Today was our last day at Summit Station. It was a very emotional day because it was probably going to be the last time we would ever be at Summit, at least for a very long time. We spent the morning packing and getting ready for the departure, which was scheduled at 10:25 am. In order to have everything ready, we had to get up early to start the day. Even though we got up early, the morning turned out to be great and everyone was ready on time. The plane arrived on time but we went outside a little before, so they didn’t have to wait for us to get ready. The problem was that we stood outside waiting for around 1 and a half hour because the plane had to first get loaded with cargo.
On the same plane, a long track of people kept stumbling out of the plane, which was a big surprise, because the Hercules LC130 was not a big plane, so how on Earth could all these people possibly have been sitting? This is still a mystery, but it seems like they did not bring much cargo with them up to Summit. The passengers of the plane included scientists, carpenters, employees at NSF, and some members of the American embassy in Denmark, including the ambassador.
The visit at summit was very short for the embassy, because they left 2 hours after arrival. This had to be very fast, because later on the afternoon they came to visit us at the field school in Kangerlussuaq.
So after the cold, cold, long hours in the snowy, northern wind landscape, we got to go on board. The flight was just as calm as the first time, but a little bit of turbulence on the way, because it was quite windy. The plane ride was so calm that everyone fell asleep and had a nice, little nap. In the end of the flight, some of us got to sit in the cockpit, experiencing the inflight and landing at the airport. Afterwards, it was straight back to the field school to prepare for presentations for the exclusive visit from the ambassador, Rufus Gifford. (This was, of course, after we had taken our showers because 5 days without showering is a very long time!)
The preparation was done by us figuring out the most important things for us and dividing up into groups so we could get everything done ready in about one and a half hours. I think it speaks to the bonds that have been made of these past 3 weeks that the one thing everyone marked as important was: “Friendships” Our presentation consisted of the following parts: Introduction, Ablation calculation at point 660, the snow pit, friendships/bonds, and flubber.
As it became 6 o clock, the Ambassador arrived alongside several other V.I.P´s who sat with a smile while listening to what we have done and learned. It seemed he was quite impressed with the JSEP program.
After the presentation we went around the room to talk in groups of 2-4 about both about our background and why we were here and what we personally thought of this program. It seemed that all our honoured guests were very intrigued about the JSEP program. We also personally had conversations with the ambassador about the Danish and American political systems.
Overall the visit was a great success with lots of fun and also getting the message of this program out. The Ambassador had a great interest in learning about this program and setting up similar programs in the future.
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