Gerrit explores the world

Hellemobotn, Padjelanta, Rago: day 1

2011-08-14T17:21:00.005+02:00

Below follows a brief tour report from my big hike. More photos here.

Wednesday 4 August

By public transport from Kiruna (Sweden) to Hellemobotn (Tysfjord, Norway). In Narvik I decide to buy a small notebook and a pencil so that I can take notes on the way. This report is largely based on those notes.

After buying a ticket Kjøpsvik–Hellemobotn, I suddenly have awfully many Norwegian coins. I don't want so many coins, I will be carrying them through the wilderness. During a one-hour break in Drag I walk to the local ICA and look for things to get rid of my coins. I decide to buy some strawberries — "only" 40 NOK for 500 g — and a muffin. Good, my coins are gone and I have some fresh fruits before I leave into the wild.

More people get on-board in Drag. Two little blonde girls speaking a mixture of Lulesami and the local dialect of Norwegian. A parcel reading "Ann-Britt, Musken" is carried on-board, as well as more freight and mail for the locals in Musken, a living Sami community halfway to Hellemobotn. The boat proudly carries a Norwegian flag with the symbol of the royal mail. The arrival of the boat must be the event of the day.

Good weather, evening sun. Several people ignore the sign that being on deck is not permitted while
the boat is out. We pass by some farms along the fjord before we descend into the deep shadow casted by the mountains over Musken. Many people are waiting for the boat to arrive. A lot get off, a few get on. A man in a tractor carried reindeer-skins and large wastebaskets into the storage space under the deck. Three Sami teenage boys, their faces reminiscent of Asians, get on board. We proceed to Hellemobotn, a village where many people are but nobody lives.

The innermost part of Hellemofjorden is oriented NW/SE, so that Hellemobotn is placed perfectly for the summer evening sun. Maybe that's why it's a poular place to go. The boat goes here only 2–3 times per week, but it's a perfect place to be in summer. The boat slows down as we arrive on the completely crowded peer. Two others are departing on a hike on this Thursday evening; the first thing they do is covering every single part of their exposed skin with insect repellent, for hundreds of mosquitoes attack us frontally. My strategy is rather to just start walking, a strategy quickly challenged by a dog running barking at me. A woman calls the dog back. I walk three steps and the dog runs at me again. The woman calls louder. The dog confused: chase me away, or obey the woman? She comes out and shouts at me that the dog is sweet. Sure. I somehow manage to pass by and leave civilisation behind me.

I cross through some forest, clearly used for lodging, and quickly depart from the marked trail onto a much smaller path leading to Ruonasvagge, up to the next plateau. Beautiful rivers flowing down granite walls cleanly shaven by glacier ice. Up at the plateau the river Njallajåkgårttje is deep in a canyon, unreachable and thus unsuitable for camping. I cross it with a bridge missing on the map. I proceed to the next, much smaller stream, Riebijåhkå, and end up choosing a campsite where I have neither evening sun nor a view of the fjord. Oh well, I will anyway flee the mosquitoes by crawling into my sleeping bag pretty quickly.

Preparing for big solo hike

2011-08-03T18:19:00.003+02:00

Tomorrow, Thursday 4 August, I will depart on a big, solo hike. For safety reasons, I will write down here exactly what my plans are.

Thursday 4/8, 20:00. Departure from Hellemobotn (Vuodnabahta), Tysfjord kommun, Norway. Start hiking over the trail east towards Sweden for around 2 kilometers, then turn right, southward on the Bieslptå plateau.

Friday 5/8. In the morning I will hike to Kanonen, above the Stabburselva canyon, and back. In the afternoon I will leave the trail and go south along Rávggajåhkå towards Ruonasvágge

Saturday 6/8–Saturday 13/8 (exact sleeping places unknown). Up through Ruonasvágge. Crossing from Norway into Sweden (Jokkmokk kommun) between Rr 246 and Rr 247. Along the western side of Slappejaure/Slahpejávrre and crossing Slappejåkka/Slahpejåhkå. Along Målkumjåkka/Moalkkomjåhkå and the northeastern slopes of Vieterjaure/Viehjerjávrre. South crossing Årjep Slappetjåkka/Oarjep Slahpetjåhkkå to the eastern side of Njåmmeljaure/Njoammeljávrre. Crossing Njåmmeljåkka/Njoammeljåhkå, east to Sallohaure/Sållohávrre, then south and southwest along Rakamjåkka/Rahkamjåhkå to the eastern side of Arajaure/Árajávrre. Around Arajaure eastern and southern side, then southwest along Kuoutåivejauratjah/Guovdoajvejávratja, reaching the plateau above Vestenjaure/Vastenjaure/Vastenjávrre. Over the ridge of Vielkispakte/Vielggisbákte westward, along the southern edge of Paktekiesj-jauratj/Båktegiesjávrásj. Descending to Hurrejåkka/Hurrejoahkå, crossing Hurrejåkka and continuing west along the northen shore of Vestenjaure. Crossing Kuoutelisjåkka/Guovddelisjåhkå. Climbing Rastenjarka/Rastesnjárgga, then west to Rastevare/Rastesvárre and along the northern shore of Rastesjauratj. Continuing westward through a pass, then west and southwest along a stream leading to Norway. Crossing into Norway (Sørfold kommune) between Rr 242 and Rr 242a on the trail to Ragohytta. Following the trail from Ragohytta westwards in the direction of Storskogvasshytta. In the forest 100 meter above Storskogvasshytta, turning left on the trail to Sølvskardvatnan and Litlverivatnet/Bassejávrre. Crossing at Litlverivassforsen, then left, south, up the mountain. Along Skardvatnet to Råggejávrre at Svenskhammaren/Tsiekimtjårro, then left again, east on the trail over Litlverivasshamran, along Boadnjásjroahtte, Skråisen, Flatkjølen/Duolbbagjiegńa. South of Rágojiegńa I will turn right, southward over Bálgestjårro/Bålggesčorru. Crossing into Sweden at Rr 240D, at the edge of Rago nasjonalpark, just north of Øvre Veiskivatnet. Then southeast to Kasakjaure/Gásakjávrre. South along the eastern shore of Kasakjaure, crossing the stream coming from Messingmalmvatnan*. South, over or araound Skaitevare/Skájdevárre to the outflow of Leirvatnet at the Norwegian/Swedish-border. Crossing the stream coming out of Leirvatnet and walking along the border, along Rr 240 Aa and another lake until I turn right, into Norway (Fauske kommune), into Skagmadalen, until Blåmannsisvatnet. Back northeast a bit, then turning right uphill to a pass just above lake 1098, then south along the stream to Bajep Sårjåsjávrre/Bajit Sorjosjávri. Turning right along the northern and western shores of Bajep Sårjåsjávrre until I pick up the trail leading from Sorjushytta/Sorjoshytta to Sulitjelma. Following this trail, along Bajep Sårjåsjávrásj and Storelvvatnan to Ny-Sulitjelma, then down to Sulitjelma/Sulečielbma.

* from this point there are several potentially tricky river crossings; if any fail, I return to Svenskhammaren and follow the trail from there westwards until the road.

Saturday 13/8 or Sunday 14/8: arrival in civilisation. I will send text messages to several people informing them that I am safe and on my way back.

Return

2011-02-15T18:57:00.000+01:00

I've been away from the sub-arctic for two weeks. I live in Kiruna, Lappland, Sweden, but since the middle of December, I have subsequently been to Spain (holiday), Amsterdam (family visit) and Grenoble (research course). Two months without snow (except the first couple of days, which happened to be the snow-chaos days in western Europe). Now, I have returned.

One week ago, I was in the Provence in France, sitting in shorts with my feet in a lake, and in the evenings, observing a very spectacular night sky (I was staying at the observatory Observatoire de Haute Provence). Yesterday morning, I arrived by the long train ride from Grenoble via Amsterdam back to Kiruna. Fortunately, Swedish trains run fine in -35°C and fortunately, the heating on Swedish trains does, too.

Since then, I have been greeted by arctic phenomenon upon arctic phenomenon.

Yesterday evening, a spectacular auroral display. Rapid fluctuating green and red flashes traveling from horizon to zenith and on to the other horizon within seconds; whenever looking in one direction, I was sure to miss even more spectacular displays in the other direction. Then it suddenly stopped and I could guiltlessly go to bed.

This morning. -42°C. Sundogs with the sun shining through the clouds caused by the town heating facility. Very local; I go down and it's gone.

Then an artificial, man-made one. When it's cold, make some clouds! Twice this morning, once at -39°C and once at -37°C, we made clouds. Get some hot water and pour it down! Video at http://vimeo.com/19964844

And it's cold. Cold. The communication link to the weather station in the swamp 2 km north of my work broke down, but our kitchen thermometer currently indicates -38.7°C. In such temperatures, I rather park my bicycle indoors. Rohloff oil doesn't like those temperatures. Tires don't roll too well. And, worst of all (?), the display of my speedometer completely stops. Well, I know I'm going slowly!

I work outside of town. In town, it's warmer. Considerably so. Currently -29.9°C, but in the afternoon it was -8°C (at work: -25°C; long live the return of the sun at 68.5°N! Spring is coming?!).

I put some pictures at

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=613159&id=581500374&l=5fca560591

Internet woes

2010-08-17T18:57:00.000+02:00

I have ordered, but not received, broadband internet. That is not the ISPs fault. The ISP depends on infrastructure as owned by Opennet (Kiruna stadsnät, town-owned fiber network, for all private ISPs to deliver internet). Until recently uni delivered free anonymous internet via this, but they quit. Now Opennet need to install their switches, but they need a request from the landlord (also town-owned). The landlord reconvened after summer vacation yesterday, decided to order Opennet at two other locations but took no decision yet for mine, because a private operator exists. Bredbandsbolaget has parallel infrastructure so currently a monopoly on internet. It means I have ONE possibility to choose internet, a ISP whose services are expensive and bad. Besides, the Opennet socket is in a convenient location (under desk in bedroom), whereas the Bredbandsbolaget socket is in an inconvenient location (entrance apartment). I want to be able to choose my own internet provider!!

Summer in Kiruna

2010-07-08T00:38:00.004+02:00

Summer in Kiruna exists. Truely. Okay, it's 6°C right now, but the midnight sun is shining in my bedroom, it hasn't snowed for a month and at day it can actually be comfortably warm (like 17°C). The trees are expulsing their pollen like madmen, they have only a couple of weeks of growing season after all, and this week we had a proper thunderstorm, with lightning, thunder and rain that makes you wet not in five hours, not in five minutes, but actually in five seconds. Apparently, that's possible in Kiruna.

Below are some pictures I took yesterday. As usual, more pictures at my panoramio albums. All pictures are taken between 23:30 and 01:30.

Happy summer!

"Er was eens een mannetje, dat was niet wijs..."

2010-06-20T23:32:00.002+02:00

In winter, people put small cabins on the lake. There is a hole in the floor of the cabin, and they drill a hole in the ice. Then, they can go fishing while protected from the elements. Most of those are at Torneträsk, but there are some at Nagirjávri (pictured) as well. Pictures taken 29 May.

More pictures of Nagirjávri at Panoramio. (all by me)

An old Dutch verse has the text:

Daar was eens een mannetje, dat was niet wijs,
Dat bouwde zijn huisje al op 't ijs;
't Begon te dooien, maar niet te vriezen,
Toen moest dat mannetje zijn huisje verliezen.

It means: there once was a man, he was not smart, he built his house on the ice, it started to thaw rather than to freeze, and then the man had to lose his house.

(Those fishers (completely recreational, by the way) move their house to the shore rather than to let it sink)

summer?

2010-06-19T17:28:00.001+02:00

Saturday 19 June 2010. 5 degrees with rain. Snow in the mountains. Hiking plans cancelled. Poor hikers.

welcome home

2010-05-09T21:22:00.003+02:00

I returned from Vienna. As a welcome, the view from my window:More pictures here.

Housing shortage: the Kiruna solution

2010-04-21T20:36:00.006+02:00

Doctors are forced to reject job offers because they can't find housing. A colleague keeps moving around from temporary place to temporary place. But the town of Kiruna has found the solution.

Early spring

2010-04-13T00:28:00.003+02:00

One might consider my recent hikes during the easter weekend to be quite wintry. But in the past couple of days, it's been very warm for the time of the year. Water floowing in the streets annd I was walking in a t-shirt and the bicycle part is already clean. This morning, the thermometer showed 8 degrees. Spring! Three weeks early! I don't complain, but I do wait with switching the winter tyres, because, well, it's not quite spring yet.

The nights, though, have stopped to be fully dark. Darkness, see you in September!

Aurora — the winters last?

2010-04-06T23:34:00.003+02:00

Tonight was a fabulous aurora. The photographs do not show how rapidly it moves, particularly at the zenith. Nor does it show that it fills the ENTIRE SKY. It was faster and bigger than any aurora I have seen before, and there was even some red aurora. And it's still going on — but I need to sleep.

There is still nautical twilight, even after 23:00. The aurora was still visible, so it must have been quite strong. But in the coming weeks the nights will get brighter and brighter, until even the strongest aurora won't be able to shine through. But then the equally spectacular midnight sun comes instead.

See you in September?

Burning moon

2010-03-30T21:50:00.002+02:00

View from my balcony, 30 March 2010, 21:40 CEST

Unusual ice formations

2010-03-13T17:48:00.003+01:00

Saturday 13 March 2010. Cycling down to Kurravaara, then left on a dirt track (now a snow/ice track, of course) toward some cottages on the Rautas river. The track doesn't actually reach the river, but slowly gets worse and worse, turning into a snowmobile track. I park my bicycle, get my snowshoes and start walking.
The river surprises me with some marvellous ice sculptures.

More pictures in my picasaweb albums.

First paper

2010-02-26T09:26:00.000+01:00

I have published my first paper:

Holl, G., Buehler, S. A., Rydberg, B., and Jiménez, C.: Collocating satellite-based radar and radiometer measurements – methodology and usage examples, Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., 3, 821-861

Cold

2010-02-24T09:19:00.001+01:00

I have just arrived at work, cycling.

The thermometer indicates -41.2°C.

Return of the Mutant Lights

2010-02-13T21:41:00.001+01:00

Finally. It's back!

Sun dogs

2010-02-10T17:31:00.007+01:00

Yesterday was the first day the sun was shining while I was eating breakfast and cycling to uni.

Today the sun rose again during breakfast, and had made some friends.

Another day in which I'm cycling to uni at -30 degrees celsius. The IRF photographer thinks I'm a little bit crazy. He took this picture as I turned from the E10 onto the driveway leading to the institute. Click on it for a large version. My face has some white bits on it.

Picture by Torbjörn Lövgren

I like spring!

Another weak aurora winter

2010-02-09T23:34:00.003+01:00

The sun shows little activity. The sky is clear but there is little aurora. There is still some. No local will take notice of such petty green glow in the north.

On the last picture, we can see some light pillars.

Such is the view from my window on an ordinary but clear winter evening (although the streetlights are off today).

Polar Stratospheric Clouds

2010-01-31T22:05:00.004+01:00

It's winter. It's -30 degrees. At night the sky might turn green, but during the day one can see all colours of the rainbow. And that without any precipitation or halos!

The pictures below were taken 10 January.

November morning greets Kiruna

2009-11-01T09:48:00.003+01:00

The view from my balcony, 1 November 2009, almost two hours after sunrise:

Aptasvaara

Tuolluvaara

Sakkaravaara

More pictures at my picasaweb

Winter

2009-10-09T19:08:00.000+02:00

Now the winter has come to Kiruna. The endless land is covered by a white blanket, keeping it frozen until months after the grumpy sunday morning on which daylight saving time will once again start. Here, snow doesn't melt before the sun. The sun, which can still be seen, though always close to the horizon. The land will thaw just in time to welcome the midnight sun, welcoming billions of musquitoes and driving away the few souls having their residence in this peculiar town. Before that, the land will sink in a sleep, ever deeper and deeper, to come to a complete halt when the last sunrise of 2009 sends its crawling rays to the citizens preparing their christmas decorations.

