit more effort and resources.

Listening, reading, watching: July 2008

Listening: Pandora radio

I just learned about Pandora (internet) radio from a friend of mine. This coincided with Inari and I getting faster internet at home, and I now listen to Pandora basically every day. It's really neat - it allows you to fine tune your "radio" to listen to music that you like. It's a great way to learn about musicians. Right now I have three stations: pop, cuban, and electronic. I'm sure that will expand with time. No more advertisements, no more top-40 playlists, no more pre-processed mass-produced music.


Reading: Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

Speaking of mass-produced culture, I'm now reading Fast Food Nation, which doesn't exactly instill pride in our culture. The book is a very thorough account of the history of fast food and how it has affected American culture. It covers everything from treatment of employees to health to agriculture. Schlosser has a very obvious left-wing bias, so I am left wondering exactly how truthful he is, but on the other hand he does seem to have done very thorough research. I'm anxious to finish the book so that I can begin reading critiques.


Watching: WALL-E

This sci-fi Pixar animation is fantastic. I wasn't sure if Pixar could top their last animation (Ratatouille), but I think they have. Of course I'm a little biased - some of my favorite movies throughout my life have been sci-fi (e.g., E.T., Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey) - so any movie that makes fun of or mimics these movies is likely to make me laugh.

Canoeing in Minnesota

Summer always seems to go by too fast. I can't believe we're already approaching the end of June. I've already been to Greenland and back, Minnesota and back, am now teaching an undergraduate course (which is a lot of fun but also a lot of work), and will be leaving for Greenland again in a few weeks. In the mean time I have a lot of other things to work on, including getting a paper submitted, studying for my comprehensive exams, gardening, fishing, and trying to get out to the mountains to have fun.

The trip to Minnesota was a much needed vacation from computers and e-mail. Inari and I went down there for our friends' wedding and to help my grandma celebrate her 85th birthday. Our friends had organized a pre-wedding canoe trip in the Boundary Waters, which was something we couldn't resist. I did a lot of canoe trips in the Boundary Waters when I was kid, and I'm sure that those trips had a strong impact on me. I hadn't been back for several years. In some ways the place was the same that it has always been: peaceful, familiar, relaxing. At the same time I realized that I've changed and have a different perspective on things. I found myself wondering why I never bothered to learn about the plants, people, and animals that live in that region. I was bothered that I couldn't identify basic plants. But most of all the trip made me want to spend more time in the Boundary Waters. Its not the most beautiful place that I've been, but its probably the most peaceful and also the most comforting. It feels like home.

Here are few photos from the canoe trip:

The view of Shovel Point on Lake Superior, taken on the drive from Minneapolis to the Boundary Waters.

Our trail group minus myself. From left to right: Jenny, Elvira (the bride), Inari, Kelly, Jason (the groom), Angie, and Mark.


Typical Boundary Waters scenery.

Sawbill Lake in the fog.

----------

Our friends' wedding was also a lot of fun. Probably the second most fun wedding that I've been to (sorry J&E, but you had some tough competition). The wedding festivities lasted an entire weekend and even included square dancing! Got to meet up with some old friends and make some new ones.

lessons learned

We tried to go canoeing yesterday (or I tried, Jason succeeded). It turned out to be an afternoon spend mostly driving from one point to another, trying to find the lost cars, and getting lost ourselves.

Lesson number one: everyone knows where they are going. We set a meeting point to be at a local grocery store. Already on our way there one carload got lost. After we were ready to go, only one driver knew for sure where the destination was, and we lost him in the first turn. A lot of mix-ups happened (not to mention an hour and a half of lost time) before everyone was at the river ready to get in the canoes.

(Here's Sam, Chris and Agatha seen through the car window. Notice the rain drops and proper attire.)

Lesson number two: If the weather is good, go now, and don't wait until afternoon. In our case, the gorgeous sunny and hot day turned into windy and rainy afternoon. Always bring your rain gear.

Lesson number three: if you are sick, don't go (hence my trying). I got a flu a day before, but kept hoping that my condition would improve (and hey, canoeing is not that strenuous activity anyways). It didn't and a splitting headache got me to my senses. I had to bail out.

