First Day of School

My first day at UNIS started was officially an orientation course and started with things that you would expect with an orientation course.  We heard various university officials give short talks on why the university was located where it was, what kind of activities were conducted there, and how it was our responsibility to further these activities.  Then we split into 2 groups to start some more “hands on activities.”  The one group, my group, immediately departed to the rifle range where we quickly learned how to shoot 30-.06 rifles in order to defend ourselves against polar bears.  It was necessary to learn how to do this in a wide variety of conditions including snow storms, darkness, and stressful situations.  The process of using a rifle must become routine as they are necessary for field work and even for any activities outside of town.  The next morning training continues with the continuation our orientation course.  This time our focus is water safety.  We immediately put on survival suits and departed in rubber zodiacs.  The instructor then asked us to jump out into the water, approximately 0°C year round, and link up with everyone in the boat and then help each other climb back in.  We weren’t wearing any gloves, which is a normal when working with instruments in field conditions, and quickly saw that fast action is necessary in order to safely get out of the water in controlled conditions.  With this as part of the orientation course I knew that I was in for a different kind of study experience on Svalbard and this wasn’t your typical university. 

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I am stading in front of UNIS in early August.

UNIS in the twilight of midday in late October.

The student dormitories in Nybyen in early September.