Autumn

2009-09-14T21:58:00.004+02:00

Most readers probably still live in summer and complain about the approach of autumn. Summer in Kiruna is a distant memory. Maybe a month ago temperatures could still rise above 15 degrees, just when we were starting our summer course amid the approaching Spanish plume. Now and here the wind is blowing away the yellow leaves remaining on the trees. The autumn is warm this year; not a single snowflake has fallen since June, hardly any night offers serious frost. But The sun is fading and making place for aurora, seen by whoever goes out during a clear and sunless night. One month from now the area is likely to be covered by a white blanket, welcomed by skiing enthousiasts and nyctophobiacs. Bears and limnologists alike will commence their hibernation, and tourists who observe the deserted town at three 'o clock will mistakingly think it's three 'o clock in the night. The second season in which one cannot tell the difference is coming.

But that's the future. Now it's autumn, and Lappland in autumn is among the most beautiful places on our planet. The birch forests turn yellow, the tundra turns red, mosquitoes turn dead and this person spends his scarce spare time exploring the many paths in the forest that are not on the map. In the unusual event of meeting someone, the persons are either relieved or disappointed that the other is a human, not a bear on its way to town to do another poo-poo. Tourists have left the region and the mountains are the domain of the sami people, for whom it is the slaughter season — so I was told by a Sami who gave me a ride back from a village from where the only train home is at 22:00. His daughter, maybe 2 or 3 years old, asked him where I, the hitchhiker, was going; I had told him in Swedish, as my Sami language skills are rather limited (I know only "jojk").

Life is different here. The total number of employees at our faculty is hardly more than the number of USPC students. The PhD student community is small but active. Last week the Research School for Space Technology, to which I belong with my cloud remote sensing research, had a meeting at Esrange, the local space base (40 km from here) for the launch of stratospheric balloons and (mesospheric) sounding rockets. A nice cycle ride to the taige, but as even the 8 km taiga ride to uni makes people declare me for crazy (even when it's not the polar night with -34 degrees; see http://www.sat.ltu.se/members/olemke/funbelow30/ ), people ask how I got my bicycle and myself on the bus (carrying <10 people) without anybody noticing. A joyful moment to be reunified with my girlfriend, fresh back from Toulouse, made ill by the 25 degree temperature drop. And listening to the, uhm, "interesting" talk of a lady insisting the task op a PhD supervisor is to release the students inner knowledge. Right.

Kiruna is special. Twenty million musqitoes can't be wrong. But now they left and for that they are wrong. Aurora's blaze in the sky, the snow will lie for 7 months and the temperature will drop below -30 degrees. Looking out of my window, I can see the aurora above the completely wild area called the Torneträsk–Soppero fjällurskogs Naturreservat; the next town is on the Norwegian coast, some 150 km away. In between nobody lives. As far as one can see, and ten times further; empty land. No roads. No buildings. Not even a footpath. No people. Just taiga, tundra, hills, moose, bears and other animals wilder than your friends or foes in their most drunken moments. On the other side is the city, which should move for the mine to which the city owes its existance. Less than 20,000 people. Cinema every week. Nightclub every second week. And people making up for the atmospheric cold with their social warmth.

Finished studies

2009-06-03T21:19:00.003+02:00

Today I succesfully held my final Master's Thesis presentation. It is now a formality to receive my Master's Thesis degree. After receiving my Bachelor degree (June 2007) I started with the Erasmus Mundus Master Course in Space Science and Technology in September 2007. The first semester in Würzburg (Germany) and the rest of the time here in Kiruna (Sweden). The last semester, I focussed fully on my Master's Thesis. I have carried it out at the Satellite Atmospheric Science Group. Today was the final.

For my Master's Thesis, I have looked for instances where two satellites look at the same place at the same time: so-called collocations. The combination of measured data from different satellites makes possible applications that are not possible with the data from just one satellite. The rationale, method and applications are described in my thesis. The thesis is relatively limited on maths and is relatively easy to understand.

The Master's Thesis can be found here and the presentation I have held today can be found here.

The presentation was excellent. There was a lot of public: nearly forty people. (PhD) students and scientists. I have explained the subject matter well and remained exactly within the time (30 minutes). Afterward I have answered a number of questions, among others from student opponents. This went very well as well.

Starting on 15 August, I will be a PhD student and proceed my research.

Master's Thesis presentation

2009-06-03T10:09:00.002+02:00

Today at 14:00 I will hold my Master's Thesis presentation.

This is the last remaining task for my Erasmus Mundus Master Course in Space Science and Technology.

The thesis is: Collocating satellite-based radar and radiometer measurements to develop an ice water path retrieval.
Todays presentation is available here.

Being in Kiruna, Lapland, on this 3rd of June, it is 3 degrees Celsius and raining.

Midnight early May

2009-05-05T19:05:00.001+02:00

The white nights have come.

Blue night

2009-04-16T00:27:00.002+02:00

The blue nights have come. Darkness is history. Above is the view from my bedroom window — at 0:30.

Bicycle repair - Kiruna style

2009-03-30T21:26:00.006+02:00

On Saturday, as I was cycling at the Rautasälven (pictures here), my chainguard broke. This morning, I went to Intersport, the only place I was aware having a bicycle service. I asked for help.

– Such chainguards don't exist anymore. I'm sorry. Do you know where Arnes Motor is?

Arnes Motor is a 70 year old store with sometimes 70 year old stuff. The amount of stuff they have defies the law of euclidian geometry. I go there and see that they are closed. Open 12-17.

I return later and show them my broken chainguard. "Kedjeskydd". A collection of some twenty kedjeskydd hang at a wall. He tries the first one. Almost; a little bit too big. The third one fits.

– Can you put it on yourself, or do you need help?

– I can try, and otherwise I will return.

I spend the afternoon fighting with the kedjeskydd. The old one was attached behind the luggage rack, and in taking it off my rear wheel loosened. After some hours of fighting with my rearwheel and the kedjeskydd, I give up. I barely managed to put on my rearwheel, but on my way to Arnes Motor it falls off three times. Grrr!

When I arrive, it is 16:55. I walk in.

– Ah, you want Sven-Erik. He lives nextdoor. His phone number is on the door.

I call Sven-Erik and my phone beeps I WANT BATTERY. I return to Arnes Motor, it is after closing time but nobody cares. While I'm calling Sven-Erik from there, someone working at IRF walks in. Sven-Erik tells me he will be home in 15 minutes.

I take a little promenade and exactly 15 minutes later, both me and Sven-Erik arrive at Sven-Eriks workshop.

– Yes, the kedjeskydd. I can fix it in the afternoon.

– Tomorrow?

– Today.

– Wow. My phone number: 070-2832003

A few hours later...

At 20:20, I receive a phonecall. The kedjeskydd is attached and the wheel straightened. I walk to the neighbour of Arnes Motor and arrive around 20:45. I go in.

– I fixed the kedjeskydd and the wheel. You use it quite a lot, don't you? Ah, you cycle to IRF and back each day. I can see it. There are some things you need to fix. The kedja will need to be replaced soon, you can increase the lifetime with oil. Your pedals will need replacement too. And your chainguard.

While he fetches change for the money (250 SEK; a week in the bus; in The Netherlands it would take at least a week to get a turn), a boy that is probably his son asks me if it isn't heavy to cycle to IRF. No, not really. Did you cycle when it was so cold? Yes. Cold is okay. Darkness is worse. I ponder some more and I realise that, despite it being obvious, Sven-Erik didn't say a word about buying a new bicycle.

I love my bicycle! and I love more.

Dutch rubbish burnt in Kiruna

2009-03-03T09:16:00.001+01:00

Dutch rubbish burnt in Kiruna

En sopig import Kiruna.

Flera tusen ton holländska sopor har fraktats till Kiruna för att brännas i värmeverket.
- Rena vansinnet, tycker Svante Henelund (C).

Omkring 3 500 ton sopor från Holland har fraktats via Narvik i Norge till Kiruna.
Mats Nilsson, informationschef vid Tekniska verken, förklarar varför:
- Vår leverantör i Norge har haft svårt att få ihop den volym som vi har ett avtal om. Därför gjorde den en engångsimport från Holland för att möta det åtagande den har gentemot oss, säger Mats Nilsson.
Deponiförbud
Enligt Tekniska verken är orsaken det deponiförbud som införs den 1 juli 2009 i Norge. Det gör att de norska deponierna under de senaste månaderna passar på att locka till sig så mycket sopor som möjligt genom att dumpa priserna.
Det ska ha gjort att den norska leverantören fått in en mindre mängd brännbart avfall än vanligt från sina underleverantörer.
- Deponierna drivs av vinstdrivande företag som vill passa på att tjäna pengar medan de kan, säger Mats Nilsson.
"Ingen miljövinst"
Svante Henelund har med bestörtning reagerat över det faktum att holländska sopor bränns i Kiruna.
- Soporna fraktas flera hundra mil, det kan inte vara någon miljövinst i det. Det är rena vansinnet, säger han.
Mats Nilsson menar att det är en engångsföreteelse:
- Att ta in brännbart avfall från Holland är absolut inget vi strävar efter. Efter den 1 juli har vi en gynnsam situation eftersom efterfrågan från Norge är stor, säger han.
Handelshinder
SR Norrbotten rapporterar att Naturvårdsverket godkänt att 10 000 ton sopor får fraktas från Holland till Kiruna i år. Naturvårdsverket säger sig inte ha någon möjlighet att begränsa transporterna, då det skulle uppfattas som handelshinder inom EU.

Ongeveer 3500 ton afval uit Nederland is via Narvik in Noorwegen naar Kiruna bevracht.
Mats Nilsson, chef informatie bij Technische Werken, legt uit:
Onze leverancier in Noorwegen heeft moeilijkheden gehad met het verwerken van het volume waarover we een afspraak hebben. Daarom is een eenmalige import uit Nederland gehaad om de afspraak met ons na te komen, zegt Mats Nilsson.
Volgens Technische Werken is de oorzaak het deponiverbod dat op 1 juli 2009 in Noorwegen is ingevoerd. Dat maakt dat de Noorse depots de laatste maanden zo veel mogelijk afval lokken om de prijzen te dumpen.
Depots van depotbedrijven met winstbejag willen geld verdienen wanneer ze kunnen, zegt Mats Nilsson.
Geen milieuvoordeel
Svante Henelund heeft met verbijstering gereageerd op het nieuws dat Nederlands afval in Kiruna wordt verbrandt.
Afval wordt duizenden kilometers vervoerd. Dat is pure waanzin, zegt hij.
Mats Nilsson zegt dat het een incident is:
We streven absoluut niet naar het importeren van afval uit Nederland. Na 1 juli hebben we een betere situatie omdat de vraag uit Noorwegen groot is, zegt hij.
SR Norrbotten meldt dat Naturvårdsverket heeft goedgekeurd dat dit jaar 10000 ton afval uit Nederland naar Kiruna wordt vervoerd. Naturvårdsverket zegt dat ze geen mogelijkheden hebben de transporten te beperken, dat zou door de EU als beperking van de handel worden gezien.

Room with a view

2009-02-28T15:13:00.006+01:00

I moved to Terrassgatan on Friday. I live 570 meters above sea level now. Does anyone above the arctic circle live higher (except for my neighbours above)?

The view from my bedroom, north.

The view from my bedroom, slightly east of the previous picture.

View from my balcony.

View from my balcony to the observatory, the radar and the Icehotel.

View from my balcony to the university.

View from my balcony toward the airport and Aptasvaara.

Last but not least: the view north at night. The aurora is faint so the opening time 15 seconds; hence the street lights are overexposed.

Moving

2009-02-26T13:41:00.002+01:00

I'm moving to Terrassen this weekend.

Kebnekaise welcome day

2009-02-22T12:21:00.005+01:00

Yesterday (Saturday) all students in Kiruna were invited to a "winter party" day. At 7:30 we gathered at Parkskolan and around 8:00 we entered the bus and left for Nikkaluokta.

In Nikkaluokta the road ends, and we continued by two means of transport: tracked vehicles (picture above) and sledges drawn by snowmobiles. Since the number of people signing up for the activity day was much higher than expected, a capacity problem arised. A group of people came early and had already been transported to Nikkoluokta, and some people were drawn behind the snowmobiles on ski's, with a slope.

Upon arrival, many activities were organised: transceiver search (avalance exercise), snowshoe hiking, having fun sledding down a slope, digging a snowcave, sawing ice from the snow. We also had lunch at the Kebnekaise mountain lodge.

The magnificent mountain world was around us. It was around -10 C, cloudy, a little bit of wind and a little bit of snowfall. Which was good, because the day before it had been -35 C. That would have been no fun in an open sledge behind a snowmobile.

The way back in the afternoon, in an open snowmobile.

Due to lack of capacity, Johan is drawn behind the snowmobile.

After arriving home, all students were invited to a three-course dinner and subsequently a party.

It was a great day and it is incredible that Kiruna companies sponsor this for >80 students (a small own fee, 100 SEK).

The day was extra special for me.

Cold

2009-02-17T09:45:00.003+01:00

This morning, I cycled to uni. When arriving, the thermometer showed it was -33.7°C. Coldest day of the year?

cloudmaker

New phase

2009-01-24T21:15:00.002+01:00

A long time since the last update.

I have been on Christmas holiday.

The sun has returned to Kiruna.

A new phase in my live has arrived. Two weeks ago, I have almost certainly written my last exams. I have finished all courses. Only my thesis work is left. I will post information on my thesis here soon.

Sneeuwjacht

2008-11-24T08:40:00.002+01:00

Today, for the first time in my life, I have tried to go by bicycle, but failed.

Half a meter of snow stacked against my bicycle as it is parked against the wall.
Bicycle bag half-filled with snow.
The wind, 10-12 m/s on average but with windgusts considerably faster, occasionally reducing visibility to 200 meter.
Stacks of snow on the road, up to decimeters high.

I made it to the end of the street. With the wind in my back. Mostly by pushing, though.

Shall I surrender and take the bus?

Seasons

2008-11-22T17:21:00.001+01:00

Seasons at the Kalix river:

The light is fading...

2008-11-22T16:17:00.003+01:00

Tomorrow, the sun will rise at 9:30 and set at 13:20. And it doesn't reach very high anymore. The photograph shows the sun as seen November 19, 11:40. It is as high as it gets. On Decemeber 7, the sun will be gone and rise only on January 2 again. I will be gone December 5 - January 4.

Winter

2008-10-18T21:23:00.001+02:00

Tuesday morning, I woke up and the snow had come. I still had my summer tyres on and it was too late to take the bus, so it was slippery. The next day I had my studs, so I'm ready for the winter now.

Esrange

2008-10-04T17:53:00.003+02:00

I am at Esrange for the Stratospheric Census experiment to be launched. See that website for information, but here are some pictures I took nearby.

Kinnarodden / Cape Nordkinn

2008-07-04T19:14:00.003+02:00

In the past week, I have been to Kinnarodden / Cape Nordkinn and to Tromsø. My friend arrived Thursday evening and on Friday morning we left with our rental car. Our first stop was at Skoganvarre, world famous in The Netherlands for being the place of departure of Alfred and colleagues in the book "Nooit meer slapen" ("No more sleep") bij Willem Frederik Hermans. On the second day we drove to Mehamn, where we received information about a hike to Kinnarodden, the northernmost point of Europes mainland. We left for our hike on Saturday afternoon and returned Monday afternoon. We drove to Tromsø, where we arrived Tuesday afternoon (after staying at Stabbursnes at Porsangen). We explored Tromsø where a seagull attacked me. Yesterday (Thursday) we returned to Kiruna.

Details follow. Pictures can be seen here.

Vacation

2008-06-26T18:24:00.003+02:00

I just returned from the car rental. I ordered a Toyota Aygo (1800 SEK for a week) but I got a Volvo V50. For the same price; the smaller car was not available. It will consume more fuel, and I hope extending the rental will also be for the same price...

My friend is arriving at Kiruna Airport in half an hour. Tomorrow morning we will leave for Skoganvarre (after buying food for the holiday) and the day after we will continue to Mehamn. From there we will hike to Cape Nordkinn (a.k.a. Kinnarodden) and back. We are not yet sure what we will do after that. Maybe drive to Tromsø and hike a bit there, extending the rental with a few days. Or maybe drive back another route, return the car and hike in the mountains near Kiruna instead. We will see.