Lesson number four: if someone is picking you up, make sure that they know where to go. After I bailed out two other members of the group decided to do the same (see lesson two). Problem was that it was their car waiting at the other end. I drove them to their car and they kept telling me that I was headed the wrong way (which I wasn't). In the end they did manage to find their way back and pick up the successful canoers.

As for me, I spend the rest of the day in a feverish stupor.

before and after

The blogsilence was due to a trip to Minnesota: we participated in an Amundson family gathering, a BWCA canoe trip and a wedding. Jason can fill in the details, what I wanted to share was this: We left in a hurry. Jason's paper writing woes, gardening craziness and my painting worries left our place in complete disarray. In fact, we were still packing at 1 AM.


It took six hours of cleaning to get to this stage.

Bear affects peaceful commute

I like bears, or at least I try to. I think they are pretty amazing animals. I also like biking and skiing to work. Even though the commute gets old at times, especially in winter, I mostly enjoy it because its a chance to get some fresh air, to organize my thoughts, and to put some distance between my personal life and work - though admittedly the last thing doesn't always happen.

What I don't like so much though, is when bears affect my morning commute. Granted, I didn't actually see a bear, but I did see this sign Wednesday morning just as I was entering a narrow trail through the woods:


That was enough to raise my heart rate even though I started biking at a somewhat slower pace.

Field appetite

You'd think that I'd eat a lot more food when I'm doing field work than when I'm sitting in front of my computer all day, but you'd be wrong. By a lot. A typical day of field work involves getting up around 7:00 and starting work around 8:00. On days that we fly up on the glacier there tends to be very little time for lunch since its expensive to have the helicopter sitting around doing nothing. That doesn't bother me too much, as long as I can get a few bites of chocolate and an apple. If we don't have the helicopter we are at camp tending to our instruments. Setting up the instruments requires hauling heavy batteries and solar panels around. (Once, while doing field work in southeast Alaska, I even hauled loads of rocks up the glacier. Seemed kind of pointless, since the glacier would just carry them back to its terminus...) On those days lunch becomes a little more important, but I still don't eat any more than I do at home. Dinner tends to be around 7:00 or 7:30 and is followed by a game of cards. Some days - especially if the weather is nice - we work after dinner though we usually try to avoid doing so.

Let's compare that to what I do when I'm in Fairbanks. I get up around 8:00 and am at work by 9:00 or 9:30. We have a coffee break at 10:30, which is occasionally accompanied by some sort of cake or chocolate. If not, then I'm hungry by 11:00. I usually make it until noon before diving into my lunch, which today consisted of a fairly large salad, and apple, and a couple of sandwiches. By 3:00 I was already thinking about dinner. I made it until 7:00 without eating anything else, but I had to snack on some munchies while I was cooking dinner in order to have the energy to cook. Its now 8:30 and I feel fine, but I'm pretty sure that a big bowl of ice cream will hit the spot in about an hour.

The only explanation that I can come up with is that my computer needs more than 4 GB of RAM to do all the work that I ask it to. It is forced to suck energy from me to complete all of its tasks.

What I'm listening, reading, watching: May 2008

Listening: Mr. Pitiful by Matt Costa

I discovered this little gem (great video) when I was looking through the Brushfire Records website. Brushfire Records is musician-owned company featuring some very good pop musicians (G. Love, Jack Johnson, Mason Jennings). I'm not so keen on Matt Costa's other songs, put I can't get this one out of my head. See if you can listen to it without tapping your feet and nodding your head. Its really catchy. I guess I'm a sucker for good pop music.


Reading: High Fidelity, A Long Way Down, and Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby

Since I'm on the topic of pop culture... Nick Hornby's books mix emotional turmoil and pop culture into funny, witty, and insightful stories. I've now read all of his novels and his autobiography (Fever Pitch, which is interwoven with the history of the Arsenal soccer club). I think the best two are High Fidelity and About a Boy, but they're all worth reading. I don't know of any other authors who can make breaking up with a girlfriend or contemplating suicide so funny. I'm sure that last sentence makes a lot more sense to people who have read any of his books.


Watching: Northern Exposure

Inari and I have now watched the first two seasons of Northern Exposure. I remember hearing of the show as I kid, but I never watched it. Its actually quite good, even though its portrayal of Alaska is off the wall. But then again, Alaska is a little off the wall. All of the characters are entertaining and unique. The show can be a little too bizarre at times, but I think it is just bizarre enough that you're okay with it. What I mean is, when you're watching the show you realize that you're not watching reality and you come to expect totally crazy stories in every episode.

