Sejltur

Sjovt hvor varmt +1°C kan føles, når man blev vant til at have det lidt koldere. De synes Grønlanderne også og sad derfor udenfor på piknikbænk og spillede kort i går. Det varme vejr var ideal til at tage på fisketur og Eeneraq, en af vores Nuiki-kursister, kom og spurgte, om vi havde lyst til at tage med. Vi tøvede ikke, vi havde faktisk håbet på denne mulighed, da ingen af os havde prøvet det før. Han var meget betænksom og havde medbragt en af sine onesies til mig for at jeg ikke skulle fryse. :) Heldigvis havde jeg ikke taget så mange kilos på endnu, at jeg kunne passe den :-P Men den var dejlig varm. Efter vi havde tanket op, sejlede vi på fjorden, hvor vi mødte mange andre fra bygden. Det var hyggeligt at stoppe ved siden af hver båd og få en kort snak indtil vi sejlede videre. Alle var bare på vandet i dag – men faktisk kun mændene, jeg så ingen kvinder eller børn. Stolt fortalte Thomas, bådejeren, at båden kan køre op til 30km/h, men da vi kom igennem isflager, skulle vi sejle meget langsomt og forsigtigt. Når man kører hurtigere, er det ligesom alle tanker bliver blæst væk i et stykke tid og man kan bare nyde tilværelsen. Jeg kan godt forstår, hvorfor de er så vilde med deres både. ;-)

Det var også en god lejlighed til at lære nye grønlandske ord, eksempelvis på alle dyr vi så undervejs: "terianniaq" (polarræv), "naaja" (møve), "nattoralik" (ørn) og ”tuttu” (rensdyr). Jeg var særlig glad for at kunne se rensdyr i fri natur. Vi var selvfølgelig ret langt væk, men med kikkert kunne man rigtig godt se dem. Og så skulle vi også prøve at fange torsk, selvom vi kun brugte 80m af vores snor og ikke 500m som nogle af de andre. Vi blev forklaret, at man ikke plejer at vente længere end 5-10 minutter på fangst, om sommeren helst kun et minut indtil fiskene skal bide. Vi fangede to torsk i dag :) Da vi kom tilbage til Atammik efter tre timer, var en anden fisker i gang med at tømme sin båd for blodet fra en sæl, han havde fanget. Vi fik lov til at prøve nyren – rå og direkte fra dyret. Det var lidt grænseoverskridende for mig, men jeg ville ikke afvise det velmente tilbud og selvfølgelig ville jeg prøve for oplevelsens skyld. Det var ok, men jeg var glad for kun at have spurgt efter et hasselnød-stor stykke. 

I huset havde tanken til vores oliefyret været tom siden fredag aften, så det har været ret kold... Dejligt, at bygdens ’oliesheik’ var med på sejltur, så kom han bagefter og hjalp os til at tanke op, da vi selv manglede en dunk. Nu er det dejligt varmt igen.

Sailing trip

Funny how warm +1°C can feel when you got used to colder temperatures. That’s also what the Greenlandic think, so they were just chillin’ outside on picnic tables playing cards yesterday. The warm weather was also a great condition for a fishing trip and Eeneraq, one of our Nuiki-students, came to ask if we wanted to come. We didn’t hesitate, we had actually been hoping for this opportunity, since none of us had tried that before. Eeneraq was very considerate and brought a onesie for me so I wouldn’t freeze. :)  Fortunately I haven’t gained that many kilos yet as that I would fit it, but it was nice and warm anyways. After we got some gas, we sailed on the fjord and met many other people from the settlement. It was quite cozy to stop next to all the other boats and have a quick chat before we continued. Everyone was just on the water today – well, actually only the men; I saw no women or children. Thomas, the boat owner, told us proudly that it can reach a speed of 30km/h, which we also made use of, but when we were going through ice floes, we had to go very slowly and carefully. When driving faster it feels like all thoughts get blown away by the wind for a while and you can just enjoy simply being. I understand why they love their boats so much. ;-)

It was also a good opportunity to learn new Greenlandic words, such as names of all the animals we saw on the trip: "terianniaq" (polar fox), "naaja" (seagull), "nattoralik" (eagle) and "tuttu'" (reindeer). I was especially excited to see happy and free reindeer. They wouldn’t have survived our visit if it was fall though, but right now it’s closed season. We wanted to give fishing a try though, even though we only used 80m of fishing line and not 500m like some of the others. They explained to us that they don’t wait more than 5-10 minutes for a catch, during summer rather only one minute before the fish are supposed to bite. We caught two cod today :). When we got back to Atammik after three hours, one of the fishermen was emptying his boat from the blood of a seal that he had caught. We were offered the seal’s kidney – raw and warm, directly cut from the animal. I had to overcome some reservation there, but I didn’t want to reject this well-meant offer and also wanted to try it for the experience. It tasted ok, but I was glad that I only asked for a piece in the size of a hazelnut.

