Election Day, April 24. The morning commute was slow, like every morning this last week since the tunnel – the only other route – was closed because of falling rocks. Low, grey clouds hung gloomily overhead, threatening more than just the few fluttering wispy, white flakes in the air. Spring seemed darker than usual. As …
Greenland is part of the Kingdom of Denmark – a constitutional monarchy that also includes the Faroe Islands. Having long yearned for its independence, the desire now is as strong as ever, if tempered by the realisation – by some at least – that it is economically impractical. Nonetheless nationalist feeling lies simmering just beneath …
We’re a three-weapon household. As I write, my husband is cleaning one of his rifles on the kitchen table, preparing it for the coming hunting season. All of his weapons are high calibre hunting rifles – a .308 and two 30.06s, the weapons of choice for reindeer hunting. The latter is also the recommended weapon …
The car rejected reverse in any kind of cold weather. And in the winter it snowed on the inside. It was the worst car in Nuuk and it would have been ours. But, perhaps fortunately, it died shortly before our friends – the owners – bequeathed it to us on leaving Greenland. So we remain …
*Cartoon by Buuarsikkut Soon there will be an election in Greenland. Elections are a time when Greenland, sometimes, makes it into the international media. Well, at least in the Kingdom of Denmark, which is Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. But what is surprising is that even in Denmark, which some (not me) might call Greenland’s …
It’s well-recognised that we learn more effectively if new information is presented in a context that is familiar to us. We learn based on what we already know. This is called constructivist learning: we construct new knowledge from what we already understand. So using a framework that kids are already familiar with makes it much …
*Photograph by Natasha Henwood My family are nomadic – my husband and I by choice, our son by grim reluctance. Since I left home as a teenager, I’ve not lived in one town more than five years, or in one abode more than three. The average, over the past 24 years, is one move per …
We sailed into a small settlement on a calm day, two of us motoring in an open boat. I leaned over the side, staring deep into the clear, frigid water. As the sea bottom shallowed and came into view, my heartbeat quickened at the sight of ghostly white limbs, sharpening into focus, drawing toward me. …
*Photograph by Chris Kirkland “F*** Greenpeace,” declared the bumper sticker of a battered old station wagon. I couldn’t but laugh – only in Greenland. Greenpeace devotes a lot of energy to Greenland. But they are very unpopular here. Here are some reasons why. One – oil. Education standards are low, unemployment is high with …