Greenland photos

I've now had some time to go through my photos from the past month. I thought I'd post my favorites. I didn't take very many while I was in the field - I guess I've been to our site enough times that I can be there without feeling like I need to take a photo every 10 minutes.

A dog team on its way back to Ilulissat.

Naja took me dogsledding a couple of times in April. On this trip we headed straight up the hill in the distance. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed seeing Greenland in "winter".

My favorite of Naja's dogs - a youngster name Nuka. She was really sweet. Naja doesn't let the dogs put their feet up on you, so this one figured out that she could stand backwards and lean into you for maximum petting.

The town of Uummannaq, which is named after its heart-shaped mountain. The town is on a tiny little island. To get to Uumannaq you can take a dogsled, a helicopter, or, for a short part of the year, by boat. It has the northernmost port in Greenland.

The view from my hotel room, looking east across the sea ice.

Aerial photo of sea ice, taken during the helicopter trip from Uummannaq to Qaarsut. From Qaarsut I boarded a larger plane and flew to Ilulissat.

An iceberg surrounded by sea ice.

Myself wrestling the camera away from Isbjorn.

maailmassa on virhe

Ennen luulin, että maailman voisi jos ei nyt ihan pelastaa, niin ainakin tehdä kovasti paremmaksi paikaksi luotoystävällisiä tuotteita ostamalla. En ole menettänyt vielä uskoani, mutta kummastuttaa mihin tuotteiden luontoystävällisyys unohtuu pakkausvaiheessa. Teepaketti on kääritty useaan muovikalvoon, luomumaitotölkki on varustettu muovisella kierrekorkilla ja luomujuusto on pakattu säälittävän pieniin pakkauksiin. Viimeisin harmin aihe: suosimani jäätelömerkki on uusinut pakkauksensa pahvisista muovisiksi. Ei tietenkään kokomuovisiksi, silloinhan koko paketin voisi pestä ja käyttää uudelleen, vaan kanteen on lisätty turha muoviremmi. Mikäli vanhat merkit pitävät paikkansa, kuukauden päästä kilpailevat merkit ovat myös uusineet pakkauksensa, ja jäätelöä ei enää saa ilman muoviremmiä. Piih.

En valittaisi, jos kysessä olisi yksittäinen tuotemerkki. Mutta ei. Neljän vuoden aikana useampi yritys on vaihtanut pakkauksiaan vaikeammin kierrätettäviksi, hankalammiksi, tai muuten vain lisännyt turhan tilpehöörin määrää. Pöh.

English summary: today's irritation was caused by an ice cream packaging. Someone has replaced the old (fully recyclable cardboard) container with a new package that comes with a plastic striped lid. Didn't anyone tell the organic companies that combining several materials into one package makes the whole thing much less recyclable? Not to mention how much oil is consumed to make this plastic strip. We must not be running out after all...

Greenup

Another year that spring rushed past us. So far, I have experienced spring ten times above 64 degrees. Yet, the astonishing speed of spring time continues to amaze me every single year. Last week there was still snow on the ground, and temperatures were around freezing. I wore my scarf, mittens and winter hat as I have been for the last eight months. Today, snow is gone, grass has turned green, and dandelions are blooming. In short, it feels like summer (and I finally shed my wool socks).

This breakneck speed always leaves me feeling a bit cheated. Where did the spring go?

My bizarre and wonderful trip to Uummannaq

Greenland - and the arctic - is a lot like a small town. If you know somebody that knows somebody that maybe heard of somebody else, then all of a sudden you have new friends and a place to stay.

Example:

Last Tuesday I flew to Uummannaq, a wonderfully beautiful little town on a little island surrounded by sea ice. By mid-afternoon I had seen the town and was wondering how I would spend the rest of the week. The next morning I knocked on the door of a Ann Andreasen, a Faroese woman who runs an orphanage in town and is famous for her hospitality. My motivation for meeting her was that I thought it would be nice to talk with the children at the orphanage about the changes that are happening in Greenland. Anyway, her husband/boyfriend Ole-Jørgen Hammeken, a famous Greenlandic adventurer invited me in for coffee. (It turns out that I had read about Ann, Ole-Jørgen, and their daughter Pipaluk in the book "This Cold Heaven" by Gretel Ehrlich.)

