Naturen

Kan du se bygden på billedet?!

Can you see the settlement on this pictire?!

I går tog nogle kursister os på en dejlig gåtur i fjeldet omkring bygden (fire timer). Det samme gjorde vi sidste weekend, hvor ’gåtur’ åbenbart var ensbetydende med ’jagt’ uden at jeg viste det. To fyr havde deres rifler med og begyndte pludselig at skyde og løbe efter noget. Efter ca. et kvarter kom de tilbage med en rype. Det var den første gang, at jeg så en riffel i virkeligheden... Jeg fik også lov til at skyde den - sjovt, men også lidt mærkeligt. Jeg syntes dog, det var skræmmende at se nogle af mine ældste elever (13) gå rundt med en riffel – jeg må hellere passe på, at jeg ikke bliver uvenner med dem...

Vi så ørne, men desværre ikke rensdyr, ”tuttu”, selvom de færdes omkring bygden. Jeg nød det skønne, bakkede tundralandskab meget. Man kan gå (eller klatre) alle steder og det gør folk også – især børnene nyder friheden, som findes her i ’menneskenes land’. Nogle gange synker man i sneen op til hofterne, andre steder er frie for sne og man kan se blåbærrene, som vokser her i efteråret. Man er ikke begrænset af noget, kun sin egen forsigtighed. Men den er nem at glemme, når man kommer til en af de mange sneede bakker, fordi det bare er sjovt at rutsje eller rulle ned. Derudover tog vi genvejen over det tilfrosne hav for at komme til en ferskvandskilde. Vi skulle grave gennem ca. 1m is for at gøre den fri – her henter folk vand om weekenden, fordi det er så rent.

Nature

Yesterday some of our students took us on a four-hour-hike through the hills around Atammik. We did the same last weekend, when ‘going for a hike’ seemed to mean the same as ‘hunting’ without me being aware of that. Two guys had their rifles with them and suddenly started shooting and running after something. After around 15 minutes they came back with a lagopus (yes, I had to look this up on Wikipedia). It was the first time that I tried to shoot a gun – fun, but also a bit strange for me. I especially got mixed feelings when I saw some of my older students (13) walking around with guns. I have to make sure to stay on their good side I think…

We saw eagles, but unfortunately no reindeer, “tuttu”, even though they live around here. I enjoyed the beautiful, hilly tundra landscape a lot. You can walk (or climb) everywhere and people make use of that – especially the children enjoy the freedom they have here in ‘the country of the people’. Some places we sunk in the snow up to our hips, other places were free of snow and we could see the blueberries that grow here during fall. There is a feeling of not being limited by anything – only your own fear. But that is easy to forget, because there are endless possibilities to do fun stuff like sledding down the snowy hills and gliding over the ice. We also walked across the frozen sea to get to a spring, where people go and get water during the weekends, because it is so pure and tastier than the one we get in town. But we had to dig through 1m of ice to get to it.

Vinterferie

Vi har haft to dage 'vinterferie' i torsdags og i fredags, men vi har besluttet os for at tilbyde noget lektiehjælp til vores Nuiki-kursister, da der ikke er meget tid indtil eksamen for dem. Vi har dog også hygget os en del med dem. I torsdags var vi i klubben, hvor jeg lærte fem nye kortspil. Bl.a. verdens sværeste kortspil, som jeg slet ikke har fundet ud af endnu - men har sat mig som mål at lære det før jeg tager af sted. I fredags så vi filmen 'Freedom Writers' med madrasser på gulvet, varm te og småkager - hvad vil man mere? I går holdte vi klassefest, som var rigtig sjovt. Vores kursister gjorde meget ud af at lave lækker grønlandsk mad til os, så jeg næsten ikke kunne bevæge mig efter at have prøvet lidt af hvert. På menuen stod: rensdyr, moskusokse, rødfisk og en fugl  som jeg ikke kender navnet på. Og bagefter seks forskellige kager. Mit tyske bidrag: Apfel-Karotten-Salat og Apfelstrudel. Under middagen holdte vi 'Toast for Change' i Freedom-Writers stil, hvor vi hørte lidt om, hvad alle ønsker sig til fremtiden.

