Arriving in Tromsø

So, after living in warm, sunny, mountain and beach-endowed Cape Town my whole life, I bought a one-way ticket, got on a plane, flew 11500 kilometres, and moved to one of the world's most northern cities for 4 years. Good idea? I don't know yet. Am I mad? Probably.

Tromsø is a 70 000-strong city (town by most standards) within the arctic circle of Norway. It's situated at 69˚ N, and is a magical place where the sun shines constantly for 2 months in summer, and never rises for 2 months in winter. It snows for 9 months of the year, is known as one of the best places to view the spectacular northern lights, and is hailed as the gateway to the arctic circle. The city centre and majority of the suburbs are on an island (Tromsøya) in the fjords, so that whichever way you look there is a spectacular view of sea and snow-capped mountains. Here's the view from the front of my flat building.

I moved here to do a PhD in geology at the Universitetet i Tromsø, and this blog is about my life here in Tromsø, so pretty much anything I feel like putting out there... photographs, thoughts about Norway/Norwegians, thoughts about South Africans, thoughts about being a Norwegian South African, probably a fair amount about rocks, and maybe even a recipe or two. So far my experience of Tromsø has been much like a kid seeing a jungle gym for the first time. Some of it looks daunting, I'll get a few bumps and bruises figuring out how it works, but I really want to enjoy experiencing it. And I think that's possible.

There is so much new for me; snow EVERYWHERE, a public transport system that is efficient and works, and I feel safe walking around the street any time of day or night for the first time in my life. At the same time, I miss the cheeriness and friendliness (most Norwegians make even Cape Townians seem friendly!) of most South Africans. And I am having serious biltong withdrawal issues.

One of the strangest things I've had to contend with so far is the lack of darkness. The picture below was taken at 12:07am in the city centre a few days ago, and that is as dark as it gets right now. 

This particular occasion I caught a bus home from a pub (where I paid literally 10 times what I would pay for a beer in Cape Town!) in the city centre at 12:14am and watched the sky go orange as the sun prepared to rise in the north (yes, the NORTH!). In another week or so the sun will stop setting altogether. I've found that it completely messes with one's sleep patterns, and nighttime simply feels like eternal afternoon. It also means that telling the time of day by how light it is, is completely impossible!

Interestingly, the cold hasn't been a problem at all. On my first day in Tromsø I decided to do a bit of exploring to find an open shop (I managed to arrive on a public holiday... which Norwegians take very seriously). The temperature was predicted to be around 5˚C, and being mostly ignorant to what such a temperature might feel like, I heaped on the layers, finished with my big winter coat (never used in Cape Town). After 5 minutes or so the scarf came off, then the coat, and then I began regretting the 2 layers of socks! After all, it is "summer" in Tromsø, and I have discovered that 5˚C is not nearly as bad as it sounds. It's supposed to get to 17˚C on Friday and people are talking summer clothes and beach trips. Haha! For me, if there's snow, it's still winter, but I think I should probably change that attitude, because 9 months of winter sounds excessive. Here's to hoping that the trees start to grow some leaves, and the grass gets less brown. Oh, and here's some more snow.

And a rock thrown in for good measure... because there should always be a rock.