Back in the house our gas-tank had been empty since Friday night, so it has been quite cold… It was quite convenient, that the settlements ‘oil sheik’ was on the boat with us and helped us fill it up after the trip, because we didn’t have a container. Now it’s nice and warm again.

Fredagsmarket

Dagen begyndte kl. 7.30 med en dejlig solopgang. Det er urtroligt hvor meget lys der er begyndt at være. I dag var det månedens ’fredagsmarket’ på skolen. I går brugte vi hele skoledagen på at lave kager, slik pinde med figner og ’grønlandsk karamel’. I dag lavede vi varm mad og inrettede lokalerne. Børne opdragelse er meget anderledes her og den kan gøre det rigtig svært at få eleverne til at lave noget, som de ikke har lyst til. Så jeg var positivt overrasket, at vi alligevel nåede at blive klar til at tage imod næsten hele bygden fra kl. 12-13. Mens alle stod i kø for at sikre sig noget lækker mad, skyndede jeg mig til håndværks boden for at købe æsken, som eleverne havde lavet til mig i billedkunst-undervisningen. Det tyske flag er også næsten rigtigt. :-D Men det var en meget sød gestus. Derudover kunne man købe gamle bøger, aviser og blade. Blandt eleverne var der konkurrence om hvilket hold solgte mest; jeg tror kaffe og kage holdet vandt... Dagens highlight var at til fælles tælle pengene, som går til skolefonden. 

Friday Market

Today started at 7.30am with a beautiful sunrise. Unbelievable how many light hours we have gotten since we came here. Today was the monthly ‘Friday market’ at the school. Yesterday we made cakes, popsicles with figs and Greenlandic caramel and today we prepared warm meals and rearranged the rooms. Child-rearing is quite different in Greenland, which usually makes it very difficult to get the children to do something they don’t want to. So I was positively surprised to see that we managed to get ready in time. From 12-1pm almost the whole settlement came over to buy food and crafts. The kids were very hardworking and made many different things in art class. I was kinda forced to buy a little box that they had made for me. The German flag is almost correct :-D But they tried and it was very sweet of them! You could also buy old books, newspapers and magazines. Amongst the children there was a competition on which group would sell the most. I think coffee and cake won… The highlight of the day was to count the money, which will go to the school fond.

Kaffemik

Denne weekend skulle vi gå i gang med at skrive praktiksynopsis. Ikke lige det mest spændende, men det var ok, fordi vejret var alligevel ikke til at være udenfor længe. Der er snevejr og mørkt og en stærk vind gär, at man kun kan kigge på jorden mens man går, fordi sneen føles som nåle, når den bliver blæst i ansigtet. -15 grader føles som -23. I går aftes blev jeg inviteret af to af mine kursister til at se film. Det var meget hyggeligt, selvom filmen nok ikke bliver min yndligsfilm ("Lila&Eve"). I dag blev studiedagen forskønnet ved invitationen til Kaffemik hos skolelederen og hans kone. Hendes søn, som i øvrigt ikke bor i Atammik, har fødselsdag i dag. Man plejer at holde kaffemik til hele bygden her. Man kommer bare når man har lyst, får en kop kaffe, noget at spise og så tager man hjem igen. Der var kaffemik flere gange de sidste uger, men det kræver lidt overvindelse bare at dukke op hos fremmede folk, det er i hvert fald lidt mærkeligt for mig. Men i dag var det med invitation, så det kunne jeg godt finde ud af med min tyske/danske baggrund:-D. Der var grønladsk 'proviant', som hun kaldte det - rensdyr, brunede kartofler, syltet hval, pasta salat med rejer og ærter, boller med tang og selvfølgelig også kaffe og kage. Alt var meget lækkert og jeg fik nogle gamle billder at se fra Grønland i 1930erne!