Ole-Jørgen has some pretty amazing stories. He has/is circumnavigating the Arctic Ocean in phases, was the first person to climb the northernmost mountain in the world, pioneered a new dogsled trail from Uummannaq to Ilulissat, and is planning on dogsledding to the north pole this winter to "commemorate" the 100th anniversary of Robert Peary reaching the north pole.

Side note: I may have discovered an interesting piece of family history during my discussion with
Ole-Jørgen. I share the same surname as the polar explorer Roald Amundsen (changed by my one of my ancestors to Amundson), that branch of my family comes from the same small town as Amundsen (Borge, Norway), and supposedly the Amundsen surname did not come into existence until the mid-1800's. Although we haven't yet proved it, there is a good probability that we are somehow related to Roald Amundsen. We know that we aren't direct descendants, especially since Amundsen supposedly didn't have any children - at least not in Norway. However, Ole-Jørgen told me that he met an Inuit person in Gjoa Haven, Canada, who claims to be a direct descendant of Amundsen. So maybe we have long-lost Inuit cousins! What makes the story even more interesting, if its true, is that supposedly Amundsen's shipmates didn't talk about women in his presence - he didn't approve. He was so focused and determined during his expeditions that he didn't want there to be any sort of distractions to him or his men.

Okay, back to Uummannaq. While drinking coffee Ole-Jørgen's house was suddenly filled up with a French film crew! Ann and Ole-Jørgen were in the middle of filming a feature film in Greenlandic, the first such film in 80 years. So now I had a bunch of French friends. They introduced me to yet another French filmmaker who was working on a project with the children at the orphanage. He then introduced me to a French painter, who immediately invited me over for dinner... I think you get the point.

It was a fun and somewhat bizarre week. I ended up seal hunting by dogsled (didn't see any seals) and also gave a short and somewhat unsuccessful presentation at the orphanage (technical difficulties). The hospitality of the people I met rivaled those of Fairbanks. At times I felt like an intruder, but they kept inviting me along. I turned down a couple of offers only because I felt uncomfortable. I probably could have gotten a place to stay if I had been more pushy, but as I already felt like an intruder I decided to stay at the hotel instead.

The dinner with the French painter, his wife, and one of the filmmakers was also very much fun. I'm not sure why the French get such a bad rap. Every French person I've met has been really generous and fun to be around.

myyrästoori

Tapahtui tässä toissaillalla, kun käytin ulkohuussia:

Keräämme käytetyn vessapaperin erilliseen ämpäriin, ettei kolo täyttyisi turhan nopeaan. Astiassa vain sattui pyörimään myyrä, ehkäpä Cletherionomys rutilus, vaikea sanoa kun eläinkirjani on aika onneton. Nostin muovipussin täytteineen ämpäristä toivoen, että myyrä tassuttelisi tiehensä, erinäisistä syistä kun pesän teko vessapaperista ei ole toivottavaa. Mutta mitä vielä, myyrä istui tattina paikoillaan ja katsoa killitteli ruskeilla silmillään. Siinä me sitten seistiin, katsottiin toisiamme ja räpyteltiin aina välillä silmiämme. Kauempana huhuili pöllö. Vihdoin ojentauduin pystyyn ja myyrä piiloutui ämpärin taakse, ilmeisen lähtöhaluttomana. Kyllä se sitten viimein suvaitsi lähteä, eikä ole onneksi tullut takaisin silppuamaan vessapaperia.

English summary: a vole (possibly Cletherionomys rutilus) wanted to claim our outhouse for personal use. I think I managed to convince the critter that it was not a good idea. During the process, we did spend some minutes staring at each other.

häivähdys koti-ikävää

Kysymys: Mistä tietää asuneensa liian kauan ulkomailla?

Vastaus: Kun Blogilistan ilmapallot herättävät hämmästystä. Mitä ihmeen syntymäpäiviä siellä nyt vietetään. Minulla meni puoli päivää tajuta, että ainiin, vappuahan on pyhäpäivä. Fairbanksissä oli eilen oikean oloinen vappuilmakin, viistoa räntäsadetta ja lämpoä asteen verran.