On July 15 we will go south and I will arrive at my parents in Switzerland on July 17. I will travel with them back to The Netherlands in the first half of August, where I will spend 1-2 weeks before returning to Kiruna.

Camera and phone back

2008-06-24T18:11:00.003+02:00

update: pictures at my picasaweb albums here

During my last trip, I lost my camera and phone, apparently near the Vestvågøy Turistinformasjon Leknes. I located my phone by calling it and got in contact with the Turistinforasjon. The lady working there was very helpful, and sent the bag with my camera and phone to my address. It has arrived today.

Long live Vestvågøy Turistinformasjon Leknes!

Weekend trip

2008-06-19T12:30:00.002+02:00

Last weekend, I made a road trip through northwestern Scandinavia with four other Spacemaster students. No pictures - yet, I hope - for the reason explained below.

We left on Saturday morning early, around 5:30. On Saturday we did: Kiruna - Svappavaara - Vittangi - Soppero - Karesuando - Kilpisjärvi - Tromsø - Sommarøy. Slightly more than 500 km. The first part, the road was completely empty: out in the middle of nowhere at the very early morning. The later it got, the further we got from civilisation. The part in Finland, along Konkämäälven, was particularly interesting. The further north and the higher we got, the earlier the season became. Kilpisjärvi was still frozen and the trees were still bare there. There was also a lot of snow around: it's still very early spring there, despite it being almost midsummer. On this stretch were also many reindeer, a lot more than in the Swedish part up to Karesuando. Reindeer to the side of the road, reindeer on the road, adults but also many calves. Beyond Kilpisjärvi the road crosses the Norwegian border and drops down into the Helligskogen valley: a entirely different zone regarding climate and vegetation, not only compared with the Karesuando - Kilpisjärvi area, but also quite different from Kiruna. Lush growth, quite wet, many waterfalls. And then we reach Storfjorden, the fjord, near Skibotn.

From here we continue along different fjords to Tromsø. Whereas the road was deserted in Sweden and Finland, the E6 is quite crowded here, particularly the last part. In some part it is even a 3-lane road, and the tunnel to Tromsø is 4-lane; the nearest road that big in Sweden must be in Luleå or south thereof. Compared to what we have seen during our trip or even in the past months, Tromsø is a metropolis: nearly 70,000 people living on an island, with many suburbs located on the other islands nearby. We have a look at the arctic cathedral first, but the classical picture is hard to take because they are just working on it and have a crane right in front of the church. We park the car in the city center and walk around a bit. There is just a Nelson Mandela concert going on, and hundreds of people are gathered at Tromsø's main street. Such crowds are very rare in Kiruna, and we just walk into it in Tromsø. When the concert is finished we go to Tromsø Museum to explore the Northern Lights machine; but the other parts of the museum are entertaining as well. It's a lot more than I expected for just 15 norwegian crowns (student price). Finally we explore the university. Tromsø university campus is certainly the most attractive campus I have ever seen. The buildings are new and nice, the university compromises everything from technical studies to Sami culture, and almost everywhere you have a view over the fjord and the surrounding mountains, that are nearly 2000 meter high which is definately enough to carry glaciers at this latitude, nearly 70 degrees north. It might also contribute that the weather has been really nice al day - cloudless skies in the Swedish and Finland part, some clouds but also really sunny in the Norwegian part.

After having lunch at a former harbour, where a ship is shown inside a glass house, at Tromsøysundet (between Tromsø and the mainland) we continue our way to Sommarøy, close to the place where we will take the ferry tomorrow morning. We put up our tents at Hillesøya. Across the ocean lies Greenland.

After studying again the timetables for the ferries, I discover that I have made a planning error. The early morning ferry to Botnhamn at Senja does not go on Sundays, which means that we cannot make it to the late morning ferry from Gryllefjord to Andøya at the other end of Senja. That leaves three possibilities: drive back to Tromsø and take the road to Lofoten from there, take ferry to Botnhamn and drive to Lofoten via Finnsnes and Sørreisa, or take the ferry to Botnhamn, drive to Gryllefjord and wait for the evening ferry to Andenes. It takes a long time to reach a discussion, because some of us prefer option two and others prefer option three. The next morning we swim at one of the white sandy beaches of Sommarøy.

I have a chat with a local - he asks if I am Finnish, because I am talking in Swedish to him but I do not sound like a native speaker of Swedish. I tell him that I'm Dutch. He is either unable or unwilling to talk English with the others.

The next morning we take the ferry to Botnhamn. It takes around 45 minutes and provides an excellent opportunity to do toiletries and replenish water after having camped in the semi-wild at Sommarøy. Only at the ferry we decide definately to drive via Tjeldsundbrua to Lofoten. From Botnhamn we drive to Finnsnes, where we explore if taking the Hurtigbåt to Harstad is an option, but it is not because it will only go in the evening as well. So we drive back toward the E6, Sørreisa - Andselv, then Gratangen - Grov - Tjeldsundbrua, and from here the E10 all the way to Å i Lofoten - and back the next day. This is the part where I have already been.

I don't know when Lofoten is more beautiful - in spring or in winter. It is certainly more crowded now. There are many campers and caravans on the road. On the other hand, now we are driving so we can make picture stops whenever we want. That means increasingly often, so progress is slow. We have a late dinner at Flakstad, where we remain until it is nearly midnight (local time, not solar time). The beach at Flakstad faces north, and the midnight sun is shining powerfully on us. There is a camping at Flakstad and we could stay here, but the others prefer to go on to Å - all the way to the end. Beyond the end of the road at Å we find a place to camp in the wild - many others are already doing so. Cyclists, people with cars, the parking place itself is of course full of campers from all over Europe. It's already very late, around 2:30 and still quite sunny although we are in the shadow of the mountain now, and one of the others proposes to hike next morning, but that would be too early for me if I get less than four hours of sleep, so I decide to sleep a bit longer. It is a long drive back the next day.

The next morning it is horribly crowded at the parking place. Buses full of tourists have arrived in the late morning. I hear Spanish, French, German, Dutch, American English - everything. There must be hundreds, if not nearly a thousand tourists here today. At least ten buses full.

When the others have returned from their hike - one of them nearly an hour later than the appointment at 11:00 - and we depart for the long drive back. At Leknes we tank the car, I take some pictures and we proceed, all the way over the E10 to Svolvær, Bjerkvik, Riksgränsen. Here we have another picture stop and I want to make a picture, but I cannot find my camera. Fortunately my phone is in the same bag, so I use another phone to call it to hear where it is. I do not hear it, and conclude that it must be off, but a few minutes later the phone calls back. The bag with a camera and a phone has been found at Leknes tourist office. Oops. The lady from the tourist office asks if I am able to retrieve it, but as Leknes is at least five hours back from here - more than six hours from Kiruna - so this is not really possible for me. I ask her if she can send it to me, and I give her my e-mail address so we can arrange this if possible.

I drive the final bit back to Kiruna - since we left the E6 just before Narvik it has again been completely empty. From Bjerkvik the road was so full that there were some traffic jams, and driving faster than 40-50 km/hour was not possible. Now the road is straight, empty except for the reindeer and us, very wide and if not for the reindeer it would be safe to drive 110 km/hour, but with the reindeer 80 km/hour is a better idea. I drive us back home where we arrive around 22:00. It has been a good trip.

I will retrieve my camera. Some way or another.

Road trip

2008-06-13T12:54:00.001+02:00

This weekend I am going on a trip Kiruna - Vittangi - Karesuando - Kilpisjärvi - Tromsø - Kvaløya - Senja - Andøya - Langøya - Austvågøya - Vestvågøya - Moskenesøya - Bjerkvik - Riksgränsen - Kiruna.
I am leaving tomorrow morning early and will go by rental car with four other students.
During the nights we will go camping.

Passed!

2008-06-11T10:25:00.004+02:00

Electronics in Space re-exam: Passed (my estimate of my passing chance: 60%)
Radar exam: Passed (my estimate: 75%)
Image Processing and Remote Sensing: Passed (my estimate: 65%)

Initial estimate of the chance that I had passed all three: 0.6 * 0.75 * 0.65 = 29.25

Huray!

Winter

2008-06-09T00:31:00.002+02:00

So, that was summer.

Current temperature: 0.0°C
Precipitation: snow.

Summer

2008-06-06T21:13:00.007+02:00

Last Tuesday I finished my last exam. More or less at the same time, the last snow melted from the forest and the nearby mountains. The weather is good. The trees are starting to bloom. The grass is turning from yellow to green. The sun is shining 24 hours per day. And I have a world to explore.

Earlier I posted my wishlist.

Tuesday night I made a midnight sun cycletrip to Håmojåkk, and explored some tracks in the forest. From Råtsi, where Svappavaarabanen connects to Malmbanen, a track leads into the forest along the railway, but ends soon. Another track goes onto the military shooting range terrain. First I explored the dead-end track, to see if it was really dead-end or if it somehow connects to a dead-end track from the other way, coming from the airport. The track is really dead end. But a footpath from Lombolo leads to this point; two footpaths, in fact. One can make a roundtrip from Lombolo in around 8 km. I am at the furthest point of this tour, thus halfway. On the map it says Ávžžijeaggi. There is a little guestbook to write your name in. It was refreshed in March, and in March and April it is full of names, many names every day. From the second half of May or so, the number of names reduced to one per day: the same name every day. Many people ski. But only one walks (or probably runs). I add my name to the book. He'll be surprised tomorrow. I hear a train and minutes later I see it coming ever so slowly. I didn't know they had iron ore trains from Svappavaara. I thought that mine was closed. Maybe this is one of the test runs I read about. But it's almost midnight; an odd time to run a train if one doesn't run many every day.

I continue over the military shooting range. Access is only prohibited when exercises are planned, which is almost never - maybe six times per year or so, judging from the (outdated) calendar that is hanging at this entrance, which they probably assume is only used in winter. They may be right because the track gets very muddy, and at one point I fail to keep upright and find myself standing knee deep in the water. Wet feet. I continue towards Håmojåkkvägen, back to the normal route and on the road that was inaccesible a month ago because it wasn't ploughed this winter. Access is allowed. Leaving the road is strictly prohibited. The road is straight and the late evening, near midnight sun is shining on my back.

The river is nice, but not as nice as at Kalixforsbron or as the various places where I have been to Rautasälven. Too many trees are standing in the way. Cycling back in the midnight sun is wonderful. The weather cooled down, but not too much. It's probably some 9 degrees celsius.

On Wednesday I climbed Ädnamvaara/Eatnamvárri. I had tried this twice before. First when there was still a lot of snow, thinking I could walk on the skiing track. I could but it was too heavy and would take too long, and I turned back. Secondly two weeks ago, when I thought sufficiently snow would have melted. As reported before on this blog, that was a misjudgement. Wednesday, however, it was fine. Almost all the snow had melted; the few patches still there are like snowfields in the mountains in summer.

The path leaves from the parking place near Viscariagruvan. The trees are just starting to get green, the path is still quite wet but very easy to find. It took me one and a half hour to get up to Ädnamvaarastugan, from where you have a wonderful view over Kiruna, with Luossavaara on one side and Kirunavaara on the other.

After that I continued my way up the mountain. I lost the trail. But in Lappland above the treeline on a clear day you don't need any. Just walk to the highest point over the mosses. According to the Swedish Wikipedia this is "Kirunas närmaste kalfjäll" - Kiruna's nearest mountain above the treeline. It's true according to my map, and just one and a half hour hike to the (closed) hut that is located at the treeline. I walk straight up and find myself at a point on the ridge that is not the highest at all, so I decent and climb up again, to see I am at the wrong point still. With all those vertical detours it takes me some time before I am up at the top, but it's worth it. The view is magnificent.

I see dozens of mountains, if not hundreds. The furthest are probably more than 100km away. They are blazingly white. So many. Far away. Three days walk at least. But cycling can be done in a day. To Nikkaluokta, or to Abisko.

I stay up quite long, and as I left late (I slept late after coming home late last night) and the way back takes a bit longer than I expected, it's past seven when I come back to my room. It turns out there was a council meeting at 18.00, which I missed, they tried to inform me but my battery was empty and they couldn't reach me. Oh well. It was not a proper meeting anyway. They went to a restaurant. I join in just in time for the coffee. After dinner we stand in front of the restaurant to say bye. A kid comes to us and says "Ich will euch verprügeln".

I went by bike to and from the starting point of my hike. I pass by the parking place of the skiing lift of Luossavaara. From here, one has a wonderful view over the lake. During the day, the lake has undergone a significant change. The picture to the left was taken in the morning. The picture to the right in the afternoon.

Yesterday, Thursday, I made a long, long cycling trip. I went to one of the forestry tracks leaving from the Esrange road. First 34 km to the place where that track actually starts, then another 18 along that track, to a place at the Torne river. The trip is beautiful though. Now that it's summer, a new route has become available between Kiruna and Laxforsen, so that it's possible to cycle to Jukkasjärvi with hardly any E10. I decide to take that one on the way down to Jukkasjärvi, but it's quite uncomfortable to descend steeply with so many stones. Climbing is fine, I did that twice already, but downhill I will take the asphalt instead next time.

At Jukkasjärvi I have another look at the Icehotel. It's still melting, but it has still not fully melted yet. The roof has collapsed, but most walls are still standing. I take a look and walk through the fallen and melting roof on my bare feet in my sandals; my feet get pretty cold. But it's a sunny day and they will warm up again for sure.

I continue my way towards Paksuniemi, passing by the beautifully named village of Pikkupalo - not on the map. I have a look at Paksuniemi and actually see some sheep - finally another animal than all those reindeer (I hardly report it anymore on my blog, but they stand regularly along the road or just on it. It's not noteworthy) I wonder how those sheep survive the winter. They must be given a lot of hay.

Paksuniemi is the last settlement on the road, but because of Esrange the road is still large. But there is almost no traffic, as nobody lives here. Well - almost nobody. I pass by a sign pointing into the forest saying "Här bor jag" - I live here. Swedish humour?

Some kilometers further the forestry road start. Paurinkivaaravägen. It goes up and down and up and down and after 18km it stops at the river. This is the end of the road.

The ride back is quite long. Longer than the ride here, because of the height difference. When I finally arrive back I have cycled more than a 100 km, including 36 km on unpaved roads and around 400 meters of height difference. Tired.

More pictures here (panoramio).

The Day the Ice Went

2008-06-05T00:38:00.001+02:00

I've been busy in the past couple of days, I will post an update soon.

This morning I took a picture of Luossajärvi. It had a lot of ice on it.
In the afternoon all the ice was gone.

Pictures will be uploaded soon.

Wishlist

2008-05-31T20:46:00.002+02:00

My wishlist of nearby places to visit (again) in the coming period:

This list is incomplete; you can help Gerrit by expanding it.

Bicycle: Vuolosjárvivägen, Maanselkämaa, Alttajärvi, Paurankivaara, Luonattivägen, Nikkaluokta again, Ávžžijeaggi, Håmojåkk, Fjällnäs, Narvik (2 days), Puolsa (with help of bus), Pulsujärvi (with help of bus)

Hike: Eatnamvárri (3rd try), Puoltsa (not to be confused with Puolsa), Sjisjka, Tjåurek, Aptasjärvi (right behind uni), Hansisaari (combination with bike), Rautasjaure

Kayak: Vahkujávri

Camping: Rautasälven near Kurravaaranjänkkä, Syväjärvi, Latnivaara, Aptasvaara, Eatnamvárri, Vuonåjåkk, Fjällnäs, Håmojåkk

Rautasälven

2008-05-31T20:25:00.005+02:00

From Karhuniemi, where the stables are just west of Kiruna, goes a track into a forest on a hill called Báhpagobba. From here goes a hiking route almost straight north, ending at Rautasälven, the Rautas river, after some 7km.

It is the warmest day of the year until now and I wouldn't be surprised if it was the warmest May day ever in Kiruna or even ever north of the arctic circle whatsoever. It is 22°C according to one source and 24°C according to another. Two weeks ago it was snowing. Quite a change. The path, which is quite wide and probably accesible by a quadmobile as well, goes up and down and down and up. Through some swamps, through the forest with often huge puddles on the track requiring me to find a way through the surrounding birches, and again through some swamps. It passes by some little lakes and finally, after one and a half hour, I hear water. To my right I see an old, abandoned shed - maybe one of the two houses that is on the map. Soon thereafter I see the river.