 

 Kaffemik

This weekend we had to start writing our assign- ment for the college. Not the most interesting thing in the world, but the weather wasn’t great for outdoor activities anyways, so it’s ok. It’s snowy and dark and a powerful wind makes it impossible to look up while walking, because the snow feels like tiny needles on the face. -15 degrees feel like -23 today. Saturday I was invited by some of my students to watch a movie. That was very nice, even though the movie (“Lila&Eve”) won’t become my new favorite movie. Yesterday our study day was sweetened by an invitation to a Greenlandic ‘Kaffemik’ at the principal’s. It’s his wife’s son birthday today. He doesn’t live in Atammik by the way, but anyways it is celebrated. Normally for kaffemik the house is open to all the people from the settlement all day. People can come when they please, get a cup of coffee, some food and then they go home again. There were a few kaffemiks during the last weeks, but it takes some courage to just show up at some stranger’s house, at least it feels weird for me. But today was with invitations, so I could deal with that with my German/Danish background. :D There was Greenlandic food – reindeer, pickled whale, sugared potatoes, pasta salad with shrimps and peas, buns with seaweed and of course coffee and cake. So delicious! I also got to see some old pictures of Greenland during the 1930s.

 

Gåtur i snevejr

Vi har i denne uge engelsk-emneuge på skolen. Det har krævet meget energi og tid at planlægge, da vi selv står for den, men den har også været rigtig sjov. I dag lavede vi amerikanske chocolate chip cookies mhhh Vi har inviteret forældrene til i morgen for at spise småkagerne og se hvad deres børn har arbejdet med. Derudover var der indskrivning af den nye første klasse, bestående af to piger, i dag. En lærer fortalte, at skolen i 1987, da hun startede, bestod af over 60 elever, men mange er flyttet fra bygden og der er ikke længere mange børn, som bliver født her. Halvdelen af bygden tog med på skolen, hvor pigerne skulle lave en lille opgave og fik deres første skolehæfte, samt et æble og blyanter som gave. :-)

I eftermiddags havde jeg brug for at gå en tur, selvom det er mærkeligt ikke at have hund med. Når man går tur her, kan man se, hvad folk har fanget for nylig, da fangsten plejer at blive tørret udenfor husene. Sælskindende, som havde været her de sidste uger, var fjernet i dag, men jeg så eksempelvis tørret torsk, som spises med sæl- eller hvalfedt. Dette har jeg prøvet i min første uge heroppe. Konklusionen: Sælfedt smager bedre end hvalfedt! :D Derudover er der desværre mange gamle, tomme huse (15-20), pga. fraflytningen fra bygderne til byerne. Og så er der lossepladsen, samt forbrændingsanlæg. Den ser ikke så slem ud, som den i Itseqqortoormiit (til dem der har set 'Anders Lund Madsen i den yderste by'). Det er fordi vores toiletposer bliver samlet ved havnen, så skæres der et hul i for at væsken kan løbe ud og så forbrændes det. Så besøgte jeg Tele, en af mine kursister, i 'Pilersuisoq', hvor han arbejder. Han arbejder ikke i købmanden, men i afdelingen ved havnen, der har møbler, fiske- og jagtudstyr, maling osv. På billedet står han lige foran riflerne, som også kan købes her. Priserne fra under 2.000 kr. op til 6.000 kr.

A walk in the snow

This week we have ’English-topic-week’ at school. That has been taking up a lot of energy and time to plan, because we are responsible for it, but it has also been very fun. Today we made American chocolate chip cookies yuuuuuumm! We have invited the parents for tomorrow to eat cookies and see what their children have been working with. Also, today was sign-up day for the new first grade, consisting of two girls. Another teacher told me that there were over 60 students at the school in 1987 when she started here. But many people have moved and birth rate is not very high in the settlement. But half of the settlement came to the school to see the ceremony today. The girls had to do a little task and got their very first notebook, an apple and pencils. :-) 

This afternoon I needed to get out and go for a walk, eventhough that felt a bit strange without a dog on my side. When you go for walks here, you can always see people's latest catch, because they hang it outside to dry. The seal skins that were next to the 'Service House' the last weeks were gone today, but I saw a lot of dried cod, which is eaten with seal or whale fat. I tried that during my first week here. Conclusion: Seal fat is much better than whale fat! :D Also, there are many old, emty houses (15-20), because of 'urbanization' from settlements to towns. There is also the junkyard as well as the local incinerator. It's not as bad as in some other Greenlandic settlements, because our toiletbags get collected by the sea, then they cut a whole in them to let the liquid run out and then they get burned (send me a mail for more detailed info hahaha). Then I visited Tele, one of my evening students, at 'Pilersuisoq', where he works. He doesn't work in the grocery store, but in the department by the harbour that sells furniture, hunting and fishing gear, paint and so on. On the picture he stands right in front of the rifles, which can be bought here, too. Prices from under 2.000 kr. ($300) up to 6.000 kr. ($900).