Bagefter var der underholdning, bl.a. guitar koncert, skrive ord med numsen, sige 'klassefest' med så mange marshmallows i munden som muligt (jeg landede på en skuffende sidste plads med kun tre), stoledans, og vores egen opfindelse: et spil, hvor man kun må have et bestemt antal af kropsdele på gulvet og skal holde det i 10 sekunder. Egentlig bestemt til vores engelsk undervisning i næste uge, men vi fik nogle flotte skulpturer på den måde. Et andet highlight: tre frivillige havde bind for øjnene og puttede deres finger imellem en fyrs biceps og underarm. Da vi fjernede bindet, trak en anden fyr sine bukser op. Dregene vaskede deres fingre mange gange :D Jeg fik også bind for øjnene og da jeg fik det fjernet, så jeg verdens mest skrammende uhyre direkte i øjne foran mig – en spejl.

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Holidays

Thursday and Friday there was no school because of ’winter holidays’, but we decided to offer some voluntary tutoring to our Nuiki-students, since they only have a few weeks left until their exam. But we also took the time to hang out and have a good time together. Thursday we went to the ‘klub’, where I learned five new card games. Amongst those the world’s hardest card game, which I can’t explain to you, because I completely didn’t get it – but it’s my goal to learn it before I leave. Friday night we watched ‘Freedom Writers’ with matrasses on the floor, warm tea and cookies – what a perfect night! Saturday night we held a little party at the school. Our students made a huge effort to cook the most delicious Greenlandic food, so I almost couldn’t move after having tried a little bit of everything. The menu: reindeer, muskox, rose fish and some bird that I don’t know the name of. And for dessert: six different cakes. My German contribution: Apfel-Karotten-Salat and Apfelstrudel. During the dinner we had a ‘Toast for Change’ in Freedom Writers style, where we heard about our students’ dreams for the future.

Afterwards, it was time for some entertainment, e.g. playing the guitar, writing words with the booty, saying ‘klassefest’ with as many marshmallows in the mouth as possible (I ended on a disappointing last place with only three), chair dance and our own creation: a game, where you have to have a certain number of body parts on the floor and hold it for 10 seconds. Originally the game was planned for classes this week, but we got some fun statues out of it. Another highlight: three blindfolded volunteers’ fingers where stuck between a guys’ biceps and lower arm. When we uncovered their eyes, another guy pulled up his pants. The boys washed their fingers many times :D. I also got blindfolded and stared straight into the eyes of the world’s scariest monster when being unfolded – a mirror – I only screamed a bit.

 

Fastelavn

Man skulle tænke, at vi keder os i en bygd med kun 190 andre mennesker, men der er masser af ting at lave. Der findes klubber, der mødes til håndværk, madlavning og fodbold. Derudover er der 'klub' tirsdag, torsdag og lørdag aften, hvor man kan spille kort, spil, playstation, bordtennis og billard i mini-hallen. Og folk er rigtig søde og vi må være med til det hele. Vi underviste ikke de voksne fra Nuiki-projektet sidste uge, fordi de havde et kursus i personlig udvikling, så vi observerede bare. I lørdags var der one-man comedy show fra Valerius Nielsen, en af lærerne fra kurset. Han er åbenbart ret kendt og selvom vi ikke forstod en dyt af hvad han sagde, var hans kropssprog fænomenal og vi lo med de andre. Hvis ikke hele bygden viste hvem jeg var før, ved de det nu, for Valerius hentede mig op på scenen, hvor jeg skulle synge med ham.

