It's been a while...

...since my last post.

The Semester is over and even though we all recognised the time flying by it came as a surprise. Especially the last weeks before the finals were pretty intense and got us even closer. But as soon as the exams were written a lot of people started to leave all the sudden. It was a weird feeling to say goodbye to someone every time a plane left.

Initially me and a couple of friends planned a ski-camping trip to the other side of Isfjorden (Trygghamna). We had everything planned out packed gear, bought food, rented a boat and organised a driver.  When we arrived at the boat we realised that it was far smaller than expected and we would have to go over several times to transport all the people and our gear.

The boat loaded with two pulks and five people we headed out. But the wind and high waves out in Isfjorden forced us to end our journey before it began. At first we were pretty disappointed but there was a big party that night which made us forget which unfortunate turn our expedition took.

I got to join a cabin trip two days later (once again to the Foxdalen cabin) and together with some other friends I escaped the constant goodbyes. The two hour hike through the muddy active layer was very nice and so different from the last time when we went to the cabin with the snow scooter. On the way we saw some baby reindeer and some breeding birds.
We used the four days in the cabin to read, hike and build a dam in the close by river.

Upon our return the leaving hadn't stopped but since about a week our numbers are stable. I had to move because my barrack gets renovated and I finally have some neighbours again.
The BigBand was super nice and did a goodbye meeting for us internationals before most of us left. It was great to see that they enjoyed having us and really valued our input.

The weekend after everybody had left I did a kayak course. To be allowed to borrow sea kayaks from the local club. We learned a lot about rescue techniques and the kayaking basics.
The club also owns a couple of sailboats which was even better news. So last week a friend and I fixed one of the boats and went for a little cruise. The weather was amazing and experiencing the landscape from the water is just awesome.

This weekend I started guiding for a local dogsledding company. We take the tourists from the cruise ships fossil hunting. We guide them up the moraine of Longyearbreen where a lot of plant fossil can be found. Our main job seems to be to make up for insufficient shoes and walking capabilities. Other than that we tell them about history and life in Longyearbyen.