Ilmapalloista lienee siis tullut liian arkisia, kun niitä saa ostettua tavallisesta marketista. Onneksi Fred Meyersistä löytyy laulavia ilmapalloja, jotta jonkinlainen roti säilyy ja palloja voi vielä ajatella luksus-esineinä...

The polka?

I have lost my polka virginity. For same strange reason, the polka is really (and I mean REALLY) popular in Greenland. Basically you can’t be a musician in Greenland if you don’t know how to play polka music. I went to a party on Friday – a post dogsled race dinner, awards ceremony, and dance. I ended up being forced, well maybe coerced, into polka dancing. The first song nearly ended in disaster. It’s not easy to dance with two left feet! The second time around was quite a bit better, in part because I danced with one of the best ones there, and in part because there was more room on the dance floor.

It’s interesting that dancing and playing music at parties – well at least traditional dances and music – has basically been lost from American culture. I wonder why that is. Is it that our culture is such a melting pot that nobody could ever agree on what dances to dance and songs to play? Or did pop music ruin everything?

Observations on dogsledding from somebody who doesn’t know anything about dogsledding

After a couple of dogsledding experiences in both Alaska and Greenland, I have made some surely keen observations. Dogsledding styles differ considerably between the two cultures. In Greenland, mushers sit on their sleds, which are wider and sturdier than Alaskan sleds. The dogs run in a fan formation and are controlled by voice and with a whip. This contrasts with Alaskan dogsledding, where the musher stands behind the sled, only use their voice to control the dogs, and the dogs run in a row. My impression is that the Alaskan mushers treat their dogs better. Greenlanders claim that their dogs sometimes need to be hit to be controlled because they are such wild dogs. Personally, I don’t think their dogs are any more wild than Alaskan huskies, and they definitely don’t need to be hit. Some mushers in Alaska have learned that the dogs perform better when they are treated well. Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.

There seem to be advantages and disadvantages to both styles, and I think they could learn from each other. The Greenlandic dogs seem more difficult to control because they are not in a line, so they are more likely to get tangled up with each other or with a passing sled. Also, because the musher is sitting down its more difficult to see what lies ahead. On the otherhand, the trails can be very rough and full of rocks. Its easy to imagine that a standing musher would be thrown off their sled if they hit a rock. What I find maybe most interesting is that they don’t have a very good braking system. They have no way to anchor the sled into the ground, and their only way to force the sled to stop is to throw a large rope (like you’d see on a ship) around the front of the runners. I’d have thought that they would’ve developed something more sophisticated by now.

By standing, the Alaskan musher can more easily navigate his team around obstacles. Their sleds, which are somewhat lighter, are easier to manuever from behind but likely couldn’t stand up to repeated collisions with rocks. This is okay because they mostly run through the forest and swamps anyway, which is also why they run in a line. The sleds have both an anchor and a brake.

Two things that I’ve definitely learned: I need my own dog team, and Umimmak (= musk ox = long bearded one) would make a good dog name.

I will post photos later, but right now I stupidly don’t have a way to download them from my camera.

Frustrations at the museum

My experience at the Ilulissat Museum has been fairly discouraging this year, especially when compared to last year. We had basically three objectives this time around: to give another talk at the school, to set up a time-lapse camera with the school children (to get them involved with our research), and to put together a short DVD containing photos and videos of our field work.

I spent two days preparing a presentation for the school, only to have the teacher cancel on me since I had already talked to her class (she didn’t know this beforehand). Of course, I was planning on talking about something different, but that didn’t seem to matter.

The camera has also been something of headache. First, we talked to some teachers who thought the project was a great idea – but not for their class. According to Naja, my colleague at the museum, that is a typical response from the teachers here. Regardless of their response, we’d still like to put out a camera. As I’ve told several people in town, I’m happy to share the time-lapse video with anybody who can make use of it: educators, tour companies, etc, and we’d like to have the imagery for our own work. The problem is that we’re having trouble finding a good, secure spot for the camera with a good view of the fjord. I had first thought that a roof of a building would be ideal, but finding an ideal roof is far from easy. At this point I think the best alternative would be to mount it on the radio tower, which is up on the hill behind town. It seems that there is some hope for this, but it will require quite a bit of bureaucracy. We’ll give it a shot anyway.

