Farewell, Longyearbyen
This article is part of the series “2023-03: Svalbard”.
I am sitting in the waiting hall of Longyear Airport, waiting for my plane to Tromsø.
More than two weeks I’ve been here, first on vacation with Annika, then working for the Norwegian Polar Institute at UNIS, the University Centre in Svalbard.
I worked with Luke, data manager for the Nansen Legacy and had a guest office on the other side of his office in the biology section.
While my office may look totally normal, the view definitely wasn’t.
Some days at 9 o’clock I went to other side of the building to the Longyearbyen section of the Norwegian Polar Institute to have coffee break with my colleagues there.
In Longyearbyen you put out your outdoor shoes before you enter a building (with some exceptions as the local COOP grocery shop). And so it is at UNIS. You can clearly see by the shelfs whether people are at home or at UNIS.
Soon I will travel back to Tromsø and I’m looking forward being back. It was a fantastic experience to spend much time in Longyearbyen. Anyhow as a visitor you also realise the limitations as for example not being able to leave the town without valid rifle permit because of the polar bears.
Continental Europe – here I come.