May 2010

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.