NaTasha in Greenland!

How uncool is this: a Danish girl who has never been to Greenland will represent Greenland in an international beauty contest.

The fact that she is blonde is half-irrelevant, because lots of Greenlandic girls are (naturally) blonde due to mixed parentage – but the fact that this girl has some questionable pictures pop up in a simple Google search, must certainly enrage many Greenlanders.

According to the organizer of the competition (the illustrious, “Miss Civilization of the World”) didn’t have time to go to Greenland to hold a beauty contest, so therefore they chose a Danish girl because Greenland is part of Denmark.  If they didn’t have time to go to Greenland and hold a contest, why didn’t they choose a random Greenlandic girl? There are 20,000 Greenlanders studying and working in Denmark, they wouldn’t have had to look far.

Its just crazy to me because there are SO many gorgeous Greenlandic girls!  So, I say we boycott Miss Civilization of the World.

I can’t believe it has taken me this long to write about Kaffemik! My friend Manu invited me to my first Kaffemik the very first week I was here, and since then I’ve had the pleasure of going to several.  A Kaffemik – which literally means, “Give me coffee,” is a Greenlandic tradition.  It is a celebration mostly for birthdays, but also confirmations, anniversaries, weddings – anything happy.

What happens is a time is set up, say between 2pm and 6pm – and you are invited to drop by.  Normally you get an email or a text the day or the day before.  You should always bring a gift.  When you arrive, you sit down at the table and enjoy yummy homemade cakes and coffee. If the table is full, you wait until someone gets up and leaves.  What it creates is a steady flow of people coming and going througout the afternoon.

Nikki's 1st birthday - he's wearing traditional anorak and kamiks - and missing his Mom I think!

If you know the person well, you can show up more towards the end of the time frame – that way if they have run out of cakes, it’s not too embarrassing.  There is often Greenlandic delicacies too, like mattak (whale skin).

hmm, mattak!

Its a perfect solution for small communities who inevitably have to invite everyone to any celebration.

Guess where the Northern-most diving school in the world is? Greenland!

Bo Lings runs a PADI center in Sisimiut, 70 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, called Arctic Dive.  The pictures of the dives are absolutely stunning – especially considering you can go in the midnight sun.  But even at the height of summer, the water can be as cold as 0 degrees Celsius (which I thought meant frozen, but apparently not).  You have to dive in a dry suit, and the only part of the body that is exposed are small parts of your face.

The highlights of diving up around Sisimiut and Kangerlussuaq, are two Danish ship wrecks and of course,  Icebergs, which as you know are 8x bigger under the surface of the water.  In order to dive you need a cold water certificate and experience diving in a drysuit.  Bo is a certified instructor and can give courses.  If you are a diving enthusiast – I think checking the Arctic region off your list could be pretty cool.

Otherwise, Bo also runs two remote fishing camps where a complex river flow means abundant and delicious Arctic Char.  Excellent for fathers everywhere, check it here.

My obsession with Danish Reality TV shows continues with All Stars – more so since Mads Lumholt from our office is a contestant! Check out the blog post that I wrote for www.greenland.com here

At the ACR base camp, every so often a game of Greenlandic Football would break out.  No one was able to completely explain the rules, but it seemed to resemble rugby more than football, except that the ball was a seal.

There are a few hardcore adventure events that happen every year in Greenland: The Nuuk Marathon, the Polar Circle Marathon, and the Arctic Circle Race (ACR).  Initially, ACR was conceived to be a cross-country ski race from Kangerlussuaq to Sisimiut – a route of 160km.  But the inaugural year, there wasn’t enough snow and it had to be canceled. The following year, for fear of a similar mishap, the organizers carved out a challenging 160km route around Sisimiut – where it has been held ever since.

The lovely Miss Billman at the top of the Camp

This year was the 14^th year the race has been running, powered by an army of volunteers, contestants ski for three days and sleep in tents at a base camp. They cook their own food at night and must carry packs of at least 5kilos at the start and 3 kilos at the end of the race. The pack has to contain a list of specific life saving equipment, like first aid kits, extra clothes, chocolate, water etc.

When I spoke to the founder of the race, he explained that it was envisioned to be a Greenlandic event, which brought skiiers into direct contact with the harsh nature and climate that is Greenland – and with that mission he has succeeded.  The race is hard. But really hard. The highest peak was around 600m (on cross country skis!) but the views were amazing.  I was lucky enough to get to see it all from the back of a snowmobile (which are SO fun by the way).

Larseraq, the founder of ACR

They are also really serious about sustainability, if you are caught littering you are disqualified from the race.  And on the last day, the entire camp is packed and snowmobiles follow the very last contestant to the finish line pulling in all the tents, toilets, kitchen etc.  Pack in- Pack out.

This year, the Greenlandic guy who has been winning for ages (and incidentally was a member of the Danish Olympic team) came in second behind a Russian guy. The top three females were all Greenlandic.

The office has embarked on a new mini-mission, this website: www.stuckingreenland.com

Although we are mostly unaffected by the volcano here in Greenland (beautiful sunny skies here today!) – it has resulted in the closure of Greenlandic airspace one day, and Danish airspace the next, so the whole Copenhagen office is stuck here (which I think is pretty fun) …so check out the new project.

www.stuckingreenland.com

Rugbrød (pronounced roo-pull) is Rye Bread.  On several occasions, I have been asked if we have rye bread in the States – which of course, we do – but its not taken quite as seriously as it is here – land of open faced rye bread sandwiches.  These are called Smørrebrød (smur-brol) – direct translation: bread and butter.

Everyday for lunch, this is what many people have (including our office). But you can’t just put anything on your rugbrød, there are rules – which I’m slowly figuring out.  Also, apparently, some things can not be eaten without rugbrød – for example, the other day I offered a friend a can of mackrel for a snack (he was very hungry, and that was all I had) but despite his hunger, his response was “But, you don’t have any rugbrød.”

So, the Rules of Rugbrød – as I have figured out so far are as follows:

1. One piece of bread, on the bottom.

2. Thinly sliced, not toasted.

3. Butter, always.

4. No more than three toppings.

5. Toppings have specific combinations.  Some favorites are:

- liver pate (LOTS of it) and pickled beats

- saucisson and remoulade

- mackrel in tomato sauce, mayo and possibly onion flakes

- smoked salmon and cucumber

- shrimp and hard boiled eggs

6. Eat with a knife and fork (despite the fact it is a sandwich)

PS: Excellent, and accurate quote from the Wikipedia entry on rugbrød: “While highly praised among Danes and also sometimes found in northern Germany, rugbrød has found little acceptance in other cultures.”