We haven’t worked on the DVD yet. It should be pretty straightforward, except that the computer I need to use is currently in Kangerlussuaq.

On the other hand, the trip here hasn’t been a complete waste. I’ve gotten to experience Ilulissat in “winter” and have already gone dogsledding a couple of times and also gone to watch a dogsledding race. (It was the type of race where the objective is to not come in last place.) And, I’ve just purchased tickets to fly to Uummannaq, a town about an hour’s flight north of here. I’ll spend 5 days and about a month’s salary… I’m really excited to go to Uummannaq, even if it is going to be really expensive. It is much more removed from the standard tourist route and will be my new farthest north (over 70 deg).

Side note: travelling in Greenland is incredibly expensive. I’m paying over $50 a night for a bed in a hostel (a hostel!), a taxi from the airport to the hostel (5 km) costs $25, a burger at the greasy dinner costs $20, beer costs $10 a bottle if its served to you and $4 if you buy it at the store (and its not particularly special beer), and dinner at one of the nicer restaurants costs $50. The flight to Uummannaq will cost me $700, and a hotel room there costs $200 a night (actually fairly reasonable by Greelandic standards). I might end up camping outside of town or staying in a hut, but first I need to find out if Isbjorn lives nearby.

sizing matters

Some frustration today was provided by weird US clothing sizes. OK, I kind of see the principle. Sizes get bigger as the numbers get bigger. That part is easy. Difficulties start when I actually try to apply the theory and buy something that is my size.

I needed a new lingerie and hastly calculated that since my bra size is 75 centimeters, I should be fine with 30 inch bra. I guess there is something else going on here instead of a simple conversion from metric to imperial. The smallest size I could find was 32. Since my bra size is fairly common in Finland, I refused to believe that here I would be considered a weird undersized mutant. So I grabbed randomly some 32's and 34's and headed for the dressing rooms. When I tried them on, there did not seem to have any logic which sizes fit me and which didn't. Some were huge, providing ample room plus some extra space for my breasts, and few were super thight. (Most of them were really big, so maybe I am a weird undersized mutant after all.)

It has taken me some trial and error to find right size pants as well. I think the numbers start from somewhere around 0 and grow in increments of 2. But each company sems to have their own sizing chart where the basic unit of measurement is unknown and one just have to guess what size to try. To keep it all confusing, it seems to me that every single item of clothing has their own numbering system. Underwear sizes do not match pant sizes, and shoe sizes do not match sock sizes.

And I really don't understand why this country needs three different shoe size scales: separate ones for kids, females and males.

Ilulissat in winter

It's great to be back in Ilulissat, and its great to see it in winter. Its much quieter than in summer. There are basically no tourists and there aren't nearly as many teenagers cruising up and down "main street". Speaking of tourists, I learned that the number of tourists has increased from about 5,000 per year to 35,000 per year within a span of a few years. That number is expected to double this year. This for a town that has 5,000 inhabitants. As you can imagine, the town is starting to be overrun by tourists, at least in summer. I wish I could've seen it 20 years ago.

As I've written in past entries, Greenland has quite a few social problems that it is trying to overcome - poverty, poor education, and poor health care. There is reason for hope though. Among other things they are opening a university and national art museum in Nuuk, the capital city. This says to me that they are becoming increasingly independent from Denmark. (They have also started a couple of breweries, an important step towards independence!) Hopefully they can do so without selling out to tourism and mining operations.

An interesting note that I learned this week: the Greenlandic word for Greenland is Kalaallit Nunaat, or land of the Greenlanders. Apparently that name didn't exist until after Danish colonization. The word "kalaallit" (or the singular version "kalaaleq") developed a negative connotation during the colonial period, when it was used by Danes to refer to a lower-class of people. This is much like the word "eskimo" in Canada and Alaska, which simply means "raw-meat eater" but has come to have negative connotations as well. Thus the people of Greenland are not particularly comfortable with the name of their own country! Apparently their has been some discussion (I don't know how serious) of changing the country's name to the much more pronounceable Inuit Nunaat, or "land of the people". Poetic, but a little misleading considering that in all of Greenland there are only 50,000 people.