I søndags var der fastelavn. Kl.12 mødte såvel børn som voksne klædt ud på fodboldbanen til konkurrencer, fodbold og til at slå katten af tønden (eller i vores tilfælde en pyntet papkasse). Utroligt, at de laver så noget udenfor i to timer ved -12 grader! Om aftenen var der fest i mini-hallen. Igen var der masser af lege og danse til voksne og børn. Jeg elsker hvordan de voksne heroppe har bevaret en uskyldig, barnlig kådhed, som gør, at de ikke er generet til at danse og se tosset ud. Vi kunne ikke forstå hvad de sagde jo, men vi gjorde bare lige som de andre og var med til alt. En leg gik ud på, at alle bare gik i en stor rundkreds i laaaang tid, ca. tre sange igennem. Vi syntes det blev lidt kedeligt, men ville være åben for den kulturelle oplevelse. Bagefter fandt vi så ud af, at meningen var, at dommerne kunne vælge den bedste udklædning! Pinligt, at vi var med, selvom vi havde normalt tøj på... :D Ved en anden leg gav de en kost til mig - mærkeligt - tænkte jeg og dansede videre i kredsen. Da musikken stoppede forstod jeg så, at den med kosten rykker ud. :-P

Carneval

One would think we get bored quickly in a place with only 190 other people, but there are lots of things to do here. There are clubs with handcraft, cooking and playing soccer. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays people meet for 'Club' in the gym, where you can play cards, games, playstation, table tennis and pool. Everyone is very sweet and we are allowed to participate in everything. We didn't teach the grown-up from Nuiki-project last week, because they had a seminar about personal development, which we just observered. One of the teachers from the seminar, Valerius Nielsen, performed a stand-up comedy show Saturday night. He is quite known in Greenland, which we didn't know when we met him on the ship from Maniitsoq. We didn't understand a word of what he was saying, but his body language was so phenomenal that we had a great time and didn't stop laughing. If there was anyone who didn't know who I was in Atammik by Saturday, they know me now, because Valerius came to get me on the stage to sing with him.

Sunday there was carneval. At 12pm grown-ups and children met in costumes on the soccer field to participate in competitions, soccer and 'slå katten af tønden' (a Danish carneval tradition - look it up on google :-P). Unbelievable that they do something like that outside - two hours standing outside in -12 degrees Celsius (10°F). In the evening there was a party in the gym. Again with many games and dances for the young ones, as well as the older ones. I love how adults here have kept an innocent playfulness, which makes them not care about looking stupid! We didn't understand what they were saying of course, but we just did what everyone else did and joined all games. One game involved walking around in a big circle for a looooong time, about three songs... We thought that got kinda boring, but we wanted to be open for the cultural experience. Afterwards we found out that the purpose was for the judges to find the best costume! Embarrassing that we participated without any costume at all... :-P During another dance/game they gave a broom to me - weird - I thought and continued dancing around in the circle. When the music stopped, I understood that the last person with the broom is out of the game... :-P

Skolen

Jeg er flyttet i mit eget værelse hos Karina, som bor i det blå hus lige ved siden af skolen. Tror ikke der er andre praktikanter i år, der kun skal gå 50m fra dør til dør?! Skolen er rigtig flot og modern siden den blev renoveret for ikke så længe siden. Vi skulle dog starte undervisningen to timer senere mandag og tirsdag, fordi olifyret ikke virkede om natten og det var meget koldt i bygningen. Det er en sjov følelse at stå udenfor skolen med en gammeldags klokke kl. 8, som kalder eleverne fra deres huse til skolen. De fleste elever er der dog tidligere, fordi der er god internet til deres iPads på skolen. Nogle elever børster også tænder på skolen, da mange huse ikke har indlagt vand derhjemme.

Vi har 16 elever på skolen, men for det meste underviser vi i 4-8 klasse, som består af otte elever.

Fredag tog vi eleverne ud og stod på ski og kælkede i fjeldet omkring bygden. Eleverne var meget tålmodige i at lære mig at køre nedad bakkerne. Jeg faldt kun 4-5 gange (ud af 4-5 forsøg). :D

Jeg begyndte at blive lidt urolig derhjemme siden det var længe siden jeg dyrkede motion, så jeg prøvede at løbe en tur. Efter jeg løb alle veje i byden 3 gange indenfor 20 minutter gav jeg op, fordi jeg blev træt af at hilse på de samme folk for tiende gang. 