It's much bigger than I had expected. I had expected a large stream. But this is a real river. And it's loud. I sit at the edge and feel the water. It's cold, of course. The photograph doesn't quite catch how wild it is. At some places the water splashes up more than a meter. At such a hot day the snow upstream in the mountains must be melting rapidly. Some of the buses at the edge of the river are underwater. The discharge today is probably very much above average.

I sit and eat and sit and enjoy the warm sun and continue and wander around a bit and sit again. In total I spend nearly two hours near the river before returning.

Walking back I'm actually hot. I'm in shorts and a t-shirt, but I'm sweaty. When I reach my bicycle I have another look at the view from Báhpagobba. I can see two villages, both with some eight houses, just a few families. My first guess is that they are Krokvik and Rautas, but those should be in one line. After a more careful look at the map I decide those are Krokvik and Käyrävuopio. That means that some part of the mountain range behind Käyrävuopio, the right village, must be somewhere in Norway. Like I suspected all along.

I walked more than three hours in total, on a very sunny day, with more than 20 °C, in a forest right next to Kiruna, the biggest (and only) town in a wide area, to and from a very beautiful spot along the river, and the total count of number of humans I have seen remains solidly at zero.

Cycling back up the track up the lower half of Luossavaara is even hotter. It's 24 °C, no wind, full sun and I'm cycling upward. Oy.

I decide to make a detour around the campingsite. I see a woman putting up a chair next to a camper with a Dutch license plate, and I decide to say hi and make a little chat. It's been months since I could speak my own language. They are here on holiday, she is surprised to hear that I aren't, but actually live here. We exchange some information about sights, mainly from my side. When I leave it is more than an hour later.

Back at Vilan the other students appear to have discovered as well that it is summer now. Summer in Kiruna. Their windows are open and several are sitting at the driveway. Not the most interesting place to enjoy the sun, but possibly a more productive one given the tricky but important exam coming on Tuesday.

Ylinen Aptasvaara

2008-05-31T20:05:00.003+02:00

Yesterday, after the Optics & Radar exam, I decided to explore the path behind university. At the junction with the E10 there is a sign saying "Tågran 10 km". Not to be found on a map, but the path that is on the map goes from uni to Aptasjärvi, a lake around 8km south of university. I decided to explore this path. Completely improvised - I have nothing with me except what I have on me. No proper boots. No photo camera.

I left at around 12:15 and decided to walk until 12:30, then I decided to walk until 13:00 and then I took my final decision and told myself I would go all the way. The path departs to the right from the track leading south from university to the LIDAR-station. It is marked as a skidspår but it's clearly a hiking trail now, even though there is some snow left. On the first part there are many nestboxes. Probably someone at Spacecampus has been busy, presumable the same that has written the booklet "Djurliv vid IRF" that is sometimes lying around at the restaurant Atmosfären, from which you can see the forest and some of the nestboxes very well and from behind glass. The path passes by a tennis field and a distant shed before branching off to the left going deeper into the forest. It crosses a nameless stream, a swamp (the same swamp that the LIDAR-station is located at) and a birch forest before it starts to ascend a hill. After about half an hour there is a sign pointing to the left. "Kala berget 2.5 km", it says (or something similar, I need to check again). I think and consider and reconsider and decide to go in there. There is a lot of snow on the path and my feet are soaked, because I don't have proper boots on. The snow sometimes reaches down to my knees still. And this is a southern slope on 30 May. From the point where the route to the top of the hill branches off the path to Aptasjärvi the route - which is also still visible as some sort of path - is marked by pieces ripped off plastic bags. I recognise one of them to be from a LIDL, bag which is remarkable, because the nearest LIDL is some 600 km away. The path ascends increasingly steeply and after some 20-25 minutes the forest clears and I am above the treeline. I look behind me and see a flabbergasting view. I run the last fewhundred meters to the top and look around.

To the south I see Dundret, the hill where the Gällivare people ski. To the east I see the lowlying lands of Finland, far away. Nearer to me I see Laxforsen, Poikkijärvi, Jukkasjärvi, the Torne river and the ruins of the icehotel. I also see the hills around Esrange. This must be an excellent place to watch a rocket launch. To the north I see the hills in the Northern Triangle, the triangle in northern Sweden where there are no roads and no villages and no people. And to the east is Kiruna. I see in front of me the picture that I previously assumed to be fake: the mountains all the way from Sarek via Kebnekaise and Abisko-Narvik to the Bardu-mountains, and right in front, the hills Kirunavaara and Luossavaara, and in front of even those, I see Kiruna. When I saw that picture in the newspaper, I was sure it had been put together. Put a picture of the mountains behind a picture of Kiruna and glue in the Kiruna hills - but from Aptvasvaara, it is real.

I will definately return here with a photo camera!

Midnight sun

2008-05-29T00:18:00.002+02:00

It's time for midnight sun. I love hiking through the forest at midnight. I enjoy seeing the midnight sun. Too bad that it's cloudy.
But still nice.

2008-05-24T20:55:00.002+02:00

SMHI has published the last snow-map of the season today.
It is "slut för säsongen" - finished for the season.

They should come to the north for some time.

In the forest

2008-05-24T20:16:00.003+02:00

In winter, I tried to hike to Ätnamvarri/Adnamvaara. I thought I could hike on the skiing track, but it was too heavy, so I decided to wait until spring. Now it is late May, and I thought spring had come.
After two hours and a few km, I turned back. The forest is not yet passible.

More pictures here.

Almost midnight sun

2008-05-24T01:07:00.002+02:00

According to calculations, the midnight sun starts on Monday. That means the sun hardly sets at all now; I made a nightly cycling trip, it's beautiful. A lot of snow has melted, a lot is still there, but many tracks that were impassible earlier are passible now.

Pictures here.

Kiruna: Blazingly fast

2008-05-22T21:06:00.003+02:00

In Kiruna, everything happens blazingly fast.

In February, it gets lighter blazingly fast, from the dark period until the insomnia period.

In spring, the snow melts blazingly fast, then it becomes cold again blazingly fast, until finally spring arrives.

In June, everything in Kiruna dies blazingly fast.

The summer is over blazingly fast.

The autumn is over blazingly fast.

It becomes darker blazingly fast.

In November, people become depressed blazingly fast.

In December, people flee Kiruna and fly to Phuket blazingly fast.

"Sunset" as seen from Vilan

2008-05-15T21:59:00.002+02:00

It's actually still an hour before sunset, but it looks nice enough.

(Temperature: -1.6°C)

Meanwhile in Lappland...

2008-05-11T10:59:00.004+02:00

May 11, 0:14:
May 11, 10:56:

Käyrävuopio - Rensjön

2008-05-03T20:28:00.004+02:00

Today, it was again nearly 15°C and sunny. Since the weather forecast predicts it will get colder and wetter, with maybe 20mm rain tomorrow, I decided to make a cycling tour today. My first bigger cycling trip this winter in Kiruna was to Rautas, along the E10, and I decided to go the same way again.

It is interesting to see how the landscape is different in this season. There is still 50cm of snow, and in combination with 15°C that gives wonderful effects. The road is bare, and elsewhere the ground is very wet. I cross Pahtajänkkä and Tiansbäcken/Vuonajohka and end up in Krokvik/Geavrovuohppi in no-time. I explore it again, but it's still to snowy to find the hiking path along Vuonajohka to Vuonasjávri and Buollánorda. I continue my way and discover a track to the right; it must be the track toward Käyrävuopio. It's a small, muddy track. After a minute or so I meet an opposing car, which means I need to get off my bicycle and step aside into the snow. Soon thereafter the car returns and passes by me, and not much later I see it parked.
"Det är vacker", I say when the driver leaves the car.
"Jo, det är fint"
"Slutar vägen här?" I ask.
"Jo... det går ute till en myr"
I decide to park my bicycle and explore by foot; a rather interesting track leads to Rautasälven, that I do no longer dare to cross.

After returning I continue along the E10 to the northwest along Maunuvuoma, Mávnaáphi and I cross Östra Rautasälven/Lulit Suorri. The carpark where I had lunch two months ago is now quite crowded; several campers and caravans are parked here, dozens of people are sitting around, and in fact all the benches are taken. Despite the time being around half past twelve, I decide to continue and explore the village Rautas/Rávttas. Here I see some Sami style buildings, and I know that this is not done for the tourists. There is also a Sami flag.

In March, Rautas railway station was my furthest point, but cycling is much easier now that the road is bare, so I decide to continue to Rensjön. I cross Alit Suorri/Västra Rautasälven; the eastern part is liquid (there are rapids) but the western side is still very much frozen and with snow on. The land gets emptier here. AFter a few kilometers I come across a stream, Homujohka/Håmojåkka. Finally a stream that I can reach; I get my Laplandmok and reach down to taste it. It's cold but wonderful. I'm not thirsty, but on the way back I refill my platypus here.

Another stream, a little bigger this time, Njuotjanjåkka / Njouhčamjohka; mostfly frozen and not reachable for me. I'm almost along Njouhčamjávri, which I suspect to be the Northern Sami name for Rensjön, but I'm not sure. The landscape gets more and more beautiful; how much I would like to continue and continue all the way to Abisko... I can't now. But I will later. I have arrived at Rensjön, my furthest point for today, 31km from Kiruna; but my total distance is more than twice that, because I live in eastern Kiruna and on my way here have made detours to Käyrävuopio, Krokvik, Rautas and Rensjön, exploring the villages. None of them have more than 30 inhabitants; they're rather small. I realise that I have never been this far north on a bicycle my previous record was Rautas.

Pictures follow, but can already be seen at my picasaweb and my panoramio pages.

Camping in the forest

2008-05-02T14:09:00.002+02:00

Because spring has come and there is thaw even during the night now, I decided to go camping for the second time this year.
After doubting for a long time where to go, I decided to go south in the direction of Kalixfors.
I wasn't sure yet where I would find a good spot; my objective was simply to go camping, somewhere, anywhere, and I would find a place.
I explored the track along the railway first, where the railway line to Svappavaara branches off the main Malmbanan railway line.
Down to the junctien it was ploughed, but on the other end of the railway line it wasn't; I'll come back there later.
I saw a sign at the junction and wanted to walk to it to see what it said (a train had just passed so I figured it would be safe), when a huge alarm went off, scaring me like hell, so I jumped on my bicycle and went further south.
Only when I lay in my sleeping bag later that night I realised the alarm was probably meant to scare away reindeer.
It sure scared away me.

I went to Kalixfors Skjutfält to see if Håmojåkkvägen was plaughed; it wasn't.

So I ended up going to Kalixforsbron, where I had been before. I found a place next to the track where there was no snow, and put up my tent there.

Picture are here.

Winter is over

2008-04-30T11:54:00.005+02:00

Today it is 15 degrees celsius. The coastal areas are flooding because the snow is melting rapidly here. I'm wearing shorts and sandals.

It's also Valborgsafton, the day before 1 May. Traditionally a fire, majbrasa, is made. In Kiruna, this is done at the foot of the Luossavaara hill. I went there. I had never seen such a big crowd in Kiruna. But the fire itself was awful.

Esrange

2008-04-24T20:06:00.004+02:00

Since last Sunday night, I have been at Esrange for the Rexus/Bexus training week.

Sunday evening, 18:30. The bus organised by Esrange picks us up at the Vilan busstop. It's half an hour before the appointed time at Kiruna Airport. Friday I called Olle Persson to ask for the bus to pick us up at Vilan before going to the airport. At the airport we leave the bus and enter the entrance hall of Kiruna airport. It's a small hall with some twenty seats and a luggage belt, and we wait for the delayed flight along with a number of taxi drivers. Olle Persson says hi to us. We met him at the selection workshop at ESTEC. According to the arrivals sign the flights is delayed by some ten minutes. Around five past seven we see some lights approaching; the airplane is coming. We see it land, taxi, and see the staircase being connected to it, and people coming out. I recognise some, but not all. I decide to go back to the bus with my other team members.

I have brought the map that was provided to me for free by Läntmateriet. The map is from 1989 and is no longer in production, nor will it be renewed. In 2009 or later there will be a new map of the Jukkasjärvi-Esrange area. There are some forestry roads that must be nice to explore in summer.

We arrive at Esrange and are led to the restaurant. There are sandwiches with reindeer meat, one per person. There is no vegetarian alternative, but I have eaten at home and the others haven't, so most others go to bed hungry; not so bad for me. We are shown a video at the Polaris room - the same I have seen when I was visiting with the Spacemasters. After that we are led to the hotel rooms.

The hotel rooms are really good. Much better than Vilan, and certainly better than Mitchbi in Noordwijk. Single rooms, private shower and toilet, a desk with a telephone and an ethernet connection. And silent. Other than at Vilan, I can actually sleep without earplugs here. Three layers of coverage in front of the window. I close the and it's actually dark in my room. I sleep marvellously.

Despite the three layers I wake up around 4:30, it is very bright in my room; the sun is up already.

The rest of the week is interesting and varied, but the schedule is really full. It's a very useful week, and there is time for fun activities as well (though not much).

More picture here.

Exam week in the renewed winter

2008-04-12T09:59:00.004+02:00

The past week was an exam week for me - hence I didn't write on my blog. The Friday before the exam, a visit to the Kirunavaara mine by LKAB had been organised for us. A really interesting visit. The bus left around 10:00 in the morning from Kulturens hus. A couple of students thought the bus would leave from the bus station. I receive a phonecall from one of them, and via the bus driver tell them to cross the street and stand at the busstop in front of the city hall. They do and a minute later the last five or so students join the bus, and we are as complete as we will be - some 25 students.

The bus passes by some security checks and the road goes into a hole in the mountain. Not too different from when one enters a tunnel, except that there is not really an other side (except for an emergency exit) and the road goes down, down, down. For the first kilometer or so, the tunnel is lighted, but after that, it isn't. A few times there is opposing traffic. At each curve - there are many - the bus blinks with the big lights. I lose track of how long we have driven down. 5 minutes? 10 minutes? but at some point there are lights at the end. It's a junction, and there is
some other traffic. The bus turns left, but takes the curve too broadly and doesn't make it, so it needs to go back. The truck from the left and the opposing will need to wait. After the bus has gone back up the steep slope - we are told it is some 10% - the other traffic passes and we go left, slightly up, and within a minute we have reached the tourist hall. We are 540 meter below the datum, which is 400 meter below the entrance, or some 140 meter above sea level. And the road goes another kilometer down.

After putting on helmets we are shown around, told interesting stuff, and then brought to a cinema where we are shown a video on LKAB. Starting with some shots of Kiruna, then the history of the place. The uneasy relation to the Sami. The railway, built first by the British and then by the Swedish after the British gave up. The war. The strike. After that we are led back to the hall and explained how the mining actually works. All very interesting. I have many questions and all are answered.

After the visit to the mine it is back to studying: finishing the SPENVIS report, learning for the Spacecraft Environment Interaction exam (okay), learning for the Electronics in Space exam (horrible). Indeed the Spacecraft Environment Interaction exam on Monday was okay, and the Electrincs in Space exam on Wednesday was horrible; I'll need to redo that one.

On Tuesday I had a chat with the Swedish teacher at Folkhögskolan about Swedish class. I am given a schedule and a book - På G - to borrow, and I can just come whenever I like. So after my exam I went there on Thursday morning (-17°C) and on Friday morning (-20°). The other students are all women, a migrant from Russia, a refugee from Africa, a number of women from the Phillipines who married Swedish men. On Thursday we are only 7 or so, on Friday only 3. Quite a small group.

And the winter came back, after last weeks two days of thaw. The sunsets are beautiful. In three days there will still be nautical twilight at midnight. In three weeks there will be civil twilight at midnight, so it won't get dark at all. The ESRANGE training week is coming soon. The next term with two courses is starting on Monday. And spring is coming soon. It will be wonderful.

Melting snow (and prov i SFI)

2008-03-31T18:31:00.004+02:00

I was at Kunskapsparken to do an intake test in SFI: Svensk för invandrare (Swedish for immigants). I had an appointment at 10:30, was put in a seperate room and left alone with four booklets for a test and a CD for the listening test. After I was finished I had a little chat with the teacher (in Swedish, of course), and I have been admitted to the course; though I don't know to which one yet. B or C.

