Check out the little plane we that took to Ny Alesund. Every seat is a window seat! This is one of my first looks at Kongfjorden- the fjord that Ny Alesund sits on. The white dots are icebergs! Once on the ground we were shuttled a very short distance to "town".
Arrived in Ny Alesund!The views were so spectacular. It is better than I ever imagined and the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I can't even begin to describe how picturesque it is here.
We settled into our rooms and headed to the dining hall. I took this picture from my seat at lunch.
The dining hall bustled with scientists from all over the world. At this point I was restraining myself from doing the biggest happy dance you have ever seen. I was just like, "Yes!!! I am here and this place is amazing!" Truly I just thought I was going to explode with joy. I am so fortunate to have this opportunity. Really, how many teachers get out of their classroom to do something like this? I am pinching myself 24/7. I am very, very lucky indeed. Wahoo!!!!
Together we made several stops around "town". (For a sense of scale, the town is about the size of a high school campus.)
First, we had a brief about procedures, rules, contacts, etc. Next, we took a look at facilities and choices for our lab. After a tour, we decided to set up camp inside the Marinlaboratorium because it is right next to the docks and we won't have to carry our equipment far.
We located our equipment which had been shipped ahead, moved it to our new lab space and unpacked it.
We also visited the dock.
After dinner we got started on prepping the equipment.
Did I Mention That This Place Is Awesome?Here are some more pictures to illustrate our incredible, wonderful, beautiful, amazing day.
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