The school

I moved in with Karina, who lives right next to the school. Who else can say that they only have to walk 50m from door to door to their internship this year? The school is very nice and modern since it got renovated not too long ago. On Monday and Tuesday we started classes late, because the heater stopped working during night and it was too cold in the building. It's a funny feeling to be standing outside the school at 8am with a bell to call the students to come to classes. Feels like living 50 years ago. :-P Most students come in early though, because they can get better internet for their iPads at the school. Some kids brush their teeth at school, because they don't have running water at home.

We have 16 students at the school, but we mostly teach 4-8 grade, which consists of eight children. Friday we went skiing and sledding in the hills around the settlement. The children were very patiently trying to teach me to ski down the hills. I only fell 4-5 times (out of 4-5 tries). :D

I was growing restless at home, because it had been such a long time since I was doing sports, so I tried going for a run. After I had jogged (running wasn't possible) all paths in the settlement three times within 20 minutes, I gave up because I got tired of greeting the same people for the 10th time.

1 ugers rejse

Mandag den 25. januar tog seks motiverede og spændte lærerstuderende af sted fra København for at starte deres lille eventyr i Grønland. Efter en 4-timers stop i Kangerlussuaq ved -25°C, fløj Andrei og jeg med en 50-persons flyv videre til Maniitsoq, en 2.600 indybygger by på Grønlands vestkyste. Vi anede ikke endnu, at vi ville blive her indtil søndag eftermiddag. Selvom vejret stort set var fint hele ugen med solskin og ’kun’ -15°C i Maniitsoq, kunne vores skib ikke sejle og vi blev nødt til at finde på ting at lave i byen. Vi aftalte med skolen at observere to dage undervisningen, som var meget spændende. Dejlige mennesker gjorde det let for os hurtigt at komme ind i kulturen. Vi fik lov til at være med til grønlandsk undervisning (sproget er utroligt svært!!!), fodbold, træne i fitness center, var i museet og fredag aften var vi til koncert ved ’Rainbowband’, en lokal band fra Maniitsoq. Vi blev introduceret til mange mennesker, grønlandsk folkedans og fire øl til 100kr. i Happy Hour er heller ikke så dårlig, vel?! J Lørdag nød vi det fine vejr og stod på langrendsski. Jeg faldt kune en gang, men blev overhalet cirka tusind gange. Søndag nåede vi næsten ikke vores skib, da det sejlede halvanden time tidligere end planlagt og vi var på en gåtur udenfor telefondækning. Men vi nåede det og efter fem timer på skibet ankom vi endelig i Atammik, hvor alle af skolens børn, samt læreren Karina tog imod os med grønlandske flag – hvor sødt! Jeg glæder mig til at komme i gang! =)

 

One-week-journey

On Monday Janurary 25th six motivated and anxious students left Copenhagen to start their adventure in Greenland for a six-weeks internship. After a four hour stop in Kangerlussuaq with -25°C Andrei and I continued our journey in a small 50-person airplane. We arrived in Maniitsoq, which counts 2.600 inhabitants and is located on Greenland’s west coast. Just now, we didn’t know how long we would end up staying here... Even though the weather seemed fine in Maniitsoq, mostly sunshine and ‘only’ -15°C, our ship couldn’t sail and was postponed to Sunday instead of Tuesday, so we had to find something to do. We arranged with the school to observe two days of classes, which was very exciting. Wonderful people made it easy for us to get into the small society. We were able to participate in a Greenlandic class for foreigners (the language is so hard!!!), soccer, training in the gym, visiting the museum and Friday night we went to concert of the local ‘Rainbowband’. We were introduced to many friendly people, Greenlandic folk dance and four beers for 100kr (around $15) during happy hour wasn’t too bad either.  Saturday we enjoyed the nice weather while skiing. I only fell once, but was overtaken about a thousand times by the fit Greenlanders. On Sunday we almost missed our ship, because we were on a hike out of cell phone coverage and they suddenly decided to leave one and a half hours earlier than scheduled. But we made it and after another five hours we finally arrived in the small settlement Atammik, where we will teach English, Maths and Danish. Almost all children from the school and the teacher Karina were waiting for us by the harbor with flags – what a welcome! I can’t wait to get started :-)