This morning, the wind was blowing hard and it was +1C.
In the afternoon, the sun was shining, there was not much wind, and temperature rose to +5C.
As I cycled home from university, there were streams everywhere.
The E10 was a river.Sunny with 5 degrees. It's great to be outside. The days are getting longer. One week from now, it will be light from 4:20 till 21:05. Spring is coming soon!

Mountains: Nikkaluokta & Norway

2008-03-29T09:50:00.006+01:00

Tuesday 25 March. Cycling to the mountains. To Nikkaluokta, 65 km, from Kiruna to the end of the road. The first part is the same as when cycling to Kalixfors a few days before, so I know where to go in Kiruna. It is a sunny day, blue skies, and only some clouds against the mountains.

Past the road to Kalixfors, then Kalixforsbron. Proceeding to Kaalasjärvi, Jänkänalusta, Holmajärvi. Small sami villages. In total, maybe 150 people live in this valley, 50km long, in less than ten villages. Every five to ten kilometers, a sign giving the distance left to Nikkaluokta. 42km. 35km. 30km. Over halfway there. The bus passes by. I sit at the side of the road eating an apple. The closer I get to Nikkaluokta, the emptier the road. And the icier. At the last 10km, Pirttivuopio - Ylipää - Nikkaluokta, I have the road all for myself. I hear nothing. No cars. No birds. No snowscooters. No dogs. No planes. Just complete silence.

I arrive a lot earlier than I had expected, around two 'o clock. Three hours in Nikkaluokta until the bus leaves. Unfortunately, clouds against the mountains.

When I arrive in Nikkaluokta, an older couple makes a photograph of me. I ask them if they want to make a photograph of me with my camera, and they agree, so I cycle a bit back and come cycling toward them again. They are a Swiss couple on holiday here. They have seen me from the bus. They ask if it isn't lonely to cycle there. I like that, I answer. Where am I from. From the Netherlands. Yes, cycling. Yes.

When they speak with each other, it is more difficult for me to understand it than Swedish.

Nikkaluokta is a beautiful place. Pictures here. But the place itself is boring. Three hours is too much.

Wednesday morning. I have appointed with three other students to go to Å i Lofoten by train and bus, and go camping there. The first one should join the morning train (7:36) with me in Kiruna, the others should join in Abisko Turiststation. I arrive at the railway station ten minutes before and take a seat. I stand outside to wait for the other student. He isn't coming. The train leaves and he still isn't there. I try to phone him but I can't. I don't have his Swedish number. And my battery is empty. The battery readout for my phone is erronuous.

In Abisko Turiststation, the two others do not enter the train either. They went skiing and camping in the mountains. Without proper equipment and with limited experience. I hope they're allright. I can't reach them. No battery. This is getting odd. I am alone now. But it's such a beautiful day, I will go nevertheless.

In Narvik, I have about five hours, from 10:20 to 15:10. I get a city plan at the tourist office and walk to the bus station first, to see where I need to take the bus later today. I fail to find the direct route and end up walking there in a long, roundabout way, but at least now I have found it. It's at the bottom of the AMFI shopping center, a four storey shopping center with lots of stores. Narvik seems so much bigger than Kiruna. The town has even less inhabitants than Kiruna, just 14,000, but Kiruna is the end of the world and Narvik is a center. You pass by if you go from southern or centrtal Norway to northern Norway. You pass by on the way to Vesterålen or Lofoten. On the way to the mountains of Kiruna. And the surroundings are densely populated, certainly compared to the surroundings of Kiruna. Outside Kiruna, a few thousand people live in 22,000 km². In the coastal part of Nordland, around 240,000 people live on a similar surface area. Narvik is the 2nd biggest town in this area. It's a beautiful place.

I go to the bookshop to buy some maps of the area. In the bus, I want to see where I am. Exactly, not approximately. So I buy map 1431 IV Narvik, Turkart Lofoten and Turkart Vesterålen - Hinnøya. And in summer I want to go north of Torneträsk, so I also buy Turkart Bardu.

The bus leaves at 15:10. It will be a long bus ride: until 22:45. But a lot to see. From Narvik to Bjerkvik, along the fjord. 36km over the road, but only 14km through the air. Over Rombaksbrua and along the junction with the E10. At the junction it says Luleå to the right. It doesn't say the road goes to Kiruna. Kiruna is not important enough. Or maybe because Luleå is the end of the road, because the other way it says Å, which is just a small village. But it's the other end of the road. My destination. Straight ahead it says Alta 511 km. Southward it says Trondheim 903 km. Norwegians know what distances are.

After Bjerkvik, where the E6 northward and the E10 leave again, having been combined since the junction with the road from Kiruna, the road proceeds to the airport at Evenes. A bit inland, then a bit along a fjord again and a bit inland. I've been on this part of the road before. In october 2005, I went to Lødingen with three French students. And in January 2007, I wook the airport bus from Evenes to Narvik. In the dark. This is the first time I can actually see what it looks like in winter. There is a big difference in snow coverage on different sides of the fjords. The northern side of the fjord, a south slope, has considerably less snow than the southern side, north slope. It's quite obvious, but I hadn't thought of it.

From Evenes we drive north along the Tjeldsund. The Tjeldsund seperates the mainland from the first island, Hinnøya, Norways biggest island. It also seperates the area where places have names in Norwegian and Sami from the area where the names are only in Sami. Is one strait, less than 1 km wide, enough to keep the Sami from crossing? Do the Sami not have boats? It's interesting. The island Hinnøya itself has a Sami name - Iinnasuolu - but that' the only one. They can name that island while standing on the mainland. We cross the Tjeldsund bridge at around 16:50, and leave mainland Scandinavia.

From here we drive south to Lødingen. Lødingen is a special place for me. It is located beautifully on a southern tip at Hinnøya, where the Tjeldsund and Ofotfjorden combine with Vestfjorden. Southward one can see mainland Norway with Tysfjorden. It is a beautiful place. Over the road, it's 147 km from Narvik. Through the air it's less than 60.

From Lødingen, the area is new for me. It's March so it's still light for some hours even though it is the late afternoon. From Gullesfjordbotn, at the southern tip of Gullesfjorden, a fjord going so far inland that the end is frozen, the bus enters a road that is not yet on the map: the road was opened 1 December 2007 and reduces the travel time to Å considerably. 50 km shorter and no more ferries, just tunnels and bridges. Inland there is a lot of snow. 5 km inland, 100 meter up, and it's 40cm rather than 5 cm. Still a lot less than the more than 100cm in Kiruna.

At Hanøyvika we cross Raftsundet with a bridge, from Hinnøya to Austvågøya. We are now officially in Lofoten. And the mountains get steeper and steeper and more and more impressive. We proceed along Hadselfjorden on the northern side of Austvågøya. From here, there is a view of the open sea westward. On the other side is Greenland. The sun is setting and it is a nice sunset. It's around 18:30 now; I have been in the bus for over three hours already, but in time I'm not even halfway there.

I am surprised that there is still quite some snow here. I had expected the climate to be a lot milder on the islands, and the snow to have melted. But it has been cold and wet recently. Easterly winds. And thus there is snow, and there probably will be all the way to Å. That will be interesting, putting up my tent in the snow in the dark. Without headlights. The students who didn't turn up have those.

With a big tunnel we go from one side of Austvågøya to the other side, where Svolvær, capital of Lofoten is located. The tunnel goed under the fjord and apparantly is curved all the way. Looking at the lights in the roof disorients me. It seems as if we are driving on the inside of a huge cylinder, a tredmill, and all the time the lights curve way upward. It is hard to tell what the lowest point is, but at one point I feel we are going upward again. It's a long tunnel under Sløverfjorden. Then south along Sløverfjorden, passing Eide, where the parts of Austvågøya are connected by a piece of land just 2 km wide, and continue along Austnesfjorden until we arrive at Svolvær, capital of Lofoten. Along the road it's 238 km. Through the air it's around 120 km. Half the distance.

After Svolvær it is getting dark. The land is still densely populated. Wherever we drive along the fjord there are fisher villages. Wherever it is flat there are farming villages. Usually there are both. In Vågan municipality, 9000 people on 450 km². All live along the coast. Almost all along the road. So it seems even more dense. Certainly when coming from the roof of Lappland.

Under the darkening sky we proceed, a bit inland and again along the coast, until we leave Austvågøya and proceed to Gimsøya with the Gimsøystraumbrua. Gimsøya is the smallest of the four bigger inhabited islands, and soon we proceed to Vestvågøya. From here to Leknes the land in continuous farmland Everywhere streetlights and a cyclepath along the road. Farms everywhere. People entering the bus at one farm and leaving it at another. Here live 11,000 people on 400 km². But the young are leaving for the mainland, and a project exists to get Dutch families to emigrate to this area.

In Leknes, we need to change into another bus. A much smaller one, more like a local bus. It's still almost two hours to Å, even though it's less than 70km. The road will be narrow, down to 5 meters. Officially that is not allowed for a road with an E-designation. But it's not enforced at all.
As we leave Leknes, it is dark, except for the spectacular Northern Lights filling a significant portion of the sky and moving rapidly. With another subocean tunnel we pass from Vestvågøya under Nappstraumen to Flakstadøya and some time later to Moskenesøya. This is the island at which Å is located. Still a lot of snow. More than before, actually. Probably because it's wetter here. Warm and wet, but not warm enough for the precipitation to fall in the form of rain. I misestimated that. But I could have known. There is a webcam in Reine, which is very near Å. Although as I'm writing this, there is considerably less snow then when I was there. The rock is brown now, rather than white.

After Sørvågen it's only tourists left in the bus. Two Germans and me. The Germans leave early in Å, and the bus driver asks me if I am going to the hostel.
«Actually, I was thinking of going camping. But it looks a bit colder than I had expected. Can you tell me, what is the temperature?»
«It's minus five. But if you have a good sleeping bag it is no problem. I have done it a hundred times. How long are you staying?»
«I'm going back tomorrow morning. Either by the 6:30 bus or by the 9:00 bus. Preferably the 6:30 bus because it's faster and less stressful with changing to the train in Narvik.»
«There is no 6:30 bus tomorrow. It's easter holiday so the school bus doesn't go this week.»
«Okay, thank you.»
We have arrived at the end of the road. There is just a parking place here. Nothing ceremonial. 365 km by road from Narvik, or less than 200 km through the air. Beyond the end of the road is a hiking path that I take. Utsikt, it says. I walk through the snow. There is a track, it is about 5 cm of snow. It's windy, so it feels a lot colder than minus five. But in my tent I should be fine. When I am outside the reach of the city lights I put my backpack on the ground and look for a place to put my tent. It's tricky. It's dark, there is snow and ice, I don't know the terrain. For all I know this flat part may be on a puddle of water or even a little pond or lake. I don't have the headlight. In the end I see a flat part and put up my tent. It takes me a lot of time to do so. One of the herring flies away as I try to straighten the tent. Lost. A silver-gray herring in the dark in the snow is lost. I don't succeed in putting up the tent very well. Some are only in the snow, some are below the snow, and I need to dig to put it in the ground. The ground is frozen. I don't have a stone and of course no hammer either. But in the end it is satisfactory. I try to make a picture of the northern ligths, not as spectacular as it was but still nice. It's difficult.

I lie in my sleeping bag and try to get warm. I am almost succesful. My feet are still cold when I fall asleep around midnight. The plus side is, in this temperature I don't need to worry about oversleeping. Indeed I wake up and it's rather noisy outside. When I went asleep it was just the waves breaking against the rocks. But now the gulls are flying back and forth overhead. Catching fish. It's around six and I get out of my tent. Slowly. First I dress, inside my sleeping bag. Trousers. Winter trousers. T-shirt. Sweater. Winter jacket. Hat. Scarf. Socks. Gloves. I put on my shoes and stand outside my tent, and what I see is the most spectacular view I have ever had from a camping place.

In front, snow-topped rocks rising several hundred meter above me. To my back, the sea, in this place going south, so going straight ahead would land one somewhere in the south of Nordland. To the right of the sea are rocky islands rising out of the sea. Lofotodden. Værøy. The islands south of Røst: Vedøya, Storfjellet. Here is the Maelstrom, the biggest system of tidal currents in the world. To the left the mainland on the other side of Vestfjorden. All white and rocky, as if the mountains are not 1000 but 4000 meter high. And this all under the nearly deafening sound of hundreds of gulls flying overhead.

I forget the cold and try to make some pictures. I fail because my battery won't work. I walk around and let the world impress me. I am all alone. Nobody is awake. If I stay with my back toward the village, I could be alone in the world. But the village is just a few hundred meters away. This is worth the journey. More than worth it. It would be worth a journey all the way from the Netherlands. A once in a lifetime experience. And marvellous weather.

At 9:00 I take the long bus ride back. The first part, until Leknes, I haven't seen in daylight yet. The weather is changing, and it starts snowing horizontally. Strong westerly wind. In Svolvær I have to wait a couple of hours. It's not comfortable outside in this stormy, snowy weather. Svolvær reminds me of Åndalsnes. Hurtigruten stops here. Later in my life I will travel with Hurtigruten. For now, this is too expensive for me. The bus from Narvik arrives, the same bus that will go back to Narvik an hour and a half later. I ask the bus driver if there is some waiting room. There isn't, unfortunately. Just an unheated glass hall between two buildings. I sit there and read some. The bus driver is sleeping. At 15:00 I enter the bus again. Back the same route. Svolvær. Lødingen. The Tjeldsund bridge. Evenes. I ask the bus driver if we will be in time for the train back to Sweden. The bus arrives at 19:20. The train leaves at 19:22. It's rather tricky. It seems to me that he drives faster because of me asking this, but I'm still nervous. In the end we arrive at 19:17 at the railway station, and I make it into the train.

The train is nearly empty. It is dark outside. I am alone in my compartment. Outside, there is nothing visible at all. At one point I don't know if we are traveling or not. I don't have a clue where we are. It might as well be a metro line. After Lofoten and Hinnøya, this is really the end of the world again. Beyond the end of the world. Kiruna is the end of the world from the other side. In Narvik it starts again. Now I am in between. I am nowhere.

More pictures at my picasaweb albums.

Kallovaara cycling

2008-03-23T20:50:00.004+01:00

According to Gretha Sierink, in Kiruna one can only cycle back and forth, and it is not really possible to make a reasonable sized cycling round trip. Today, I have proven her wrong. At least for the winter.

I went from Kiruna north to Kurravaara. From Kurravaara Södra I crossed the Torne river and climbed the slope on the other side, arriving in Kallovaara. At Kallovaara I entered the road (well, track. It's probably not asphalt but it will take some months before I can find out) from Laxforsen to Vuolosjávri. As I was exploring, I tried to see how far I could go in the direction of Vuolusjávri first, but soon I found out that the road to Vuolusjávri wasn't ploughed. This was not surprising. I'm surprised by the roads existance in the first place. it doesn't seem to go anywhere. Just ends somewhere in the forest. Which will be nice in summer, but then again in summer going to Kallovaara is a lot longer. No way to cross Torneälven in summer. So I went down to Laxforsen along a very, very beautiful road with marvellous views over the Torne river valley. I will certainly come back here in summer, but probably before as well! There were almost no cars, the number of cars increased a bit as I got closer to Laxforsen, since the cumulative traffic is larger closer to the start of the road. When I stand still, I usually hear nothing. Sometimes I hear a car far away (about 10/hour). Sometimes I hear snowmobiles on the river, in the distance. Sometimes I hear a dog bark, far away. Probably some dogsledges. But usually it is completely silent.

The road begins - although for me, it ends - at Laxforsen, near the Torneälven bridge. Rather than going to the right to Kauppinen and back to Kiruna, I turn left to Jukkasjärvi, the Icehotel village, and in the direction of Esrange. To my surprise it's only 23 km to Esrange; maybe this actually lies within my reach as well. Though going there and back from Kiruna is probably slightly further than Nikkaluokta, and a lot less interesting. I wouldn't like to live in Jukkasjärvi. Too many tourists coming to the Icehotel. I wonder what it looks like in summer though. I cycle to the church at the end of Jukkasjärvi and eat my lunch, noticing that one can actually see Kiruna from here. That's way up. Around 220 m.

On the way back I take the furthest upstream bridge on the Torne river, and I attempt to get to the EISCAT radar via Laxforsen (which lies on two sides of the river). This fails; the road might exist (on my map it is "worse road") but it's not ploughed, so I go back to the main road and climb to the village Kauppinen, where I can cut off a part of the road to Jukkasjärvi and the E10. In Kauppinen I see some icycles that are several meters long. Quite impressive.

I realise that I will pass by Space Campus on my way back, and decide to drop in to get warm and eat the rest of my lunch. To my surprise - and surely there as well - a number of students is working there on a project, so I'm not alone on this easter Sunday. I walk around for around 20 minutes before I proceed the climb back home; by now, I'm really tired. I've been outside from 9:30 to 16:30, and have been on my bicycle most of the time. And it's cold outside... But it's definately worth it. Tomorrow I will take a day rest and go only briefly outside, but on Tuesday I am planning to go to Nikkaluokta. 65 km. And take the bus back.

More pictures of todays ride are on my picasaweb album.

Kurravaara and Kalixfors

2008-03-22T16:12:00.002+01:00

Yesterday, Friday, I went to Kurravaara. Kurravaara is a village with 266 inhabitants, 12 km north of Kiruna and about 200 meter below it. It is the first village that the Torne river passes through. Going there was cold: around -10C with a strong northerly wind and snowfall. Despite the 200m downhill, it took a long time to go there. I was shocked to see a sign "5 Kurravaara" when I thought I should be almost there, and puzzled when I entered Kurravaara a few hundred meters after that. The road goes straight ahead onto the water, which I assumed to be the river. On the other side, I turn right in the hope to pick up the road to Laxforsen and Jukkasjärvi, but I am unable to find it.A guy singing in Saami approaches me and asks if I am police. I tell him that I'm not and ask him if this is the way to Jukkasjärvi. Not on that one! he says in Swedish, pointing at my bicycle. Vroom vroom! He goes back to his garden and resumes singing in Saami. I go back across the water and realise I crossed Lahti, from Kurravaara S to Kurravaara N, and I realise that the sign "S Kurravaara" meant "Södra Kurravaara", not 5 km to go there. I locate the proper place to cross the Torne river and explore by foot.
On the left bank of the Torne, I find the road - it's really a track, but it's ploughed - to Laxforsen and Jukkasjärvi, and decide that I can make the round trip by bicycle another day.

The way back to Kiruna is heavy. Uphill, fortunately not snowing anymore, but I didn't bring enough lunch.

Today, Saturday, is a very beautiful day. I got up at 9:00 and left at 10:00 for Kalixfors; not only a street in Schiedam, but also a village on the border of the municipalities of Kiruna and Gällivare. After unsuccesfully trying to buy sunglasses at either Coop Forum or Överskottsbolaget (both are open, neither have sunglasses), I cycle south along Nikkaluoktavägen. Apparently, it's only 65 km to Nikkaluokta, a lot closer than I thought; I can go there on a trip if I can take my bicycle in the bus back and if the timetables fit. I realise that I have forgotten my map but it should be no problem. I get warm cycling upwards, put off my winter trousers, get cold cycling downwards and put them on again. Shortly after a place where Banverket is building a new transformer station, I come across a police control (the police car has overhauled me minutes before), and I stop. The police smile and tell me to go on. "Du bara cyklar". They didn't see my rear light is broken.

Proceeding on Nikkaluoktavägen, the view gets increasingly beautiful. I get closer to the mountains. After departing Nikkaluaktavägen to Kalixforsbron, the road becomes pure snow/ice (not the bare asphalt below), probably because the road is narrower, less travelled and the maximum speed is 30 km/hour. It's a very beautiful part.

I get a nice view of the mountains, including Kebnekaise:
The Kalix river turns out to be completely frozen, even though in Kalixfors there are supposed to be rapids. The road actually goes over the river, despite the presence of a bridge. Not sure why they do that. On my way back, I eat lunch and then explore some more.
More pictures in my picasaweb album.

My coldest easter (saturday) ever

2008-03-22T09:38:00.002+01:00

At IRF: 2008.03.22 04:32:00 -27.1°C
Minimal temperature last night in Nikkaloukta: -36°C
I took this photograph this morning at 4:30. an hour before sunrise. A few kilometers away, it is -27.1°C.

P.S. The next night, it was -41C in Nikkaluokta

First day of astronomical spring

2008-03-20T17:36:00.002+01:00

This morning, at 6:48 CET, spring started at the northern hemisphere. From now on, days up here in Kiruna will be longer than for almost all of the readers of this blog. And today, my bicycle keys arrived. Finally. I went for a ride with my friend. First to the parking place for Ädnamvaarastugan, then on the lake Luossajärvi. Exhiliarating.

More images of me (above) and my friend at my picasa web album.

Small hike

2008-03-16T21:26:00.003+01:00

Still not having my bike, I planned on climbing Luossavaara. I got lost on the way there and hiked around Nukutusjärvi instead. On a nice sunny day.

More pictures here.

Aurora

2008-03-16T21:01:00.003+01:00

I have seen the aurora before, much more spectacular than this one. But still it was nice to see it again. I'm in the north now.

REXUS / BEXUS selection workshop

2008-03-16T20:54:00.002+01:00

On 5 and 6 March, I was at a workshop in Noordwijk, Netherlands.
ESA had invited me and three others to present an experiment to fly on a stratospheric balloon in September; for me, a free flight home and back.
Noordwijk is nice, ESTEC is nice, but Hotel Mitchbi is too cheap for ESA to house guests in. Good for tourists but ESA should get something more luxerious.
On Thursday I went home to my parents, two guests staying for one night, one of them for three nights.
Showed him around Amsterdam on Friday morning. Went to the hairdresser. On Saturday we hiked through the Kennemerduinen. In the evening I visited my friend.
On Sunday evening I went to the filmmuseum with my parents and sisters to see Stellet licht.
On Monday I flew home. I forgot my bread, the Becel I had bought for bringing to Sweden, I had forgotten to charge my phone, no battery no credit, and worst, I had forgotten my keys. In the evening I stayed with the friend who had stayed with me. The next morning I went to KBAB, their website said they were open 7-9, I was there at 7.30, at the door it said 9-11, I came back at 9.30, told them, they phoned Securitas who opened the door for me... I could have done that myself, even the night before. Cost me 350 crowns. And I still (Sunday) don't have the keys for my bicycle. My mother sent them on Monday night, so they have been on their way since Tuesday. Bah.

Icebike cycling to Rautas

2008-03-01T17:49:00.003+01:00

This morning I got up at 8:00 for a cycle tour to Krokvik, around 10km from Kiruna.
I had a warm and big breakfast with porridge, filled my thermos with hot water, dressed up and got on the road.

Cycling on ice is wonderful. I was at Krokvik after only 35 minutes, much faster than I had expected; cycling with spikes is slow, resistance is big, but it was going very slightly downhill, as I discovered on the way back. I explored the village of Krokvik.

Some dogs. A child calling to a dog in a completely alien language. Not Finnish. Definitely not Swedish. This is Sápmi. In a gård, some reindeer were standing. A plogbil passed by on the main road. Fortunately not while I was cycling there. I wouldn't know what to do in that situation.

I enjoyed cycling so I continued to Östra Rautasälven.

There I found a raststuga and drank my tea.

I continued to Rautas järnvägstation, which was my further point, around 21km from Kiruna. I returned and discovered that the way back was tricker. I ate my lunch at the same raststuga and went back on the road. A car going in the opposite direction honked at me and its driver waved and smiled. I waved back but too late. I continued and passed by Krokvik. Heavy cycling. At Plattvik I take some rest. Again a (the same?) plogbil passed by, again in the same direction as me, again fortunately I was not on the road.

It was heavy and cold. At one point I had my gloves on inside my thick mittens. I put all fingers in the main part of the mitten because my thumbs were cold. Then I could no longer change gear. I put my thumb back seperately and was able to change gear again. It was not so cold anymore. But I did have cold feet.
Around half past two I was back in Kiruna. Tired.

Total distance around 45km.
Today I broke my northernmost cycling record, which is now Rauttas.
I might also have broken my furthest-away-from-any-other-humans record.

More pictures here.

The story of a bike, part III

2008-02-29T11:58:00.003+01:00

On Thursday 21 February, I had the morning off and used this time to register at Skatteverket and to look for my bike. Clumsily, I went to Migrationsverket instead and gave up when a few dozen of African and Asian asylum seekers were waiting for the office to open. Apparently, a plane had just arrived.

The evening before, I had looked up on the internet where the Kiruna office of DHL was. I went there together with another Spacemaster student. I showed them the receipt I had received when I sent the parcel. The woman working at the DHL office made a number of phonecalls to the office in Luleå, but nobody knew anything about my packet. Just that it had left Germany 6 days before. The packet was probably transferred to the Swedish post in Luleå, but she could not tell us the Swedish tracking number that it should have received. At the Swedish post, they didn't know either. They would know if it had been returned, so it had most probably not. It was still... somewhere. They told me to come back on Friday afternoon to look further. Worryingly, I went to the lab in the afternoon.

On Friday morning, I had a note in my mailbox that my packet had arrived and that I could get it at the Posten (post office). When I came home in the evening (like on many days, my classes were from 8.30 to 17.25, with the bus going back home at 18.15), I was told that my packet had arrived. The Spacemaster student whom which I had been at the post office the day before had been there again with someone who had a car, and they had given my packet to him. I found it in the corridor. It was slightly damaged, but I was very very happy that it had finally arrived - after 9 days.

On Sunday, I started to assemble my bike.

I assembled everything except the wheels, because I had not received my spikes yet. My spikes (dubbdäck) had arrived at the post office, but I didn't know because I had incorrectly assumed they would put a note in my box that it had, and then it got returned to Karlstad. Fortunately, Cyclecomponents was customer-friendly and reshipped it without charging me for it. On Monday, I got a note in my mailbox telling me that they had tried to deliver my tires, but had not found me at home. I went to the post service point assuming I could get my tires there, but I had not read the notification properly: the earliest date to get it was Tuesday at 16:00. So on Tuesday I went there again and got my spikes. Finally. They looked wonderful. I put them on my wheels, inflated the tubes, inflated the rear one but failed to inflate the front one, and started putting the wheels in my bike only to find out that the metal on the rear wheel had bent so that my wheel didn't fit in anymore. Shit.

On Tuesday evening, after having met up with a Dutch friend from last years Winter Course, the organiser of this Winter Course, the two other participants on the Winter Course and a friend of the Dutch friend, I ran into an Italian Spacemaster colleague who promised to help me with my bike after I explained to him the problem. We looked at the faint aurora together, came home at 01:00, after which I worked on a report until 03:00, and after I missed the next mornings 7:54 bus and skipped the mornings classes, he came in the afternoon, bent back the metal with a wrench and we finished the assembly of my bike. Wonderful. He also creatively helped me to fix my light.

But we were unable to inflate the front tube with my tiny hand-pump. And I had put in the front mudguard the wrong way around.

I phoned Intersport to ask them if they sell bicycle pumps.
"Yes, we do. Not in store, but in stock we do. There are not so many bicycle customers today"
"I understand"
I went there and bought a pump. As it was dirty, I got it for 100 SEK, normal price being around 220 SEK. The air came out of the valve when I pumped it up, so I returned to buy a new valve. I put it in and was still unable. I decided to look at the problem at home, to find that the valve stem was completely loose from the tire after the stuff that supposedly closes small holes that I put in had come out violently when I had opened the valve. I would need a new tube.

On Thursday afternoon, I decided to go to Team Sportia. At first I decided to skip the last hour so that I could take the 16:40 bus back to town rather than the 18:15 bus, but the class collectively decided to skip the breaks so that we could take the 16:40 bus without missing anything. I asked the bus driver what the nearest bus stop to Team Sportia was. After a few seconds of thinking, she said: "Far away."
After starting driving, she discussed in Swedish with a regular passenger, and I found that she was actually changing her route to go via Team Sportia. Excellent. I departed the bus. "Tack så väldigt mycket!"

Team Sportia did not have any tubes. Nor did they have sandals, that I needed after my cheap fake-Teva-sandals were worn out after 2 1/2 years. Worthless. It was 17:00 and I rushed toward Intersport, which I thought would close at 17:30. I ran, more than 3km, went the wrong way after not having brought my map, and arrived at 17:29 to see that it was actually closing at 18:00. I asked for a bicycle tube and got one for 45 SEK. I went home, reversed the mudguard and put on my tube and tire. Inflated it without problems.

My bike was now finished.

I went for a ride. To the other end of town. To the skiing slope. All snow and ice. -14 degrees. Snowing.

I went for another ride. 6km to Tuolluvaara. 7km back via the industrial area. Again surface icy everywhere.

For all I knew, I was cycling on concrete.

My bike was even heavier than before. The rear wheel was too far to the front so I couldn't use my first gear. Combining that I didn't make it up Adolf Hedinsvägen.

But Nokian Hakkapeliitta tires work perfectly!

Årets happening

2008-02-27T22:58:00.006+01:00

Last Saturday, an outdoor trip was organised for all students in Kiruna and in particular for the newly arrived Spacemaster students. We gathered at Kunskapsparken at 11:00 and went by bus to an area near the airport (indicated as Piekkusvuoma on the map). The weather was nice: sunny and moderately cold (around -12 to -14) with not too much wind. A number of activities had been organised:

Snowshoe hiking
Dog sledge riding
Snowmobile driving

Additionally, there was a barbecue lunch and between the activities, it was fun to play in the snow. Almost all Spacemaster students and a number of other students were present.

In the evening, there was a welcome dinner organised at Kunskapsparken. The municipality had invited all students. The day finished with a part at Slusky, the student pub.

Repairs and walking

2008-02-22T20:26:00.004+01:00

This morning, I was not sure if I was dreaming or awake, but at around 6:55, a silhouet was standing in my door and asking something in Swedish. I said something in English and he asked what the repairs were that I had asked for. Apparantly, he had come to repair the entrance of my cables and the connector of my window - at 6:55 in the morning. He told me to sleep on, which I couldn't; he glued the plate closing the whole where my cables come out of the wall, went back to get some tools and came back 20 minutes later to replace the connector; like the first repair, done in 5 minutes. Doing repairs before 7:00 in the morning. Kirunabostäder...

Yesterday morning I wanted to register as a foreigner in Kiruna. Since there were about 50 Africans and Asians waiting before me, I declined from doing so.

Yesterday and today I walked home from university, because I didn't feel like waiting 1-2 hours for the bus and I didn't have my bicycle yet. Walking was enjoyable, but yesterday a bit reckless, as I didn't have my reflective coat with me (I hadn't planned on walking home). When I came home, the coordinator for practical Spacemaster issues in Kiruna had sent an e-mail to the group of students. Someone had seen a nearly invisible person walking home along the road. In the e-mail, she asked us to please take reflective cloathing when walking home. I replied to her and told her that I was sorry.

Today, my box finally arrived. With my bike. It seems nearly undamaged. More about that later.

Tomorrow, we will have some outdoor activities during the late morning and early afternoon. More about that later as well.

Todays pictures

2008-02-17T21:40:00.003+01:00

Today I hiked near Varggropen and the golf area in the morning, and near the lake Ala Lombolo in the afternoon. Pictures here.

Exploring Kiruna

2008-02-16T19:30:00.003+01:00

This morning I walked around Sandstensberget. Behind Sandstensberget, one can see nicely the midnight sun (summer) or the northern lights (winter). As it was a cloudy, windy, snowy, mild day in February, neither were present, but just looking at the wilderness north of the hill (altitude aound 560 meter, around 50 meter above lake Luossajärvi) is interesting enough. On my way there, I saw 24 dogs.

Behind the mountain was snow.

This is the view from my window:

In the afternoon I walked to lake Luossajärvi. First out of my street, Skyttegatan:
The ice and the snow on the lake is quite unlike what I am used to. There are layers of ice, snow, ice, snow and ice again, and it is not at all flat. In fact, near the edge of the lake, was an area of ice which was flat, but not horizontal. I didn't know that was possible and I find it rather puzzling.
Then it got dark and I went home.
More pictures here.

Farewell from Würzburg

2008-02-16T13:54:00.001+01:00

Video on the time in Würzburg by two SpaceMaster colleagues:

Travelling to Kiruna

2008-02-15T21:59:00.005+01:00

All went well.

Jarda, Christian and Martin help me carry my luggage to the bus stop. It is difficult to carry it all with four people; it is clearly impossible to carry it all for one normal human being. We arrive at the busstop 15 minutes early. Jarda goes home because he's cold (but looking forward to Kiruna where it will be 20 degrees colder); Martin and Christian wait until the bus arrives and help me put all the luggage in. Bus 14 takes the long way; from Hubland to the main station via Randersacker. It would be much faster to take bus 10 and then the tram, but I want to minimise changes. The bus goes via places where I have never been and probably never will be again.

Upon arriving at the busstation, I rush to the railway station (with my laptop), fetch a luggage wagon and rush back. I put on all my luggage, push the wagon up a ramp up the sidewalk, seeing it all fall off, put it back on again and continuing my way to the main station hall where Joshy is waiting. He is quite surprised to see the huge amount of luggage and asks how I'm going to carry it. I repeat what I said to Martin and Christian: I will have to walk multiple times if there is no luggage wagon.

Our platform, number 14, happens to be the only one without a luggage belt, so I have to carry everything up. Carrying the book case is quite bad (nothing compared to Copenhagen the next morning) but doable, and we have the time. It turns out we have to be exactly where the stairs end. There is one other person entering the train here; a half Spanish, half Danish woman who tells us she has performed as a circus artist in Tuschinky theatre (Amsterdam) in the 1950's. A long time ago.

We have a whole compartment for ourselves, so we can sleep almost as if we have beds. We eat some crisps, drink one of the three liters of milk that I brought, wonder why we are standing still at Fulda for 40 minutes (it is according to the schedule) and go to sleep around midnight. I wake up at the Danish border to go to the toilet, and a few moments later the Politi wants to see our passports and identity cards.
"Talar du svenska," he asks Joshy, who is unable to answer this question.
"Sprichst du Deutsch," he asks after turning a page.
"a little"
"Why do you not speak Swedish?"
"uhh..."
The politi leaves and we are left wondering about Danish humour.

Nearly three hours later we cross the Store Bælt, one of the most beautiful moments of the journey. Although we entered Scandinavia at 6:00, this is another symbolic moment.

We arrive at Copenhagen and depart the train. The next train is not fixed, but the earlier the train, the more time we will have at Malmö, and I was told one may need a lot of time there. I run looking for a luggage wagon; I don't find any. I run looking for the elevator; it's very far away. I run looking where we need to go; I don't see it at the outside because the sun is shining onto the screen. I run the other way and find where we need to go. Up a stairs and down a stairs. We start with the valuables. Then I carry the rest. The last one is the book bag. It takes an eternity to take it up the stairs. At every step, I put my knee below the bag to push it upwards. Downwards goes slightly better, but by the time I finished with the stairs I have no energy left to carry it, and I drag it over the floor. The last meters we do together; just in time to fetch the Øresundståg 45 minutes after departing the Nachtzug.

As Øresundståget takes only 30 minutes, we sit at the "balcony" (area between compartments). We find out that we actually sit in the 1st class; nothing we can do now. The personnel checking our tickets don't say anything about it. Crossing Øresund is not very interesting because pillars of the road above block the view most of the time, but the windmill park at sea looks nice. In Malmö we have another 45 minutes and it turns out we leave the train exactly opposite where we need to enter the X2000; the doors are still closed. I get some money at an ATM and I buy a lunch, then I return to our luggage and Joshy is off. When the doors finally open, we rush in, stuffing our luggage at a place for wheelchaired people; fortunately there aren't any today. We go to our seats and relax for the next couple of hours.

I send a text message to Johan asking for help at Stockholm. First he says he will not be there, but tells is to go from 18B to 4. Later he texts that he will be there, in the end we don't see him but just work. We have only 30 minutes in Stockholm and really need to hurry, because it's a huge station and we don't know the route. Fortunately there is a luggage wagon. I put in a coin, it is the wrong one, I can't get it out any more, and I panic; someone else gives us a wagon, I put on some luggage, conclude it doesn't fit, try to get another one, am told it does fit, and we go, running to the main hall, searching for the elevator, finding the elevator. It refuses to carry us; we are to heavy with all our luggage; we split in two, first me, then Joshy, upstairs we run to some place where it says 1-8, there we need to take another elevator, first Joshy, then me, then we run to the platform and we arrive in time. The train isn't there yet. I have time to check the text message that arrived on our sprint. Johan was delayed. I phone him and tell him to go to platform 4; he says he's already there, I wave, he waves, and we meet. When the train arrives he helps us to carry it in and returns the wagon. We put in 5 crowns and now those are 10. Puzzling. I thank Johan and we'll meet again.

In the train we meet Spacemaster Johan, who is traveling home to Ånge, a trip of only five hours or so. Coincidentally, Joshy sits next to him. I, however, sit in another compartment, near a group of terribly noisy students from Leiden University. Since the train is nearly empty, I join in the compartment where Joshy and Johan are sitting, at least for the evening. At night I doubt where I will lie, but when the Leiden students are still laughing and talking at 0:15 I move to the other compartment (less space but sleep is possible). Horrible, such students. But I got some sleep.

Woken up near Älvsbyn.
Norrbotten's Län!
Snow!
Winter!
Fascinated until arrival in Kiruna.
Stefanie hauls us there.

I had too much luggage; that was not at all practical.

Pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/topjaklont/TripToKiruna

Departure

2008-02-13T19:47:00.002+01:00

Yesterday I got the box.
Early morning, bus to Waldbüttelsbrunn; Lichtlein Kartonagen is located in an industrial area.
Upon arrival, I see piles of cartons.
Dozens. Hundreds. Thousands of cartons.
Cartons here, cartons there. Cartons everywhere.
I enter the reception desk, where a lonely carton stands against the wall.
"Ich komme meinen Karton abholen," I say.
"Das ist diese. Wieviel hat man gesagt das es kostet?"
"Ich glaub, es sollte ungefähr acht Euro sein," I answer.
"Du brauchst wohl keinen Rechnung? Sonnst müsste ich gesetzlichte Mehrwertssteuer darüber rechnen."
"Es geht schon."
"Das wird dan acht Euro"
I pay the eight euro's and go back to the busstop; surprisingly, I have done all in 20 minutes and don't need to wait long. When the bus arrives, my carton doesn't fit in. It will go in the luggage under the bus.

Opening the carton. Buying tape. Throwing all in. Looking for a scale. Trying to weigh. Failing. Closing. Trying to weight. Too heavy. Getting a wheel out. Closing. Closing better. Closing very thoroughly. Ordering the pick-up for Wednesday morning. Realising I didn't fasten the contents.

Cleaning. Difficlt. Critical Hausmeister.

I am going to Kiruna.
My train will leave at 22:33.
I will arrive on Friday at 10:18.
I will change trains at Copenhagen, Malmö and Stockholm.
Let's hope all goes well.

The story of a bicycle: part 1 (disassembling)

2008-02-10T21:25:00.000+01:00

As reported before, I will not be the first one to go by bike in Kiruna.
However, I may very well be the first one to send a 20kg+ Dutch bike by mail.
As a bicycle is too big to be sent by mail, it would need to be shipped. Initial investigations showed that this would cost at least 200 euro.
The biggest box one can send internationally via DHL is 120cm x 60cm x 60cm (except for Sperrgut, but then the total Gurtmaß can still not be more than for this one, and it costs 20 euro more).
My bicycle is bigger than that.
However, my frame should fit.

So I ordered a box.
Last weekend, I started by looking at my bike. A friendly old sock on IRC gave me some advice and I started disassembling the rear-wheel and reattaching the rear wheel. The reattachment seemed fine. Until I returned from university; a steep descent. No, there was nothing wrong with my coaster brake. I'm smart enough to test that, and even then I have a drum brake in front. However, I was unable to change gear. Arriving at home, I checked, and indeed; the connector was not properly secured and the vibrations had loosened it considerably. I went to town, no problem, but when I went back the first gear wasn't working. Consulting the same old sock: most probably my chain was too long because my wheel was put too far to the front. Indeed it was. I loosened my rear wheel, then the nut bolt broke. Oops. I went to Velo Momber for a new one. Very friendly people. I put my wheel in further backwards and all was fine.
Yesterday I started truely disassembling. First removing my bicycle bag. Then my luggage rack.
How naked my bicycle had become!
But now the true disassembling would come.
It feels like shutting down HAL.
Or killing a mouse.
But bike, I promise. When you will be reassembled you will have the hottest tires there are. And the tires with the most unpronounceable name. Nokian Hakkapeliitta. Named after a group of Finnish cavalry in the 17th century.

Detaching the coaster brake.
Removing the mudguards. Rear and front.
Detaching the light. A small accident. I hope I didn't break it.
Detaching the rear wheel. Detaching the front wheel. I have a big bag from San Diego in which I can carry at least one of you. Maybe two.
Removing the seat.
Removing the handlebar. Help from neighbour.
Removing the front fork.
It is difficult to do all this.
But, bike, I won't leave you.

Henceforth, you will be called HAL II. Shortly, Hal. In honour of the saddest shutdown in the history of cinema. I will put you in the box tomorrow or Tuesday. For a proper goodbye, more pictures here. See you in Kiruna.

Fireworks

2008-02-07T22:55:00.000+01:00

For the 4th time since I live here, I am alerted by a peculiar sound from far away, and notice fireworks with time delay. The view from my window here is one of the things I will surely miss.

More pictures here

Time left until I leave Würzburg: 5 days, 23 hours, 34 minutes
Time left until I arrive in Scandinavia: 6 days, 6 hours, 58 minutes
Time left until I arrive in Sweden: 6 days, 12 hours, 1 minutes
Time left until I arrive in Kiruna: 7 days, 11 hours, 19 minutes

Group picture

2008-01-30T18:49:00.000+01:00

After the last exam that is taken by everybody (Introduction to Space Physics), some group pictures were taken.

A rather interesting one:

Who is craziest?

17 Spacemaster students without housing in Kiruna

2008-01-17T17:56:00.000+01:00

From Kuriren
Rough English translation of article (see link above):

Students without a place to live
At 18 February, 45 new students come to Kiruna. 17 of them have no place to live. Now, the student council has turned toward the Kiruna citizens - give them a place to live.

The situation is imminent. Because of that, we ask all we can, both private citizens and companies, to invite students for a place to live, says Christopher Storm who is speaker for the Kiruna student council.

This year it is calculated that 160 students will read in Kiruna. Simultanuously, Kirunabostäder has only 118 smaller appartments and rooms that are meant for students.

The municipality is very much involved for the students. We have received places and help from all sides, but if if the places to live won't work, Kiruna makes a bad impression and will disappoint the students, says Christopher Storm

Bad for the reputation
This must be solved. Our reputation must not be damaged. Our ambition is that Kiruna will grow as a student town and we have succeded pretty well, but the housing problem is difficult. The problem is the shorter education like Space masters. The students live here only three months [GH: should be five] and one can't that the community pays for the nine months that houses are empty, says council member Kenneth Stånacke.

According to Kenneth Stålnacke, the municipality should discuss with LKAB's real estate firm about student housing in the old jägerskole area.

Infamously expensive
But that is expensive. Apartments would become much to expensive for the students. Now we hope at new negotiations, he says and adds that also Tallplan has been discussed as a possible student housing place.

The imminent housing crisis will be up to the summer, but already now we know that the number of students will rise in the forseeable future. Alrready next year the number of students will have grown to 230 and the year after it is calculated to be 320 students.

To solve the immenent problem we have esthablished a student housing negotiation that will start soon, says Kenneth Stålnacke who believes that the long term housing problem in the community can be solved - by building new houses.

At 23 January we will meet actors from the municipality and LKAB who will build housing in the new Kiruna, northwest. That will be the first meeting where we will brainstorm, he says.

The municipality has established a person who will perform the negotiations for the rooms or apartments that Kiruna citizens can offer to students.

Those who have something to offer are welcome to contact me, says Marianne Matti to the council.

Another article, from Norrländska Socialdemokraterna:

Housing shortage among students

By the beginning of next month, 45 students from the whole of Europe [GH: should be world] will arrive at Kiruna for studying half a year. Still 17 of them have no place to live.

The students come from the so called Spacemaster programme, which is running for the third year. Students from the whole of Europe first read space courses at the University of Würzburg, near Frankfurt, and then in Kiruna.

Now, when the [kullen] arrive, the shortage of student rooms has become imminent in Kiruna, just like the shortage of ordinary housing. The student council has called to the community for help.

- It is really a critical situation. Those of you who can offer a room or an apartment for rent, go to the municipality, say Christopher Storm and Johan Pettersson in the technology section in Umeå and the Kiruna section in Luleå.

New programme

The number of students in Kiruna has grown considerably in Kiruna, particularly since last years autumn when the the new nature guide programme started.

Until the next autumn, the programme in space science [återruptas] and in addition, a the space gymnasium starts a new programme.

If all is ready in 2010 the number of students in Kiruna will have grown from 160 to 300. Kiruna municipality has thus both an imminent problem and a long-term problem, [om än angenäma sådana. ??]

The municipality puts a lot of market research in the programmes and according to the student council, a lot is done for the future student life in Kiruna.

Bad reputation.

But if the housing issue is not solved then that is no use. There is mainly a risk of getting a bad reputation, says Johan Petterson.

The demand has come suddenly. As late as 2005, the municipalities housing firm, Kirunaboståder, has changed two floors in Terrassvägen 9 from student rooms into normal apartments.

Now it is a matter of finding housing that can be rebuilt into student rooms.

The discussion is being performed with LKAB's firm FAB for using Vasallen at the old jägerskole area, but there has been no negotiation results about the price.

There has also been looked at apartments build by Polish companies, but those were left already before and seriously need renovations.

We will try to do everything we can, but it's not really easy. We have in any case decided to estabilhs a student housing negotiator and a person who is now working on the problem fulltime, says council member
Kenneth Stålnacke.

(note from Gerrit: the Spacemaster students stay at least until 19 June, which is not three months but five. I myself have a room and I am not among the 17 students in need of housing, but I know many people who are)

Passed exam

2007-12-13T15:32:00.000+01:00

Only three days after we wrote the Space Dynamics exam, we already have the results.
We needed 50% to pass; that was not known in advance.
I estimated my score at 51.6%.
I scored 50.6%.
I was one half-point above the edge.
But I passed! :)

First serious exam

2007-12-11T19:27:00.000+01:00

Yesterday, we Spacemasters had the first serious exam.
Space dynamics. Control theory. Root loci. Transfer functions. Stability. Attitude determination and control. Sensors. Actuators. Rotations. Quaternions. Direction cosine matrices. Euler angles. Euler axis.
It was doable. But not in this limited time. The first part was 30 minutes knowledge questions (no material). The second part was 60 minutes on three tasks with various subtasks. I finished nearly two tasks. Hardly anybody finished all.
We'll see how we've done.

Cycling in Kiruna

2007-12-10T12:06:00.002+01:00

In February, I will move to Kiruna. I will take my bike with me. I thought I would be the only one to go by bike, but there have been Dutch citizens in Kiruna before:

Fietsen in Kiruna (machine translation in English)

They are no longer there, but perhaps some citizens remember the cyclists from a few years back?

AN INTERNATIONAL THERMOMETER FOR IMMEDIATE USE TO ALL SPACEMASTERS HEADING TO KIRUNA

2007-11-29T10:22:00.000+01:00

By SM07

+15°C / 59°F
This is as warm as it gets in Sweden, so we'll start here.
People in Spain wear winter-coats and gloves.
The Swedes are out in the sun, getting a tan.

+10°C / 50°F
The French are trying in vain to start their central heating.
The Swedes plant flowers in their gardens.

+5°C / 41°F
Italian cars won't start.
The Swedes are cruising in cabriolets.
You can see your breath.

0°C / 32°F
Distilled water freezes.
The water in Oslo Fjord gets a little thicker.

-5°C / 23°F
People in California almost freeze to death.
The Swedes have their final barbecue before winter.
Consortium begin to worry about the homeless Spacemasters.
French cars won't start anymore.

-10°C / 14°F
The Brits start the heat in their houses.
The Swedes start using long sleeves.
You can hear your breath.
Consortium begin to talk about the homeless Spacemasters.
British cars don't start.

-20°C / -4°F
The Aussies flee from Mallorca.
The Swedes end their Midsummer celebrations. Autumn is here.
Spacemasters actually started to build their own snowcaves by themselves.
You need jumper cables to get the car going

-30°C / -22°F
People in Greece die from the cold and disappear from the face of the earth.
You can cut your breath and use it to build an igloo
The Swedes start drying their laundry indoors.
German cars don't start
Eyes freeze shut when you blink

-40°C / -40°F
Paris start cracking in the cold.
Swedes close the bathroom window
Consortium actually do something about the few frozen homeless Spacemasters.
Japanese cars don't start

-50°C / -58°F >
Polar bears start evacuating the North Pole.
The Swede army postpones their winter survival training awaiting real winter weather.
Too cold to think
You need jumper cables to get the driver going

-70°C / -94°F
The false Santa moves south along with polar bears.
The Swede army goes out on winter survival training.
You plan a two week hot bath
Sweetish cars don't start

-183°C / -297.4°F
Microbes in food don't survive.
The Swede cows complain that the farmers' hands are cold.
Your car helps you plan your trip South

-273°C / -459.4°F
ALL atom-based movent halts.
The Swedes start saying "Faen, it's cold outside today."
You can see your last breath, farewell, all SMs!

-300°C / -508°F
Hell freezes over, Sweden wins the Best Student accommodation contest.

Surprise during lecture

2007-11-23T15:22:00.000+01:00

A surprise during a guest lecture from Luitjens Popken, working at ESO and ESA, today.
It's not Christmas yet, but... three free posters and two free CD-ROM's for all students!

Five ESA-related items are visible on this image. Three posters and two CD-roms:

Poster on the solar system with images of the sun, the planets, some moons, and other exciting astronomical objects, along with related ESA missions of the present, past and future
Poster on BEPICOLOMBO, ESA mission explaring Planet Mercury
Poster on PLANCK, ESA telescope to look at the ancient radiation of the universe
CD-ROM on Huygens Probe, "Landing on an Earth-like world"
CD-ROM on SOHO spacecraft observing the Sun (joint ESA and NASA).

All for free. And apparantly, more is to follow next week - but then from ESO...!

Traveling to Kiruna

2007-11-22T20:14:00.000+01:00

I bought my railway ticket to Kiruna. Traveling by train is actually the cheapest possibility. The night train to Copenhagen (first ticket 29 euro, second ticket 49 euro), then the X2000 to Stockholm (200 Swedish crowns), then Norrlandståget to Kiruna (330 Swedish crowns). Prior to deciding to book this, I had investigated twelve possible iteneraries. This one was cheapest, and took only 36 hours - for 2700 km. I will depart on Wednesday 13 February 2008 and arrive on Friday 15 February.

Three others wished to join me. Then I found out that there are only three cheap tickets available for the night train: one for 29 euro, three for 49 euro. The next one would raise the total cost by almost 200 euro. So that was not an option. We discussed and decided to split in two groups. Two will depart on Tuesday, two will depart on Wednesday.

Booking the ticket at nachtzugreise.de went without any problems. I booked two tickets and got a confirmation via e-mail. Booking the tickets from Copenhagen to Kiruna was quite more difficult. I had filled in everything and was about to pay when veolia.se told me that I could book it only with a 3DSecure-able card. My card was not able.

I phoned the Swedish customers support and got through the waiting time after about five minutes. The three other students were in my room, waiting. When I got through. I heard that booking via internet without 3DSecure was not possible. I could book via the phone. So I did. All my data, including my creditcard number, unencrypted over a phone line :-/. Fortunately I have a 250euro-limit and spent 220 euro already (including the two railway tickets). But it worked, or should have. I should receive the tickets by post.

Then helping the other two booking their tickets. Nachtzugreise.de went comparably well. Website in English, booking worked, only my Dvorak layout was giving them difficulties. For veolia.se I had to help them. In the end, there was no error like with me: just a blank page. So was it booked or not? He tried to phone the helpdesk, but they closed at 20.00. It was 20.05. They will try again tomorrow morning.

Now all I need to do is buy a bike reservation and bike ticket. I need to go to the ticket office for that. I will do so on Saturday. Won't be a problem.

Customs office

2007-11-13T11:20:00.000+01:00

Today, I was at the customs office for the first time in my life.

I had ordered a number of books from amazon.com, because they were considerably cheaper than at amazon.de (Space Mission Analysis and Design was about 60$ instead of 180€). I ordered a creditcard for this purpose, and ordered the books a few weeks ago. Estimated arrival date: 15 November. On the 6th of November, one week ago, I received a notification from the Zollamt: customs office, that I could get them at Mainfrankenpark, Dettelbach.

Why on Earth in Dettelbach? I thought, and started to look at bus timetables. To my surprise, there were virtually no buses to Dettelbach, even though it is a medium-sized city. Only early in the morning there were some buses, none between 8 and 14. I decided that I would go on Tuesday the 13th, because I had no time before that. On Sunday I saw on Google Maps the even though the address is in Dettelbach, the Mainfrankenpark is not: it is located very near a highway exit in the middle of nowhere; but much closer to my home, about 10km. I decided to go to the Zollamt by bike.

This morning, I departed at around 8.15. Until Rottendorf, the route was pretty straightforward, but after that it became complicated. First I had a concrete path, but then it became smaller and smaller until I was cyling over a small and steep footpath. My map didn't show any other route to go by bike; either the highway or this. Finally I arrived at the Mainfrankenpark, a huge area with businesses, "restaurants" (mostly drive-ins), open-air house catalogues, and, supposedly, the customs office for the region. I noticed the yellow building I had seen on a picture and went in a one-way road that appeared to go there, but it ended at a big fence for the police office. I went back and asked a postman the way to the Zollamt, and he described the complicated route to me.

"Sind Sie mit dem Auto oder Bus gekommen?"
"Mit dem Fahrrad."
"Das ist kallt!"
"Nicht so kallt... aber es war schwierig den richtigen Weg zu finden"
"Sind sie schon mal beim Zollamt gewesen?"
"Nee, noch nie."
After some smalltalk, during which he expresses his astonishment that I came by bike, he asks me if I have been at the customs office before. I answer negatively and he explains me how it works. The books arrive at Frankfurt, but in Frankfurt they don't look at what it is and send it to the customs office. I go there to declare what kind of goods those are, so that they know how much VAT I need to pay, and I take the goods when I have paid them. So I do. The value of this first shipment is $164.42.

After all the formalities - about twenty minutes in total, and I am the only visitor there - I stand at my bike looking at my map when the man who helped me comes running out. He tells me there is a bicycle path and describes how to get there. It is not on my map, but he shows me. I thank him and leave, and indeed there is a bicycle path: much better than what I did on the way here. I need to remember it for next time.

Because there are at least two more shipments to come.

The first two weeks

2007-09-21T18:38:00.000+02:00

I have taken part in the German language Aufbaukurs for nearly two weeks now. We do a lot of grammar: Konjunktiv II, Indirekte Rede and Temporale Konnektoren. It's not really difficult, but it's intensive: 9-13, each day. I eat in the mensa each day afterward.

Since Monday I finally have internet. To get connected to the internet, I needed to wait for the Hausmeister to return from holiday, then make an appointment with him to fill in a form, and then wait another three working days until it was settled; all in all it took eleven days.

Today, the consortium universities presented themselves to us. What I'm most eager to know, however, could not be told to us yet: the possibility to do thesis work outside Europe (Action III). We will get information about that later.

This afternoon the first generation of Spacemaster students graduated at the Residenz in a nice hall (picture follows). I didn't have proper clothes but I went there anyway. It was interesting to be there and to see our examples: hopefully all of us will stand there in two years!

Begin Spacemaster

2007-09-04T16:19:00.001+02:00

On Monday morning we are expected in front of the Turing lecture hall in the Computer Science building. I am already awake at 7:30, and take it very easy to prepare myself. After showering, heaving breakfast and doing yet another attempt to get connected to the internet, have a shower and kill some more time. I leave my apartment around 8:30 and arrive at the Computer Science buidling about 5 minutes later. I am not the first student, and I introduce myself to the others.

At one point, I see two student talking (simple) German with the teacher. They are telling her that they have studied German before, and I join in to tell them that the same is true for me. "Noch einer!" We will go with the German class until after lunch, to take part in the "get-to-know" game and in the free lunch together in the mensa. On Tuesday morning, we will do the Einstufungstest.

There are students from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Kenya, Ethiopia, Spain, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Moldova, Sweden, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, India, China, Australia, and others will join later. A very diverse group. I am happy to be here.

At noon, the students staying at Galgenberg go to visit the Hausmeister-Vertretung. I go with them, even though I already have my key. I want to have washing coins (€1.50 each) and a Galgenberg-modem. The first is possible. The second is not, which disappoints me greatly. The Vertretung is not allowed to hand out the modems. I need to wait until the 11th, when the Hausmeister returns from holiday. Scheiße...

Fortunately, the library is open till 22:00. And from Wednesday, when we will officially enroll at JMUW, I will have an account for the university WLAN network. I don't know if it is accesible at night, but if it is, that is what I will do for the next week.

Room with a view

2007-09-03T20:04:00.001+02:00

The trip to Würzburg, split over two days, was quite hectic. The second day involved changing trains six times, in Gronau, Münster, Hamm, Eisenach, Meiningen and Steinfurt; and then getting off the train in Würzburg. It took a long time, and the only delay was the last train. Würzburg Hauptbahnhof has no lifts, but there is a carrier belt for luggage next to the train. My big bag went on it without problems, but my bike did not. The hand-brake wasn't strong enough (all the stuff was still in the backpack) and the frontside flew upwards, nearly hitting somebody. I carried my bike off the stairs (quite heavy) and continued my way to the storage locks, arriving at 15:30. The small storage lock was slightly too big for my big bag, so I took a big one, which was way too large. Unfortunately, I lacked enough coins for the big one, so I went to buy a newspaper to have some change. When finished, I went on my bike and raced toward my destination; fortunately, I had looked on a map. It was steeply upwards, and with my backpack and bicycle-bag, there were two parts that I didn't make. I had to walk, and I was in a hurry, since I had to fetch the key before 16:00! I got stressed when I came upon a roadblock of the United States Military. I looked on my map, and indeed, I had missed the turn right towards Am Galgenberg, and ended up in the Rottendorfer Straße, that happens to run into Leighton Barracks. After having a look on my map, I raced towards the Studentenwohnheime Am Galgenberg, where I arrived one minute before 16:00. I phoned the Hausmeister and was handed my keys.

When I had settled the formalities and entered my room, I was stunned with the view.Completely stunned. Wow!

I used Thursday evening, Friday and Saturday to explore the university and the city. There were many things I had to buy: not just groceries, but also curtains, a cushion, garbage bags, a müesli box, a müesli bowl, mousemat, scissors, washing liquid... on Sunday I explored the neighbourhood, and cycled from Würzburg to Rottendorf, Effeldorf, Bibelgau, Dettelbach, Schwarzenau, Schwarzach am Main and Sommerach. I explored the camping sites Steigmühle. A beautiful trip.

Today was the first day of the Space Master course itself. More about this
later.

Goodbye, Netherlands.

2007-08-30T05:44:00.001+02:00

I couldn't sleep very well and I got up 15 minutes early.
Now I'm finished. I'm ready to go.
In a little over one hour my train will depart.
I'm way too early, but I will leave.
I don't know when the next time will be that I will be online. I hope today...

Goodbye, Netherlands!

I'm on my way

2007-08-29T22:43:00.000+02:00

I am on my way to Würzburg. I left this morning from Diemen and am sleeping in Enschede tonight, in my former apartment. Tomorrow morning I will take the train at 6:56 and travel to Würzburg via Gronau, Münster, Hamm, Eisenach, Meiningen and Schweinfurt: it was the cheapest option available. I would not have been able to catch the 6:56 train from Enschede if I had to leave in Diemen the same day, and I also had to hand-in my OV-jaarkaart and the keys for my room - tomorrow. My room is already empty, but my contract only ends per 31 August, so it's still mine. I've taken my camping mattrass and sleeping bag and put them on the floor. Most of my luggage (42kg in total) is in a lock in Enschede. Tomorrow getting up at 5:20. Goodnight.

Saying goodby

2007-07-14T13:28:00.000+02:00

I feel sad because I am saying goodbye to a beautiful student area (I will never get a room again as beautiful as this one, in a pyramid, with a balcony, and on the edge of a forest and the small-scale agricultural landscape of Twente) after having lived and studied there for four years. In addition, the process is a bit of an anticlimax: the campus is completely dead in summer: no sports, no movies, no events. And my parents are already on holiday, so I am all alone and haven't spoken anybody since Sunday (normally I go back to my parents on Friday). As a consquence, I am absolutely not focussed on my holiday trip to Norway (with fifteen people, something I am quite nervous about and which doesn't have my preference); instead, I am very focussed on the past AND focussed on the future, my Master course (Space Master, www.spacemaster.eu) starting in September.

Bachelor's Diploma

2007-06-28T12:44:00.000+02:00

Yesterday, 27 June, I received my Bachelor's Diploma in Applied Physics (Technische Natuurkunde) from Mr. Clemens Pouw. On Tuesday, the education office phoned me to ask when I was going to futch my diploma.
"Did you not get the letter?" I was asked.
"What letter?"
"Last weeks letter telling you to make an appointment with Mr. Pouw's secretary. I will send you a copy by e-mail".
"Thank you".

Soon after, I receive an e-mail with a document that I indeed did not receive in the mail. I phone the secretary, get connected to a voicemail and clumsily tell that I would like to make an appointment. The next morning, I am phoned back and am told that I can fetch my diploma at 14:00 that very afternoon.

At 13:57 I arrive at Mr. Pouw's office. He is not present yet, so I am offered coffee or tea my his secretary and I sit down. Soon, Mr. Pouw arrives. He says some words about me leaving the university. A pity for the university but good for me. And they are also proud that a student from University of Twente takes part in this Master's Programme. A pity that I cannot be present at the official graduation. But that's inevitable. Yes.

I recieve a nice, luxury map with my diploma in it. First, I sign a copy, "for practice", and then I sign the original original.
"Congratulations!
"Thanks."
"Good luck in the future"
"I'll manage. Bye!"
At 14:05, I am standing outside again. With my Bachelor's Diploma. I am now a Bachelor of Science :)

Admission notification

2007-06-15T23:19:00.000+02:00

On 13 June 2007, on the date that the last-year students in the Dutch "middelbare school" receive the result of their exams, and five months after sending out my application to the Erasmus Munder Master Course in Space Science and Technology, I finally receive my admission for the master programme. In January they wrote me that I would hear from them early April, but after inquiry in April they informed me that this would be June. Rather late, if you ask me: what if I would not have been applied? It's too late to apply for something else. But now that I have been applied, the actual start of the Master (3 September) is pretty soon!

The Erasmus Mundus programme is a programme for students from all over the world. A number of European universities cooperates in offering a master course for EU and non-EU students. Non-EU students receive a scholarship for studying in the EU, and a selection of EU students receive a scholarship for writing their Master Thesis outside Europe. I will start in Würzburg for the autumn semester and will move to Kiruna, Sweden for the spring semester. I first heard of this master while I was an exchange student at Luleå University of Technology (LTU). This university is also the main host of the programme.

In the past months, I've done a lot to fulfill the requirements. I was asked to send a certified copy of my secondary education leaving certificate. I inquired with the university. "Ask at your school," they said. My school directed me to the IB-groep, who then redirected me to some diploma certification office. They told me to have it tranlated by a certified translater. They gave me the URL for a website where they are all advertised. Since the website did not have prices, I phoned every certified translator to ask for the prices. I sent a certified copy of my secondary education leaving certificate and finally received a translation for only €32.19. Less cheap was the IELTS-test: nearly €200 for a relatively easy test to prove LTU my knowledge of English.

Fortunately, my investments were worth it. There is a lot to organise now. I'm thrilled to go abroad: ever since I came back from Luleå, christmas 2005, I have been longing back to leaving my home country again, although I managed to get my life back on track over the course of the last 18 months.

World, here I come!